- March 15th: Amy Stevens, MCLA.edu

March 15th Twitterview with Amy Stevens
Web Communications Manager, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and the Moderator of the Marketing Communications Track

Here’s the transcript of the whole interview:

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb Hi Amy, how are you today?

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb Hi Shelly, I’m doing well, just reviewing my track submissions again. And you?

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb Great! Off to a good start today; I’m glad you have the time to chat with me today. Just to let our audience in ...

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb ... you are Amy Stevens, Web Communications Mgr at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. And ...

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb ... you are this year’s Moderator for the Marketing Communications Track

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb I am, and I’m very excited about the proposals we are receiving.

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb oops, didn’t finish that one ... had a caller from FL who is following us, so cool! okay, moderator at eduWeb ‘10

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb That’s great about the proposals you’re receiving; can u share any great topics? What areas r u missing?

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (1/3) As expected, Facebook & Twitter are very popular again this year, and choosing the best is difficult.

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (2/3) However, I was really excited to see topics about analytics, or how to know if your campaign is (not) working.

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (3/3) I’d love to see more about recruiting adult learners, who are driving the higher ed market right now.

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb that’s great news, the proposals sound varied n I think I may know someone 4 the adult learners, so let’s chat later.

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb how do u at MCLA “market outside the usual channels”? What do u consider the “usual channels”?

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb They really are a different audience, I’m sure our followers will admit that the same thing won’t work for a 17 and 40

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (1/2) I don’t want to give away all our secrets, but one trick I like is using Facebook’s Photo Gallery on our Fan Page

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (2/2) I brand our photos with a MCLA watermark and include our tagline. Everytime a student shares, they promote us.

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb We consider the usual suspects to be email, web, facebook. We don’t use Twitter, not right for our audience.

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb that’s very cool Amy; I guess it does take extra time 2 do the watermark/tagline, but it’s a sly way to promote MCLA

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb re: watermarks. Very easy to set up in Photoshop as a batch process, so after I select and resize images, I Batch & Go

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb well, even though we’re on Twitter today, hope somebody related to MCLA is following us

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb (1/2) I recently heard from a HE associate that email is dead, that prosp students give bogus addresses out so ...

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf @eduweb Oh, we have people who use it, but our recruiting demographics aren’t there yet. Go where your audience is, right?

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb (2/2) ..not to be bugged; they find FB a bit weird unless they choose 2 friend someone/HE inst. What works well 4 u?

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (1/3) We are still finding email to be very successful, mostly though it is for the parents who use their email address

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (2/3) I understand about resisting Facebook, we’ve had far more luck with our FB ads, especially for our summer programs

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (3/3) There isn’t one potential type of student, there are lots and that may mean running multiple campaigns.

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb agree about the different types of students n different campaigns; u mentioned 2 me before about wanting 2 get into…

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb ...cell phone marketing, especially 2 reach harder to reach audiences. Have u tried anything w/cell phones yet?

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (1/2) We are still working on the policy, but many of our students don’t have computers at home, but they or their

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (2/2) parents have cell phones & want reminders about application & financial aid deadlines. It seems to be the future.

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (1/2) We make this assumption that all recruits are middle class, but that group, especially in NE, is shrinking rapidly

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb So u have the internal staff 2 create those apps? or would u need to outsource?

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (2/2) Recruiting low-income students takes a different set of tools, and we are working very hard to find what works.

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb We would be looking to bundle it with our email package, the way we do our Emergency Notification Plan for current stdts

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb who do u use for your emergency notification plan?

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb - EEk, you know, I don’t know! It is handled at the state level! We use Fire Engine Red for our bulk email.

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb FER - We’ve really liked the work they do.

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb I’ve heard good things about Fire Engine Red; just curious about your ENP provider. With all that we’ve been talking

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb ... about so far in our twitterview, how does all this wrap together into MCLA’s branding efforts?

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb - (1/2) Since we launched our new website & our fan page, we’ve increased traffic 250% and increased our apps by 65%

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb - (2/2) We’ve done it by focusing on our promise, a high quality education with a low pricetag—it seems to be working

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb That’s phenomenal news! So much traffic! What apps have increased 65%? How do u measure your traffic?

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb Freshman and Transfer apps are up, we measure apps through internal CRM and traffic through Google and FB stats

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb Oops, I was thinking apps like iphone apps, not student apps, sorry, it’s a Monday ...

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (2/2) But our return visitors are high and they wouldn’t have come back if we weren’t connecting beyond the price tag.

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb it’s still all great feedback 4 our listeners today n 4 me as well, 2 learn what you’re doing n how successful it is

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb Google Baby - my best friend in the analytics world.

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb as we wind down today’s twitterview, is there something else you’d like to discuss?

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (1/2) I’m getting really excited for the conference, I think of it as a great bootcamp to get caught up for people who

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (2/2) have lots on their plate & can’t do social media on daily basis, but still need to stay current and plan ahead

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (1/2) The networking and commiserating is invaluable. Many of us work alone in our efforts online and its nice

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb Thank you Amy for the compliments about eduWeb ‘10! If anyone wants 2 present this year, marketing, comms. branding…

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb to know what others have tried, how to measure and evaluate what we try and what not to try.

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb ...go visit: http://bit.ly/cnG4ay

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb I agree with u that it’s imperative to peer your peers, to know what they’re doing, how they’re doing it; when I ...

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (1/2) Thanks Shelly, this was very fun! I look forward to seeing you in Chicago this summer.

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb ...worked in HE, I put together a group of web professionals from about 7-8 HE institutions n we met monthly 4 lunch

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb (2/2) and I encourage people to look at the other tracks as well, I’m really excited about “The Best of Both Worlds”

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb ...at each other’s institution, sometimes 2 hrs away, to talk “work”, but it gave us better insight into each other

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb Without a doubt!

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb Also, online registration is Now Open n if you’re picked 2 present, you’ll receive a discount http://bit.ly/832RgO

eduwebconf: @cyborgoddess #eduweb Well, thanks again Amy and I look forward to seeing you again this July! Spread the word n good work!

cyborgoddess: @eduwebconf #eduweb Thanks again Shelly, this was fun, see in July.

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