Online Community Building | For Private Schools & Summer Camps

Online Marketing for Private
Schools, Camps and Programs
Digital Communications Strategist
April 29, 2014
Copyright © Eden Spodek, Eden Spodek Inc. 2014.

Online Marketing for Private Schools, Camps and Programs
•  Digital Communications
Strategist
•  Instructor at U of T SCS Digital
Strategy Certificate
•  25 years in communications
and marketing, including
•  19 years in digital
•  Launched first online
community in 2001
•  Ran PodCamp Toronto (5 years)
•  Blogger since 2006
•  Variety industries, agency
and client-side
Introducing Eden

•  99% have access to the
Internet, mostly on cellphones
and smartphones
•  39% sleep with their
cellphones
•  Favourite websites allow users
to post and share content:
•  75% YouTube, 57% on Facebook
•  38% have posted a story or
artwork they created online
•  32% of grades 4-6 students
have a Facebook account; 16%
have a Twitter account
MediaSmarts
Global
News,
Jan.
2014

Canadians kids grades 4-11

Community Building

•  Focus on the hub (e.g. blog)
and have a regular
publishing schedule
•  link to your channels from
your website and ALL of them
– don’t make me work too
hard
•  add social sharing
buttons so people can
share your content
Observations about Engagement

•  You don’t need to be
everywhere – fish where
the fish are
•  Images are a great way to
provide a quick snapshot of
the school or camp culture
•  Tag/describe your content
assets and include your
URLs to drive traffic
•  Use calls to action (CTAs)
•  Respond to comments
•  Don’t just post, participate!
Observations about Engagement /2

Purpose of Online Communities
•  Marketing,
brand awareness,
relationship-building
•  Virtual “meeting” place
•  Collaborate with audience
and influencers directly
•  Parents
•  Staff/Partners
•  Students/Campers
•  Discover, cultivate and
reward brand ambassadors

Developing a Strategy
Ask questions
•  What are the goals?
•  How does community building
fit into your organization’s
objectives?
•  How will it be managed?
•  Internally or externally?
•  Who is your community?
•  Membership criteria
•  How can you help community
members?
•  How will you recognize and
reward members?

Developing a Strategy /2
Make Decisions
•  Understand the objective(s)
of community members and
listen to them
•  Set S.M.A.R.T. goals
•  Choose an appropriate
platform(s)
•  Decide how your community
will be managed
•  Develop guidelines
•  What will success look like?

Case Studies

•  Starbucks tracks interactions
and progress on the site and
shares them with members
•  Transparency helps build:
•  A community of collaboration
•  A feeling that members are
partners
•  Customer/brand loyalty
•  Building community around
the brand creates an
environment of trust between
Starbucks and its most
passionate customers
Case Study: My Starbucks Idea

St. Michaels University School
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgVMuAN2-wk

•  4,366 views –YouTube video
announcement
•  >250 video entries
•  30 semi-finalists
•  3 finalists selected by 14-person
panel, meet on campus May 2
•  semi-finalists evaluated on three
major criteria:
•  quality of their entry video
•  potential to get involved in all
aspects of school/boarding life
•  potential as a spokesperson for
the boarding experience during
their year as the BSYE winner
•  Winner announced May 6
•  A success! They’re already
building a mailing list to announce
next year’s contest!
Best School Year Ever campaign

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys0WVOPmA6g&list=UU8-Th83bH_thdKZDJCrn88g
Driving Earned Media

Engagement, Reputation & Trust

“The only way to build trust …
is to develop relationships and
provide valuable educational
information… Whatever it
happens to be, harvest stories
that humanize the company...”
– Gini Dietrich, Spin Sucks: Communications and
Reputation Management in the Digital Age
Building a Culture of Trust

•  Community manager – a trusted
and transparent part of the
community
•  This helps demonstrate the
community manager cares about
the community because he/she
is invested in it as well
Reputation and Community

•  Essential consideration in
strategy development
•  Define role of community
manager
•  Cultivate community
ambassadors
•  Engage, feature and highlight
your biggest fans
•  Role of other community
members (active participants,
lurkers, etc.)
•  All members need to feel like
they belong
•  Be transparent
Building a Community of Trust

Don’t Just Post…

Participate!

