Mix it Up

August 5th, 2010

According to the Marketing Power Dictionary, integrated marketing communication can be defined as the holistic approach to promote buying and selling utilizing both online and offline marketing channels. According to he Direct Marketing Association, even as marketers are bringing more digital media into their integrated campaigns, traditional media remain a core component of the marketing mix. When planning your next marketing campaign, why not mix it up by combining:

  1. A direct mail letter with a promotional item
  2. A direct mail letter/promotional item with eye-catching package
  3. An email with an audio message
  4. A brochure with a limited time coupon
  5. A direct mail letter with an accompanying Web page
  6. A Web page with an accompanying video.

Your marketing success is our mission. To discuss your specific needs or to schedule an appointment, contact us at (717) 435-3150.

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Congratulations to Our Clients!

June 17th, 2010

Manheim Township and Solanco School Districts received awards for their publications in the
Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) 40th Annual Educational Publications Contest.

Manheim Township School District
2009-2010 District Calendar – Award of Excellence
(Calendar Category)

Solanco School District
Solanco Today/Parent Talk – Award of Excellence
(Parent Information Category)
Solanco Today – Award of Excellence
(Newsletter/Newspaper Category)

These publications were judged on appearance, writing and style, editing, layout and design, use of artwork and photography, printing, and value to the audience.  Congratulations!

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Social Media-A Topic of Conversation

January 27th, 2010

Of course social media became a topic of conversation at a recent PenSPRA meeting we attended, as it often does!

If you have a Facebook account, consider becoming a fan of “Facebook in Education” to follow other educators and to see how they are incorporating the use of Facebook into their district and organization communication plans. http://www.facebook.com/education

We began incorporating social media into Class Communications’ marketing efforts last fall. Here are some of the top reasons why:

1. It is important to meet people where they are. Professionals are on LinkedIn and many businesses are using Twitter and Facebook. Your students are “hanging out” online – now parents and grandparents are logging on too.

During the first half of 2009, the Facebook users, by age, broke out like this*:
Ages 0-17 –10% of all users
Ages 18-24 – 25% of all users
Ages 25-34 – 25% of all users
Ages 35-54 – 28% of all users
Ages 55+ – 8% of all users
(Even though we are missing 4% here, probably due to the lack of information available, this paints a pretty clear picture!)

2. It is an inexpensive means of reaching people with your message. In most cases – it is FREE.

3. Social media is here to stay (and yes -  it is time consuming)! Many small and non-profit organizations are saying, “we know we need social media, but who has time to post AND monitor?” I sure wish I had an easy answer or a “quick click” to solve this dilemma. There are ways to streamline (i.e., when a post is made to Facebook you can set up your page to auto-upload to Twitter) and it may take some research on your part, a great technology director, and/or some workshops!

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Posted in Education, Facebook, Social Media | 2 Comments »

Return on Investment in Education

January 20th, 2010

How do you measure your return on investment (ROI ) for newsletters, calendars and other informational pieces to your community? Community Awareness = Public Engagement.

Support from parents, senior citizens and other residents is needed long before they vote on a referendum bill or support the construction of a new building. It begins by continually creating awareness of programs and activities within your school district.

While your ROI cannot be measured on a spreadsheet, it can be seen when community members participate in activities, fundraisers, and volunteer opportunities. People need to notice a publication in order to read it. An eye-catching design with solid content will encourage residents to read your materials, thus building community awareness and engagement.

Residents want to know what is happening in the district. So, let’s tell them!

As always, your thoughts/comments/linkbacks are always appreciated.

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Social Media’s Future Influence on Education

January 20th, 2010

Let’s face the facts, the days of searching for information in an encyclopedia are long gone.  To be completely honest, I firmly believe if you were to give a teenager an assignment to locate information in an encyclopedia they wouldn’t even know how to do it.

Computers and the internet have completely changed the way we look for information and social media is going to play an even larger role when it comes to education shortly.

With the world tweeting, Digging, Tumbling, and writing on walls, it’s only a matter of time before a high school teacher or college professor decides to add his/her Twitter address on their syllabus so the students can get a hold of them (that is if they don’t want emails to flood their inbox), creates a class forum for required discussion sessions (which is already happening with Springboard), or gives live video review sessions via Justin.tv or Ustream.

That’s not all, think about how easily students can obtain information using Digg, Reddit, or StumbleUpon.

I’ll give you a scenario:

You are given an assignment to write a five page paper on the Cuban Missile Crisis.  A simple search for “Cuban Missile Crisis” on Digg brings back 129 results, 38 results on Reddit, and 73 results on Technorati.

By spending less than two minutes online you have 240 possible sources you can browse through for your paper.  Had you gone to the library, you would have found five or six possible sources and it would have taken you anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to locate the information you wanted to use.

Colleges and Universities are taking advantage of the benefits of social media to keep students and faculty informed on campus activities and important news updates.

Alumni associations are utilizing Facebook to keep high school and college alumni up to date with reunions, news, and photos of their past classmates.

All this is just the beginning of an era.  Social media has already influenced millions of people and although a lot of people are still learning about Twitter and Facebook, social media’s potential influence on education can make learning fun again.

As always, your thoughts/comments/linkbacks are always appreciated.

Test Blog.

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Posted in Education, Social Media | 9 Comments »