Must Know Strategies for Protecting your School’s Reputation OnlinePresented by: Jonathan Pogact, Director of Enterprise EDU, Fathom Education

Jonathan Pogact

@jpogact

/Fathom.Marketing.com jpogact@fathomdelivers.com

Fathomdelivers.com/education

12 Years Experience in Higher Education Marketing#5 - 30 under 30 – Direct and Interactive Marketing – DM News Former DMA Young Professional Of the Year

#heweb13

Source http://lawrenceblumberg.com

Social MediaProject

Been Around 100 Years

IMMORTAL

• “9/10 enrolled students have used the Internet to research higher education institutions”*

• “77% of education seekers will first visit a school’s website at least two weeks — and often two months — before taking action”* 

• 68% of high school students use social media to research schools**

• 38% have used it as a resource when deciding where to enroll**

• Source: https://www.google.com/think/articles/search-for-knowledge.html• **Source: 2011 E-Expectations Report sponsored by Noel-Levitz and the National

Research Center for College and University Admissions

Your Reputation Online Can Impact Leads, Enrollments, Starts, Retention and Alumni

Strategy: SEOAnd Paid Search

Source: Chitika

STRATEGY

• Do you have an SEO Strategy? – Titles – fewer than 70 characters– Meta Descriptions – 150-160 characters– Use “Screaming Frog”

• Optimize pages for negative search– Address University concerns/issues with a

dedicated page

Flash CardsLast 30 days Ranking

Facebook

AVG. RANK OF #2-3 IN SERPS

AVG. RANK OF #3-4 IN SERPS

Conversion Rate Optimization

Paid SearchReputation Strategies

• Bid on negative terms • In the event of a crisis, turn brand campaigns off• Google+ Extension • Reviews Extension

Social Media Reputation Strategies

Create/Claim Profiles

• Only 20% of clients have created profiles for the major social networks

Optimize Profiles

30% of Schools do not have an optimized profile

Google+

• Claim Authorship– Set up personal Google+ profile– Create an author bio tied to someone at School Zone– In the author bio of each blog post, include a link to your

Google+ Porfile with a ?rel=author tag attached to the end of it. It should look like: https://plus.google.com/12324324/rel=author

– Add contributor links on your Google+ personal profile– When you’ve claimed your authorship, your Google+ profile

photo will automatically show up next to each post in search results!

Questions?

Source:http://erinsumm.com/mindset-monday-a-lesson-in-listening/

University at Buffalo- Sysomos

STRATEGY

• Respond and endorse evangelists• Promote positive engagement

ADDRESSING COMPLAINTS

• Develop Strategy ahead of time for common complaints and questions

• Respond within first hour if possible..sooner is better

• Create a response library for common complaints and questions

Response Library

Type of Engagement Topic Sample Response Additional Sample Response(s)

Negative Cost

[first name], thanks for your comment. Life Line Screening offers the most affordable way to get preventive screenings while still providing you with certified professionals who perform the testing, quality technology like that which can be foundin hospitals, and doctors who read your results. We realize that this may not be enough for some, so we do offer additional discounts. In fact, you can get $20 off just by being a Facebook fan. Go to http://www.facebook.com/health.screening?sk=app_224601014220068 and use the code in the box underneath our phone number and the orange “screenings in your area” button.

Negative Scheduling

Hi [first name] – sorry you were having trouble scheduling a screening. Please give us a call at 866-203-3237 so we can help set up your screening appointment. Thanks for getting in touch through Facebook.

[As Joelle] [first name], thank you for alerting us to your experience in this area. Although some waiting should be expected depending on the number of tests ordered, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. is excessive. I assure you that we pride ourselves on meeting scheduled testing times as close as possible. As such, I would like to speak to you so that I can address this problem personally. Will you please go through our Contact Us page and leave your information so that I contact you directly. Please put “Facebook comment for Joelle” in the comment section. http://www.lifelinescreening.com/about-us/contact-us.aspx

Positive Process

Positive Recent Post/Article ShareThank you for the feedback, [first name]. We're glad you found our information helpful. Wishing good health to you and your family. Thanks for your kind words, [first name]. We wish you the best of health!

Positive Recommendation[first name], many thanks for your recommendation. We encourage you to share our page with your friends and family. Wishing you health and happiness!

Source: techgeek.com.au

Don’t FeedThe Trolls• Thank You• I’m Sorry • Don’t add fuel to the fire

Recap: Helpful Tools• Screaming Frog • Google Alerts• Trackur• Social Mention • Sysomos• Radian6

What We’ve Seen • 25% increase in organic traffic when

all profiles have been optimized and created

• 50% increase in referral traffic from social profiles

• 5% lift in organic inquires/leads

Thank you!

Presented by: Jonathan Pogact, Director of Enterprise EDU, Fathom Education