We know many of the ways that higher ed communications is unique in practice from other industries—the quirks of the academic calendar, the diverse range of audiences, the intense politics, working under a knowledge-centric mission, and so on. But another way in which higher ed stands out are the content types that only we get to wrangle—catalogs, handbooks, policies, … [Read more...] about Considerations for Special Higher Ed Content Types
editorial planning
Defining Target Audiences: Who Are We Talking To, Really?
When I ask higher ed web teams who their primary audience is, inevitably the answer is "prospective students." Makes sense, right? Since higher ed websites are such an important marketing tool, most people will agree prospective student is an appropriate primary audience. Yet, when you navigate college websites, how well does content speak to this audience? And what … [Read more...] about Defining Target Audiences: Who Are We Talking To, Really?
Optimizing Your Content for the Social Feed
The following guest post was written by Mike Petroff, digital content strategist, Harvard University. Content strategy typically starts with planning for and managing content on your own website. Words, images, videos, and other elements all fit within your carefully constructed design. But, what happens when people discover your content in spaces like Facebook and … [Read more...] about Optimizing Your Content for the Social Feed
Storytelling with On-Brand News Content
News content plays a big role in higher ed marketing and communications. It takes center stage on our website homepages and many top landing pages — not to mention our email newsletters, alumni magazines, Twitter, Facebook and other social channels. We rely on it to maintain a timely, engaging web presence. Above all, we rely on news content to help tell our story. Yet how … [Read more...] about Storytelling with On-Brand News Content
New Storytelling Platforms: Using Medium at Marquette
Own your story! It’s a common refrain of modern publishing. With so many great content tools at our disposal, we need not outsource the telling of our story to third-party media. One of my all-time favorite quotes, by former King’s College communicator Kyle Christie, sums it up nicely: Universities have an opportunity to leapfrog the mainstream media and explain our … [Read more...] about New Storytelling Platforms: Using Medium at Marquette