Here's a twist on promoting a website. It's old school, but certainly appropriate for a segment of the Vermont Partnership's audience.
Very simply, I've taken images and content from the pending website's home page and have created a full-color rack card, which can be distributed by the organization at seminars, off site presentations or to anyone stopping into the Brattleboro office at 214 Main Street who may need more information. They will be printed digitally, three-up on an 8.5" X 11" sheet and cut to size without any paper waste.
It may be hard to believe, but collateral materials still have a place in any marketing mix. Not everyone is tethered to the web, and some of us find value in holding onto information that's in printed form.
I've prepared the attached file as a kind of leave behind for this Saturday's Capstone defense. I'm arranging to print about 30 copies and will be sure that the examiners in the room leave the presentation with enough to share.
These are not expensive to produce and I'd encourage my friends at the Vermont Partnership to think about whether this might be something they'd like to pursue. Content can be edited to suit whatever audience we wish to target. Good idea?
~ PLJ
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Site Analytics - How do we know what's working?
Web analytics are like a report card for websites. What are we doing right? What can we be doing better?
Analytics provide a snapshot of just about anything you can think to measure on a website. But it helps if there is critical mass. The current Vermont Partnership website had the Google analytics code added on July 19 so there isn't much historical depth for analysis. It's enough to know that we can continue tracking activity over the next several weeks until the new site is ready for launch. We'll have benchmarks and can use the data as a case history.
Now's probably a good time to also look into other web analytics tools that may have been missed due to Google's long shadow. Several of the following could help the Vermont Partnership understand more about its audience:
Klout.com is a niche tool specifically created to provide analytics for Twitter users.
Mouseflow.com provides realtime user studies and analytics tools for websites.
GoingUp.com integrates popular analytics and SEO tools in one interface to see how a website is performing from all points of view.
Radian6.com provides a complete platform to listen, measure and engage with customers across the entire social web.
This is another task that needs to be tracked on a weekly basis. The number of analytics shown in the presentation below may be too much for any one individual or small non-profit organization. Still, it's nice to know it's there if someone asks the question.
~ PLJ
Analytics provide a snapshot of just about anything you can think to measure on a website. But it helps if there is critical mass. The current Vermont Partnership website had the Google analytics code added on July 19 so there isn't much historical depth for analysis. It's enough to know that we can continue tracking activity over the next several weeks until the new site is ready for launch. We'll have benchmarks and can use the data as a case history.
Now's probably a good time to also look into other web analytics tools that may have been missed due to Google's long shadow. Several of the following could help the Vermont Partnership understand more about its audience:
Klout.com is a niche tool specifically created to provide analytics for Twitter users.
Mouseflow.com provides realtime user studies and analytics tools for websites.
GoingUp.com integrates popular analytics and SEO tools in one interface to see how a website is performing from all points of view.
Radian6.com provides a complete platform to listen, measure and engage with customers across the entire social web.
This is another task that needs to be tracked on a weekly basis. The number of analytics shown in the presentation below may be too much for any one individual or small non-profit organization. Still, it's nice to know it's there if someone asks the question.
~ PLJ
Social Media - Action Plan
I realize that I just posted about Facebook, but the Vermont Partnership deserves a broader initiative with regard to social media. There are other social media tools that will contribute to building community; Facebook just happens to be the one grabbing most of the headlines.
The social media action plan that's been developed attempts to organize everything from email marketing to Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. For each, a specific metric has been created, which will serve as a starting point for tracking the success of that initiative.
Over time a judgement will be made as to whether the necessary time to juggle the various initiatives is worthy of the results.
As the document is reviewed, be aware of the need to identify key "influencers." These are individuals who the Vermont Partnership needs to bring into its community, either through a "fan" relationship on Facebook, or by including them on email distribution lists. For now, I've just identified various constituent categories.
Also, keyword search will be an on-going activity to optimize search. The list of keywords detailed here represent a reliable starting point based on results gleaned from Google Adwords and keyword search. We can't go wrong with these; but we might do even better with others.
Feedback is always welcome. Thanks.
~ PLJ
The social media action plan that's been developed attempts to organize everything from email marketing to Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. For each, a specific metric has been created, which will serve as a starting point for tracking the success of that initiative.
Over time a judgement will be made as to whether the necessary time to juggle the various initiatives is worthy of the results.
As the document is reviewed, be aware of the need to identify key "influencers." These are individuals who the Vermont Partnership needs to bring into its community, either through a "fan" relationship on Facebook, or by including them on email distribution lists. For now, I've just identified various constituent categories.
Also, keyword search will be an on-going activity to optimize search. The list of keywords detailed here represent a reliable starting point based on results gleaned from Google Adwords and keyword search. We can't go wrong with these; but we might do even better with others.
Feedback is always welcome. Thanks.
~ PLJ
073110 social media_action_plan
View more documents from Peter Lloyd Johnson.
What to do about Facebook?
...the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Organizations looking to build community would be well advised to pay attention to this phenomenon.
It's not enough to build a website and call it a day. People access the web today for so many different reasons that a "one-size fits all" strategy won't generate the results you want.
Television, radio and print media can only dream about the communications possibilities that Facebook provides. Viewed from a cost/benefit perspective, there's no one close. But it does require attention.
As with anything web related, content is king. People are looking to engage in a community that gives them something. What are you planning to give that community today? How about tomorrow and the next day?
Never lose sight of the fact that Facebook is a channel; it's a tool that is a means to an end. It doesn't replace a sound communications strategy. It facilitates the process.
Accept that fact and then think about the collection of recommendations shown on this outline. Anything is possible.
