This presentation was presented at the NYSAIS Conference at Mohonk Mountain House in April 2014. During this presentation, I discuss a primer on word of mouth marketing, eight drivers of word of mouth, 15 strategies to implement at your school, example word of mouth marketing campaigns and a review of the top NYSAIS websites that tell their school's story online.
13. } Introduction
} A primer on word of mouth marketing
} What drives word of mouth?
} 15 strategies to drive word of mouth at your
school
} Examples of word of mouth marketing
campaigns
} NYSAIS review of websites that tell their
school’s story
17. } We rely upon word of mouth in our own
buying decisions.
18. “Word-of-mouth recommendations from
friends and family…are still the most
influential, as 84 percent of global
respondents across 58 countries to the
Nielsen online survey said this source was
the most trustworthy. Trust in advertising on
branded websites increased 9 percentage
points to 69 percent in 2013 as the second
most trusted format in 2013.”
• Nielson
84% Trust Word of Mouth
19. “92% of all consumers report that a word of
mouth recommendation is the ‘leading
reason they buy a product or service’.”
• Rand, Highly Recommended
20. Word-of-mouth is the number
one way that parents first find
out about your school.
21.
22. Isn’t it ironic that even though we know that
word of mouth is our leading inquiry source,
we don’t…
◦ Develop and implement a word of mouth marketing
plan
◦ Cut back on our traditional, outbound marketing
strategies
◦ Give our parents tools to share
◦ Tell our school’s story very well
◦ Use our website to tell stories of students, parents,
faculty and alumni
◦ Drive more word of mouth by asking parents to
invite their friends to consider your school
26. “WOMbound is the intentional and proactive
strategy to generate, facilitate and inspire
word of mouth through your advocates. It is
how brand advocacy works by harnessing the
power of word of mouth to reach your
prospective parents and students
most effectively.”
• Rick Newberry, Enrollment Catalyst
WOMbound
27. Ø New media
Ø Web-based
Ø Pull
Ø Listen
Ø Engage
Ø Hub
Ø Authentic
Ø Content
Ø Stories
Ø Old media
Ø Traditional
Ø Push
Ø Interrupt
Ø Broadcast
Ø Megaphone
Ø Slick
Ø Ads
Ø Slogans
Ø People
Ø Mouth
Ø Advocate
Ø Share
Ø Relate
Ø Conversation
Ø Trustworthy
Ø Experience
Ø Credibility
28.
29. “Word of mouth is more effective than
traditional advertising for two reasons:
First, it’s more persuasive.
Second, word of mouth is more targeted.”
• Berger, Contagious
More Effective
30.
31. “So what is word of mouth
marketing? In this book, I
define it as ‘Giving people a
reason to talk about your stuff,
and making it easier for that
conversation to take place’.”
• Sernovitz, Word of
Mouth Marketing
WHAT IS WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING?
32.
33.
34.
35. “The best marketing is the kind you don’t buy.”
“If parents are satisfied, you won’t have to spend a
dime to advertise. We talk continually about the
education of our children.”
“Your best marketing is with current parents and
students being satisfied with their education. “
36. “Stop spending so much money. Word of mouth
from satisfied families is your best marketing. An
ad is not going to influence anyone.”
“When you have a great product, it is much easier
to market and word of mouth will be
much stronger.”
48. “You must have have community before you
can ever even begin to dream of a
movement. And you know what moves
conversation within a community to
advocacy, the fuel for movements?
Passion.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation
49. “People will only talk about you if they are
inspired by their own passion.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation
50. Your parents will talk about their children
(their passion) and about their education
when they see the difference that your school
makes in their child.
54. “Word of mouth marketing only works if you
have good products and services. It only
works if people like you and trust you.”
• Sernovitz, Word of Mouth Marketing
55.
56. “Every brand and every recommendation, no
matter how big or how small, no matter how
reserved or vocal, online or offline, begins
with a relationship.”
• Rand, Highly Recommeneded
57. Word of mouth is shared and
believed in trusted relationships.
Enrollment rises and falls on
leadership and relationships.
61. } When you serve your parents or students in
an exceptional way or do something that is
memorable, this creates a moment that will
be shared by word of mouth.
66. “Like authors Chip and Dan Heath informed
us, stories stick. And here’s why: We
internalize stories. They become personal to
us, because we can imagine experiencing
them ourselves.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation
67. “No matter who you are or
what kind of company or
organization you work for,
your number-one job is to
tell your story to the
consumer wherever they are,
and preferably at the moment
they are deciding
to make a purchase.”
• Vaynerchuk, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How
to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World
68. “People don’t just share information,
they tell stories.”
• Berger, Contagious
69. } Stories about real people
◦ Faculty
◦ Staff
◦ Coaches
◦ Students
◦ Parents
◦ Alumni
77. 1. Talkers—who will tell their friends about
you?
2. Topics—what will they talk about?
3. Tools—how can you help the message travel?
4. Taking Part—how should you join the
conversation?
5. Tracking—what are people saying about you?
Ø Sernovitz, Word of Mouth Marketing
79. } A school doesn’t need a marketing director to
place ads or design fliers; A marketing
director should drive the storytelling and
word of mouth marketing effort at the school.
81. “More than 90 percent of the
conversations about products,
services, and brands that take
place every day in America
happen offline.”
• Keller and Fay, The
Face-to-Face Book
Talkers Talk Face-to-Face
82. } Personal Meetings
} Coffee and Conversation Meetings
} In Home Vision Meetings
} Large Group Meetings
} State of the School Address
} Car Line Greeting
96. } Tell the story of your school by communicating
experiences in their own words.
} Invite a friend to experience your school by
visiting campus.
} Write an online review of their experiences
} “Like” your school’s Facebook page and
participate in the conversation.
} Direct friends to your website to check out your
school.
} Refer a friend to the admissions office by having
a designated form on your website.
104. } Student Ambassador Tour Guides
} Student Blog
} Marketing Group
} Testimonials and Stories
} Videos
} Events
10
4
105. } Host a special “friend” day for current
students to invite their friends to spend the
day with them at your school.
} The goal is to encourage and motivate
current students to focus on inviting their
friends they want to encourage enrolling in
your school, especially when students are key
to the decision!
119. } On a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being very
likely, how likely are you to recommend a
friend to your school?
120. } Score of 9 or 10
} Loyal enthusiasts who keep returning and
refer others, fueling growth.
121. } Scores of 7 or 8
} Satisfied or unenthusiastic parents who are
vulnerable to other options; may have some
concerns but continue to stay the course
122. } Scores from 0 to 6
} Unhappy parents who can damage your
school’s brand and impede growth through
negative word of mouth.
158. } Some bright spots but many schools
need a website overhaul
} Similar look and feel
} Some poor first impressions
} Limited storytelling focus
} Homepage doesn’t tell the prospective
parent about the school
} Static copy and not engaging
} Out-of-date blogs