Web Marketing & Communications

Colleges and Universities are undergoing a fundamental shift in how they operate and interact with their prospective student audience. It’s now happening on the Web! That’s why many of today’s leading institutions are now implementing technologies including Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions and Web Content Management Systems (CMS) to help keep pace with student needs.

To learn more about these solutions and how they might help your institution keep up, join Sasha Peterson National Director of Sales, Hobsons EMT and Lance Merker, CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc. for this informative FREE, 30-minute technology-made-simple tutorial.

See the trends in methods used to service prospective students and applicants and how a CRM application might be applied. Learn which lessons can be taken from the commercial world, points to consider when evaluating a CRM solution and current practices of progressive institutions around the country.

And, to help improve your Web presence, find out why a CMS is a “must-have” tool for today’s Higher Education marketing, communications and admissions professionals. See how implementing and using a CMS to manage your content is easier than you might think!

This webcast is ideal for Admissions Officers, Enrollment Managers, Marketing/Communications professionals and Webmasters.

When it comes to web content management, there are no greater challenges than content repurposing and template controlled publishing. Your institution's website is complex, interconnected, and must be managed with the right balance of tools and techniques. XML combined with XSLT is the ideal way to tame the beast. But, is it worth the burden? And, what are real costs and risks associated with the migration to this new, powerful architecture?

To learn more about how to reduce the risks and speed your migration to XML, join Lance Merker, CEO of OmniUpdate, Inc. for this free, 30 minute webcast. You'll learn how to:

• Take advantage of the XML/XSLT architecture
• Selectively use XML and XSLT to repurpose content and manage design
• Benefit immediately - without a complete website redesign
• Best deploy template controlled publishing, while mitigating migration risks

We'll also demonstrate how the latest release of OmniUpdate, version 7 can help you better manage the transition of your institution's website to XML.

This webcast is ideal for college and university webmasters, web developers and designers.

Marketing an extension campus is a challenge; and, generating solid applications, even more so. The environment is so very different from traditional undergraduate marketing. Building the prospect pool requires different approaches from the mass media and mailing efforts of only 5 years ago. The marketplace requires you to look at this differently, to utilize new resources and allocate budgets accordingly.

To determine approaches that will help you meet your goals, join Jim Paskill, President of Paskill, Stapleton & Lord. Some of the questions Mr. Paskill will answer include:

• How influential is Web marketing with this audience?
• What are the various options, as well as pros and cons of different Internet approaches?
• How do I effectively integrate the Web with traditional media and overall institutional marketing?
  

This 30-minute webcast includes valuable information for Directors of Marketing, VPs and AVPs for Enrollment and Admissions at Extension Campuses.

Are you planning to implement a web content management system for your college or university? Before you narrow your list down to simply a choice between open-source or commercial software, you might want to have a closer look at an On-Demand CMS.

No longer just for Google^TM or Facebook©, the Web is now used to deliver incredibly powerful, flexible and easy-to-use web content management features directly to your desktop. And, beyond the obvious advantages-lower cost, ease of use, implementation & support-there are some surprising developer advantages to implementing an On-Demand CMS.

To find out why, if you're serious about delivering enhanced services on your college's website an On-DemandCMS is the only way to go, please join Lance Merker, President/CEO of OmniUpdate, Inc for this informative webcast.

You'll learn more about OmniUpdate, the leading on-demand CMS and the most deployed CMS in Higher Education today. See how OmniUpdate's unique On-Demand approach to web content management can help you:

• Efficiently manage content and maintain design utilizing an open standards-based approach
• Streamline and automate management and re-use of content
• Offer your users an intuitive, familiar editing environment, complete with authoring tools they'll actually want to use
• More easily Integrate Web 2.0 technologies including RSS and Blogs into your website to deliver enhanced services

Blogs are one of the hottest trends in Higher Education marketing and recruiting. Student, faculty, alumni and even parent blogs-all can be very powerful tools to help your institution communicate using authentic voices.

If you've considered starting a blog but are not sure where to begin or what's involved, join Lance Merker, President/CEO of OmniUpdate, Inc. for the latest blogging tips, tricks and tools.