~ PLJ
It's not enough to build a website and call it a day. People access the web today for so many different reasons that a "one-size fits all" strategy won't generate the results you want.
Television, radio and print media can only dream about the communications possibilities that Facebook provides. Viewed from a cost/benefit perspective, there's no one close. But it does require attention.
As with anything web related, content is king. People are looking to engage in a community that gives them something. What are you planning to give that community today? How about tomorrow and the next day?
Never lose sight of the fact that Facebook is a channel; it's a tool that is a means to an end. It doesn't replace a sound communications strategy. It facilitates the process.
Accept that fact and then think about the collection of recommendations shown on this outline. Anything is possible.
~ PLJ
073010 facebook reco
View more documents from Peter Lloyd Johnson.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Audience segmentation
We're taught that good communicators know the importance of audience segmentation: people or groups of people who share a common interest and who are likely to respond (predictably) to a specific message.
How to speak to a specific audience is an art form. What are their concerns? What do they want to hear from us? What sort of response are we looking to generate? What's the best method for communication?
As we go about developing the Vermont Partnership website, we need to identify different audience interests so that appropriate content is generated. The site's value to a targeted respondent is directly related to the amount of useful information that's found.
For example, do education administrators see anything of value when they visit the VPFD website? Will they call us if we don't give them useful content?
The spreadsheets shown below provide an audience summary for the Vermont Partnership. There are segments within segments, but for now, here's where we'll start.
"Honor thy audience." Know who they are, and keep them close.
~ PLJ
073010 stakeholder summary
How to speak to a specific audience is an art form. What are their concerns? What do they want to hear from us? What sort of response are we looking to generate? What's the best method for communication?
As we go about developing the Vermont Partnership website, we need to identify different audience interests so that appropriate content is generated. The site's value to a targeted respondent is directly related to the amount of useful information that's found.
For example, do education administrators see anything of value when they visit the VPFD website? Will they call us if we don't give them useful content?
The spreadsheets shown below provide an audience summary for the Vermont Partnership. There are segments within segments, but for now, here's where we'll start.
"Honor thy audience." Know who they are, and keep them close.
~ PLJ
073010 stakeholder summary
View more presentations from PLloydJohnson.
The Vermont Partnership brand - as defined by WORDLE
Visual cues that aid the development of a brand seem like an important accessibility tool. But it wasn't until last night that I finally figured out how I might explain the mission of the Vermont Partnership to a big portion of our audience.
Recall that a visual learner is anyone who thinks in images, not words. They're more likely to remember what they see, but may forget what they hear. They have a wild imagination, and excel at spatial tasks, but may have trouble with math, organizational skills and getting to work on time.
Since accessibility is such an important IT concept, it makes sense to apply online tools to text-heavy research in order to create a visual representation of the Vermont Partnership brand. If someone was truly having trouble understanding the organization's mission, wouldn't a picture help to bring it in focus? Would it truly be worth a thousand words?
A simple change in the organization's name was enough explanation for auditory/aural learners. Does the presentation below help define the organization's brand for visual types?
~PLJ
Recall that a visual learner is anyone who thinks in images, not words. They're more likely to remember what they see, but may forget what they hear. They have a wild imagination, and excel at spatial tasks, but may have trouble with math, organizational skills and getting to work on time.
Since accessibility is such an important IT concept, it makes sense to apply online tools to text-heavy research in order to create a visual representation of the Vermont Partnership brand. If someone was truly having trouble understanding the organization's mission, wouldn't a picture help to bring it in focus? Would it truly be worth a thousand words?
A simple change in the organization's name was enough explanation for auditory/aural learners. Does the presentation below help define the organization's brand for visual types?
~PLJ
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Key Performance Indicators: Is this stuff working?
Key performance indicators (KPIs) help organizations understand how well they're performing in relation to their strategic goals and objectives. Yes, financial data is important in any corporate analysis, but truly healthy organizations go beyond the balance sheet to see if there are other indicators that reveal areas of strength or weakness.
Consider: doctors measure blood pressure, cholesterol level, heart rate and a person's body mass index to assess general health. KPIs attempt to do the same for organizations.
What's important is that KPIs should be used as a learning tool to help organizations grow. They should equip employees to make smarter decisions. They should improve performance.
They should NOT be used to control and monitor people.
I believe that KPIs have a role to play in the Vermont Partnership's web refresh initiative. Communication is a two-way street; we may think we're making sense, but our core KPIs may cause us to think otherwise. If we're not paying attention to simple metrics, our entire communication effort is compromised and no one wins.
I've identified four different KPIs that deserve examination as we move forward with this Capstone initiative. Experience may lead us to others, but the recommendations listed on the attache will get us thinking about what's important as this moves forward.
Have a read and chime in if you see anything worth adding. Thanks ~ PLJ
Consider: doctors measure blood pressure, cholesterol level, heart rate and a person's body mass index to assess general health. KPIs attempt to do the same for organizations.
What's important is that KPIs should be used as a learning tool to help organizations grow. They should equip employees to make smarter decisions. They should improve performance.
They should NOT be used to control and monitor people.
I believe that KPIs have a role to play in the Vermont Partnership's web refresh initiative. Communication is a two-way street; we may think we're making sense, but our core KPIs may cause us to think otherwise. If we're not paying attention to simple metrics, our entire communication effort is compromised and no one wins.
I've identified four different KPIs that deserve examination as we move forward with this Capstone initiative. Experience may lead us to others, but the recommendations listed on the attache will get us thinking about what's important as this moves forward.
Have a read and chime in if you see anything worth adding. Thanks ~ PLJ
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