Online Ambassadors
Lisa ColtonChief Learning Officer, See3 Communications
President, Darim [email protected] @lisacoltonSlides: http://bit.ly/atidenu3
Agenda Today
• What we’ve done:–Understand the networked landscape
– Find your online influencers
– Build trust with transparency
• What are online ambassadors?
• Building Your Brand
• Leveraging Their Networks
• Now Make It Happen!
Know Your Market… and How It’s Changing.
• 77% of millennials say friends’ recommendations are likely or very likely to influence their purchasing.
• 78% of those 65-and-older said they were ‘not at all likely’ to base purchasing decisions on the advice of their peers.
The Pew Research Center defines millennials as being born from 1981 to 1997. That means the oldest millennials are 34
now… and their kids are starting to enter school.
Therefore, You Need Their Friends to be Making Recommendations
Where Are Parent Ambassadors?
Where Are Parent Ambassadors?
• On admissions tours and visits• At sporting events• At info nights/open houses• At the grocery store
• At cocktail parties and community events
• In neighborhood parks• And… ONLINE
BE REAL. AUTHENTICITY TRUST
In person: 1:1 and high touch. Requires opening the conversation, and likely to already “warm” prospects.
Online: 1:many and less ‘high touch’ but more frequent. Requires initiative by parent, but spreads farther, and may increase curiosity of those outside of the ‘usual suspects’.
Online Parent AmbassadorsBUILD YOUR BRAND.
“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room”
– Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon
Key Lesson #1 Online Parent Ambassadors
BUILD YOUR BRAND.
“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room”
– Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon
WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TALKING ABOUT?
Plant the seeds!
Key Messages Are Conversation Starters
Research-based excellence. Targeted at prospective population.
Asking a question invites responses.
Key Messages Are Conversation
StartersWe excel in many
developmental areas – not only
Talmud and Hebrew.
Targeting those with inaccurate
assumptions.
Key Messages Are Conversation
Starters
Our faculty are top notch. They
are loved and appreciated.
Emotional resonance and
storytelling.
Key Lesson #2Leverage Parents’ Personal Networks! (Which Include Prospective Families)
Who has the personal networks that you’re trying to reach?
• Someone who has kids in an early childhood program
• Someone involved in the business or civic community
• A beloved lay leader at another Jewish organization
• Someone who has a lot of credibility with a narrow but important segment (e.g. LGBT families, interfaith families, families with special needs kids)
• Real estate agent who helps new families moving to town.
Personally Resonant Content
is Sharable
My kid’s in that picture! I’m going to share it! This school
has great arts. Did you know I send my kids
to a Jewish Day School?
Content that’s specific, values
based and transferrable to
other populations is most shareable.
Personally Resonant Content
is Sharable
Helpful Tips: Audiences
Who are your target audience groups?
Where do you have room to grow?
Find ambassadors who are most relevant to them and really happy customers and well respected (appropriate online, friendly, etc)
Helpful Tips: Training
What kinds of ambassadors (formal or informal) do you already have in place? Educate them about your social media goals and empower them.
They may not realize the value of commenting on and especially sharing your posts, or of tagging the school page in their posts. A gentle suggestion can catalyze new behaviors.
http://darimonline.org/blog/its-everyones-job-plan-it
Helpful Tips: Content Planning
Tag parents in photos (or mention in the comments or even directly) to create ripples.
Take photos with students (or faculty or parents) holding signs – they tend to help your messages travel farther than text alone.
Helpful Tips: Social Games
Create or participate in a social tradition that represents the values of your school, and by design encourages people to share it. E.g. #thankamentorday in January.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Networks + Transparency
+ Parent Ambassadors
Awareness Campaign
Your Successes and Examples!
Q&A
• Lisa Colton [email protected]
• Twitter: @lisacolton @see3 @darimonline
• Slides: http://bit.ly/atidenu3