During this FREE webcast you'll learn:

• What's a blog and ideas for using blogs in recruiting and communications
• Who should blog and why
• Which tools you will need and how to get started
• Tips for success and realizing blog ROI

Blogs are a simpler than you think to implement and manage. Get started down the path to blogging success today by joining us for this informative 30-minute webcast!

This webcast is ideal for professionals in:

• Admissions
• Marketing & Communications
• Web Development

Are user needs really at odds with your message delivery goals? Can you meet the needs of your prospective student site users and be sure they "get" your institution's points of distinction?

Join Stephanie Geyer from Noel-Levitz for insight into how you can both clarify the Web content needs of prospective students while integrating memorable messages from your brand platform. Ms. Geyer will share national research on the content goals of prospective students and ideas to implement on your site, including suggestions for:

Crafting content that matters to students
Creating new opportunities through content and functionality to deliver your messages
Extending brand-centric content into your e-communications
If you're trying to create content for your website that balances the needs of all of your stakeholders, then join us for this highly informative 30 minutes!

This webcast is ideal for professionals in:

• Admissions
• Marketing & Communications
• Web Development

Noel-Levitz Presents... Exceeding E-Expectations: A Little Effort Will Pay Off Quickly

Do you know…

• Which is the most sought-after functionality on a college or university website (Hint: it happens to be one of the rarest)?
• How students want to hear from you and when?
• How to create a “My Space” environment on your site?

To help you answer some of these key e-recruitment questions and explore options to move your site into the Web 2.0 era, join Stephanie Geyer of Noel-Levitz for a review of the latest findings from the ground-breaking E-expectations study of more than 1000 college-bound students.

Data from a survey of more than 450 college and university admissions officers will be included to provide a sense of what your competitors may (or may not) be doing on their sites…yet.

This webcast is ideal for professionals in:

• Enrollment Management
• Admissions
• Marketing & Communications

Redesigning the College Website – Expert Tips to Help Ensure Success

Having an effective Web presence is vital for today’s colleges and universities and the major reason why so many institutions have a site redesign planned. But while a redesign can be a wise marketing investment, it can be a major project to manage, with plenty of opportunities to get behind schedule and go over budget.

For tips on how to have a successful redesign project, join Andrew Soderberg of Merlin Media, Inc., a leading Higher Education Web Design firm for this FREE webcast.

During this live, 30-minute webcast, Mr. Soderberg will share insights he’s gleaned from designing and implementing websites for many colleges and universities, including how-to’s for:

• Selecting the right design partner
• Getting at the “real” requirements
• Designing for ADA 508 and compliance
• Selecting & implementing a CMS
• Migration planning
• Bringing it all together – how to stay on target & enjoy the process
• Life after a redesign

So, if you're considering a redesign, planning one or have one underway, you'll not want to miss this webcast!

Get Personal on the Web – Solutions to Improve One-to-One Communications Using the College Website

The college website has a very challenging mission. It’s expected to serve everyone on campus as well as meet the personal information needs of each student, alumni, faculty and staff member. That’s a pretty tall order for any website and the major reason why most college website have thousands of pages!

What if there was a simple solution – one magical web page – for delivering personalized content from the college website directly to each and every member of your campus community? And, what if this one page could capture their attention, offering the kind of personalized online experience found in sites like MySpace®, Google™ and Yahoo®?

Sound intriguing? To learn more, join Lance Merker, President/CEO of OmniUpdate Inc., for a demonstration of OmniUpdate’s OU OnePage™. OnePage is a web communications portal solution designed to help your institution’s website reach and communicate more effectively, one-to-one.

In 30 minutes see how, using OnePage, you can easily:

• Target content from your existing website to different groups, all without creating separate sites or maintaining additional web pages
• Give your students an online “hangout” where they’ll want to be and where you know you can always find them
• Unify campus communications providing centralized access to Chat, email and other web applications
• Maintain a strong online connection with students as they graduate, offering them their own personalized homepage to your alumni website
• Do all of this securely, maintaining control and leveraging your current Web investments

See why OU OnePage is a revolution in campus Web communications and unlike any other portal solution you’ve seen!

This webcast is ideal for Higher Education professionals involved in:

• Marketing and Communications
• Web Services
• Student Affairs
• Alumni Relations

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Building a Virtual Alumni Organization... and how a web content management system can help you get there

The Web has the potential of being the best way to connect alumni in a “virtual” community of lifelong friendship and in support of their alma mater. However, having an effective Web-based alumni organization is more than just having alumni web pages. It’s all about building a brand in cyberspace!

