Marketing Made Easy: A Guide to Promotion and Awareness

Marketing Made Easy:
A Guide to Promotion and Awareness
College Advancement Services encompasses institutional communications, marketing and advertising, media relations, public relations, web brand and
content, graphic design, social media, college identity and speakers bureau. We are just one of the departments that serve the institution directly but also act as
consultants, helping YOU to promote your event, activity or program.
What’s that?!
SEO (search engine optimization) are
tactics to help our website rank well in
organic search engine results. SEM (search
engine marketing) includes search engine
optimization, paid listings and other
search-engine related services.
unication Strategy
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Media kits
Media releases
Media blog
Feature blog
d Engageme
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Ta
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PR / Comm. Web Assets
SMS / MMS
QR code
Marquee
Bridge
Media
rsion Tac
ve
What’s that?!
Dynamic text are the
ads on a search engine
that change their
message depending on
the word you typed into
the search bar.
Backlinking is when
other sites link back to
GCC’s website, which
increases our page rank
on search engines.
Radio
Television
Print
Ambient media
Direct marketing
What’s that?!
Graphic design
Brand / Logo
Imagery
Intellectual property
Brand
Dev.
Interactive
Offline
Media/
Print
Dynamic text
Backlinking
SEO / SEM
Social optimization
Social
Assets
Communication
and
Promotional
Vehicles
Search
Flicker
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Other platforms
s
tic
Con
Mobile
ics
ct
Ac
qu
Mobile web
Android
iPad / iPhone
Geo-location
Analytics
Banner features
SEO / SEM
News
Multimedia
Social games
Competitions
Facebook apps
Augmented reality
Webisodes
Info documentaries
YouTube
Animated features
Ambient media Ambient advertising is about placing ads on unusual items or in unusual
places, or subtle messages (“marketing without marketing”). At GCC this includes on-hold
messages, Gaucho TV, email headers, car wraps, online quizzes, etc.
What’s that?!
Augmented reality is
computer generated
images and information
“overlapping” the real
world of the user, making
it interactive.
What other methods do we use?
Current internal communications vehicles:
1. Gaucho +
2. Town Hall Meetings
3. Department/committee/group meetings
4. Email
5. “Roadshows” (group tours / presentations)
6. Employee page header
Emergency methods:
1. Rave MEMS alert (cell phone and email)
2. Alertus (beacon and desktop)
3. Website
4. Email
5. Social media
College Advancement spends a lot of time
studying analytics for events and activities
we promote. Why? Because it helps target our
audience. For example, GCC YouTube viewers
have an attention span of :50 seconds, so
always lead with the most critical info!
Did you know...
How do we measure the method?
METHOD
REACH/AUDIENCE
LEAD TIME
Social Media
10,000+ audience; 7 profiles; 110,000+ reach
1-2 week notice
Gaucho TV
45 impressions per day
1-2 week notice
Marquee
53,000 viewers per day; 90 sec intervals
2 weeks notice
Main webpage news section
~300,000 visits per month
News release
Measurable ROI varies
1-2 week notice; placement dependent on volume
of other events/notices
4-6 weeks in advance
Blogs
~8,000 readers/month (and growing)
2-3 weeks in advance
Broadcast media
Measurable ROI varies
2-4 weeks notice
Printed collateral (poster, brochures)
Measurable ROI varies
Magazine media / advertorial / op-eds
Campus wide email
District wide email
Rotating Web banner
Measurable ROI varies
Approx 2,400
Approx 8,000
~300,000 visits per month
4-6 weeks notice (time includes design, printing
and display time)
Variable circulation 3-4 months notice
At your discretion
2 weeks notice; ; technology standards apply
4-5 weeks notice
Gaucho+
100+ and growing
At your discretion
Who does that?
Who is able to send email notices to the campus? You can! A few tips: Write a meaningful subject line. Keep the message focused. Avoid
attachments. Identify yourself clearly. Proofread. Don’t assume privacy. Show respect and restraint. Include the statement “Please do not reply all to this
message.” Don’t abuse your colleagues’ Inbox!