Show Don’t Tell

Show Me

Storytelling

Blog, blog, blog…

Paid, Earned, Social and Owned
• Social Media
• Word of Mouth
• Referrals/Reviews
• Your Website
• Your Blog
• Your Content
• Media Relations
• Blogger Relations
• Influencer Relations
• Social Advertising
• Traditional Advertising
• Sponsored Content
• Google AdWords
Paid Earned
SharedOwned

Paid Content

Earned Content

Shared Content

Owned Content

•  PAID: Our Kids continuously speaks to a
highly targeted audience, Typically that
parent who is researching school and/or
summer camp or recreation options for
her/his children
•  EARNED: Some partners, such as
Our Kids, will allow you to post articles
directly to the website (earned media) and
will highlight you in photo, article or video
features.
•  EARNED: You can also build relationships
with influencers who may help co-create and
share your content.
•  SHARED: You can pull feeds from your
Facebook and Twitter conversations onto your
Our Kids online community profile to amplify
your message
•  SHARED: If you're looking for great content to
share, such as eBooks, reports, stats,
checklists or calculators, Our Kids produces
new sharable content every month.

Amplify your message

•  Canada leads in Internet usage;
99% of kids are online
•  Build community around a
common goal, be conversational
•  Collaboration, listening, problem-
solving and sharing of meaningful
content builds community
•  Community managers are the eyes,
ears and voice of an organization
•  Integrated approach to content
distribution – “PESO” opportunities
help build relationships and amplify
your message
•  Don’t just post, PARTICIPATE!
Summary

Questions?

Thank you!

Continue the Conversation Online
Connect
Eden Spodek
Digital Communications Strategist
Eden Spodek Inc.
Eden@EdenSpodek.com
EdenSpodek.com
@EdenSpodek
LinkedIn.com/en/EdenSpodek

3 Ways Social Media Creates a Social Local Community
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-ways-social-media-creates-a-social-local-community/
Canada’s youth are highly connected, girls face different rules online: study, Global News, January 2014
http://globalnews.ca/news/1098160/canadas-youth-are-highly-connected-girls-face-different-rules-online-
study/
Capulet Goes Back to School, Darren Barefoot, February 24, 2014
http://capulet.com/2014/02/capulet-goes-back-to-school/
Delvinia’s AskingCanadians – How are Canadians Using Social Media? Stryve Group, July 12, 2012,
http://stryvegroup.com/how-are-canadians-using-social-media
Guide To Online Community Management, ReadWriteWeb, eBook,
http://www.slideshare.net/readwriteweb/rww-community-report-12107798
How are Canadians Using Social Media?, Stryve Group, July 12, 2012,
http://stryvegroup.com/how-are-canadians-using-social-media/
The Common Craft Blog, Lefever, L., July 2003, http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000208.html
My Starbucks Idea, http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/
References

No Bullshit Social Media, Deckers, E., Falls, J., 2012
Reputation Management, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reputation_management
Seven Trends in Community and Social Business for 2013, Community Roundtable, Leanne Chase,
January 3, 2013,
http://community-roundtable.com/2013/01/seven-trends-in-community-and-social-business-for-2013/
Six Revisions blog http://sixrevisions.com/mobile/design-mistakes-iphone-app/
Social, Digital & Mobile Around The World, We Are Social, January 2014
http://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/social-digital-mobile-around-the-world-january-2014
Spin Sucks: Communications and Reputation Management in the Digital Age, Dietrich G., 2014
"Structuring a Social Media Team”, Ragan/NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions white paper,
http://www.ragan.com/Main/StructuringaSocialMediaTeam.aspx
The Can't-Miss Social Media Trends For 2013, Ryan Holmes, Fast Company, November 29, 2012,
http://www.fastcompany.com/3003473/cant-miss-social-media-trends-2013
What is an Online Community, Lee Lefever, July 2009, http://www.commoncraft.com/archives/000208.html
References

Online Community Building | For Private Schools & Summer Camps

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Online Community Building | For Private Schools & Summer Camps