Who is able to send district wide emails? College Advancement has the ability to send emails to the entire district as means for promoting an
event. Human Resources has the ability to send job opportunity announcements to the entire district. Email to the district is governed by certain criteria
and monitored carefully for ADA compliance as well as Maricopa Technology Use Policy. Email details to marketing@gccaz.edu
Checklist for a Video or Photo Shoot
r Make the call: Contact marketing and media services to propose your
idea or need.
r Know your budget and time line. Most productions take a minimum of
4 weeks.
r Getting Approval: If using students or community members in your project,
they MUST sign a model release, provided online or in the marketing office.
The release must stay on file in the marketing office.
r Building the Crew: Chose your models, actors, participants.
r Scout locations, set time and date.
r Notify marketing and public safety of the video/photo shoot location, date
and time.
r Determine style, props, colors, wardrobe you want (best practice:
don’t wear obvious logos, small prints or overly bright colors).
r Communicate: Continue to keep the models, the necessary college staff
(marketing, media, photographer) informed.
Get more info about any of these topics or templates online at www.gccaz.edu through College Advancement!
How to organize an event or promotion:
What makes this event / promotion unique?
What expertise will you share?
Who is your audience (age, demographic, location, etc)?
What do you want your audience to know?
Event Checklist
4 months prior to event
r Confirm committee and each person’s role in the event plan
r Confirm community partners
r Set preliminary budget and which budget account will be charged
r Will you need marketing support:
Graphic design Photography
Email announcement
Brochure, Flier, Poster
Gaucho TVMarquee placement
Social media push
Website post
Press release
3 months prior to event
r Set event date and time (check campus calendar for conflicts)
r Choose campus location or off-campus venue
r Reserve space for event with Facilities Management
r Choose theme (if needed)
r Add to GCC administration calendars (if needed)
r Invite/Confirm V.I.P.’s
r Who to invite (employees, community, district-wide)
r Number of people to invite
r Mechanism to invite (via email, print mail invitations)
r Coordinate invitation design with graphic designer
r Contract entertainment/speakers/vendors (if needed)
r Contract caterer or GCC’s food services (Chartwell)
r Order catering/special décor/tablecloths/napkins (Chartwell)
r Monitor budget expenditures
r Begin work on organizing video or slide presentation
2 months prior to event
r Organize mailing /email list
r Send out invitations email or printed
r Confirm dignitaries (chancellors, vice chancellors, other presidents)
r Confirm marketing strategy and publicity tools (fliers, social media)
r Confirm media/photography
r Order flowers or other decorations needed for event
r Confirm band or DJ if needed
r Who will speak and in what order
r Send printed items to printer (event programs, brochures, etc)
One month prior to event
r Decide on seating arrangement if dinner event
r Follow up phone calls to those who have not RSVP’d
Yep, that’s how the logo needs to look (red
and black, all white or all black). Thats it!
r Follow up with speakers
r Alert campus safety if event on campus
r Confirm final changes on slide or video presentation
r Confirm budget (if seeking outside sponsor, notify Development office)
r Confirm time line
r Recruit volunteers to assist
r Request checks if vendors need to be paid day off event
Two weeks prior to event
r Visit venue and verify room set-up, media equipment, arrange for drop
off location for equipment, floral, etc.
r Confirm caterer and schedule a food tasting with caterer
r Confirm photographer, florist, other outside vendors
r Get signs made for event (welcome, parking, sign in here,
silent auction, etc)
r Confirm equipment and space set up needs (tables, podium, stage)
r Confirm arrival times and load-in
r Confirm parking area for guests
r Confirm event volunteers (who will work where and do what)
r Event evaluation
r Volunteer recognition
r Request cash box from Cashiers office if money is exchanged at event
Day of event
r Arrive at venue early
r Decorate the room
r Check restrooms for cleanliness, windows and grounds
r Confirm parking if reserved
r Set up welcome, registration table
r Arrange floral arrangements on table
r Confirm food will be on time
r Checks available for vendors if payment needed this day
r Pick up and set up cash box if needed
r Take change of clothing to change into
r Meet and greet guests, vendors, guest speakers, etc
After event
r Send thank you notes to all
r Reconcile payments to vendors
r Finalize budget
r Reconcile silent auction or raffle if done at event
r Plus delta with committee
r Return cash box to cashiers
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Did you know...
GCC promotes more than 500 events and features per semester?
College Advancement generates more than 390 graphic design jobs
and 9,000 photos per year?
CMYK: 70,67,64,74 CMYK: 17,97,100,4 CMYK: 30,39,72,4
RGB: 34,31,32
RGB: 198,44,40
RGB: 178,146,93
CMYK: 82,49,31,7
RGB: 34,31,32
What’s this? A legal
footer. It has to be on
ALL promotional pieces.
So yes, you have to
use it.
Guidelines for writing copy that gets read
When writing for the public (news releases, web, email communications, etc) , the college uses Associate Press Style in most all cases.
For Web: People read website differently than a printed page. Nearly 80% of us scan webpages, trying to quickly determine what’s relevant and reading only
20% of the text on a page. Write your page content—then cut it in half! Users won’t scroll through a mass of text. Cut, cut, cut until your message is distilled to
its essence. Don’t waste space welcoming readers to your page. There is no need and it will be ignored.
For Web & Print: Use concise and very short paragraphs that communicate a single idea. Aim for 300 words per page. Write meaningful page titles and subheadings that make information easy to find. White space makes pages more readable. Use the journalist’s tool of the “inverted pyramid” and write the
most important or most newsworthy information first. Write content that is easy to read and understand. This is not the place to show off your extensive
vocabulary. Avoid big, scholarly words or technical jargon.
• Highlight key words in bold – but be careful. Too much bold makes text
harder to read.
• Do not underline text. It will be mistaken for a broken link.
Commonly Misused or Misspelled Words
advisor
decision making (n.)
African-American (adj.)
decision-making (adj.)
African American (n.)
email
alums (to replace alumni/ae) extracurricular
alumni (adj.)
first-come, first-served
catalog
first-year (adj.)
coauthor
full-time (adj.)
codirector
fundraising
course work (two words)
GCC Main campus
GCC North campus
grade point average (no
hyphens) GPA
intercampus
interdisciplinary
interlibrary
Internet
log in, log out (verb)
login (noun)
Common Mistakes
• Anyway, not anyways; backward, not backwards; afterward, not
afterwards; toward, not towards.
• All together, not altogether (slang); all right, not alright; a lot, never alot
• Everyday (mundane) or every day (meaning every single day)
• Everyone (meaning a general group of people) or every one (meaning
each individual item)
Ex. Everyone wants to be happy. Every one of the clues was worthless.
*This same reasoning applies to anyone/any one, anybody/any body.
• Half the time, not half of the time.
• Her and I, me and her? When you write the sentence, cover up either the
name or the pronoun and the sentence should sound correct. Example:
Pam and I went to the store. The sentence, Pam went to the store sounds
CREATing POWERFUL PowerPoint Slides
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•
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• Don’t use ALL CAPS. It feels like YOU ARE SHOUTING AT ME.
• Avoid abundant exclamation points.
• Use italics sparingly. They can be hard to read.
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•
•
•
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long-range (adj.)
long-term (adj.)
multidisciplinary
nonprofit
ongoing
online
part-time
postsecondary
present-day
RSVP or r.s.v.p. (not R.S.V.P.)
smartphone / cellphone
theatre (as in theatre
arts program and
Performing Arts Theatre)
U.S. (adj., ie., U.S. gov’t)
United States (n.)
webpage
website (not Web site)
correct, and so does: I went to the store.
Hopefully - Means to be in a hopeful, wishful manner. He stood on the
dock waiting hopefully for her. It does not mean: let us hope, it is hoped, or
we hope. Do not use it as: Hopefully we will finish our work. Instead use:
We hope to finish our work.
It’s or its, not its’. It’s means: it is. Its is the possessive form of the
pronoun. The church has its own library.
Regardless, not irregardless. Irregardless is not a word.
Seldom or hardly ever, not almost never.
Should have, not should of. Could have, not could of. Must have, not must
of. May have, not may of.
As a general rule, use only six lines per slide, six words per line -- do not put too much info on a slide (and do not include your entire speech)
Font size: 24 pt type at the smallest. Use subtle amounts of color.
Use colors carefully; roughly 1 in 4 men are colorblind.