To find what makes an alumni website successful, please join Director of Web Communications for The Ohio State University Alumni Association, Connie Wanstreet. Learn how one visionary Alumni organization is using their website to become the biggest and best member-based alumni organization in the country.

Topics include:

• Building a Virtual Alumni Organization – How to deliver online global access to core programs and services programs and link alumni with each other using the website
• Having a Strategic Plan–See how the Association has developed a focused strategic plan for their website and what they have planned next
• The Critical Role of Content Management – Learn why the Association chose OmniUpdate to manage their web content and how OmniUpdate is being used to support their virtual alumni community
• Insights– Learnings from the Association’s staff for building a successful virtual alumni organization

This webcast is ideal for professionals involved in all aspects of Educational Advancement including:

• Alumni Relations & Alumni Organizations
• Marketing & Communications
• Development
• Fund-Raising & Giving

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Choosing the Right CMS

Selecting a Content Management System (CMS) for managing your College or University’s web content can be overwhelming. Deciding which features are important and how to best meet the diverse needs of many departments and users—staff, faculty & even students—can be, in a word, challenging.

Also, finding a solution that can be deployed quickly, with minimal training and on-going support can be tricky.

And, doing all of this without busting your budget can seem downright impossible.

If this sounds all too familiar, then join Lance Merker, President/CEO OmniUpdate, Inc.for this 30 minute webcast to learn how to determine which CMS will work for your institution and tips to help ensure you're successful in implementing a solution. Topics include:

• Top 3 CMS misconceptions
• Key Feature Considerations: What’s important and why
• How much should it cost?

We’ll also introduce you to OmniUpdate—the CMS most used by Colleges and Universities to manage their Web content. We’ll show you how powerful, flexible and easy-to-use OmniUpdate is by actually training you to use it during this webcast!

This webcast is ideal for those:

• Currently evaluating CMS solutions
• Planning a website redesign
• Interested in learning more about Web Content Management

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Marketing to Adult Learners

Recent declines in international graduate enrollment, combined with other economic factors are changing the landscape for graduate admissions professionals, as well as those involved in promoting part-time education. Now more than ever, it's critical that institutions be able to effectively reach and market to adult learners.

To find out some of the best methods for recruiting adult learners, join Jim Paskill of Paskill, Stapleton & Lord for an examination of the unique challenges involved marketing to adults and part-time students. Topics discussed will include:

• Adult learners - Who are they? Where are they? How do you reach them?
• How do we build the relationship?
• Role of the Website & Email
• Top three mistakes when marketing to adults & how to avoid them

Who should attend:

• Graduate admissions marketing
• Adult & continuing education professionals
• Webmaster

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What's the Good Word - Effective Keyword Selection for Search Engine Marketing in Higher Education

Search engines have become a significant component of a successful online marketing campaign. And, effective keyword selection is vital to the success of your search engine marketing campaign. But as many of you might have already discovered, selecting the right keywords is a complex mix of creativity and analysis. If you'd like to learn more about perfecting the art and science of keyword selection, join Mark Shay founder, President and CEO of Educational Directories Unlimited, Inc. the producer of GradSchools.com and StudyAbroad.com for this tutorial on keywords.

What you will learn:

• Major search engines—what do you need to know about how they work
• Free vs. paid campaigns—which is right for you
• Techniques for determining keyword competition
• ROI: How to measure & evaluate the cost-effectiveness of keywords
• Tips for making your website an effective destination

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Meeting E-expectations: Are your Website and e-communications programs making the grade?

We know that college-bound students use the Internet as a key resource in their research and enrollment process. But do you really understand what they expect from your institution's site? What are their top content targets? What online services do they need to work through their decision process? How should your school integrate new communications technologies, such as instant and text messaging, into tried and true communication flows?

Stephanie Geyer of Noel-Levitz will review the findings of a recent study of more than 1000 college-bound students to help you answer some of these key e-recruitment questions.

What you will learn:

• Discover how many of the top-rated, self-service online features your site offers and which you should plan to add TODAY.
• Find out what types of content college-bound students target when they visit your site.
• Explore how new communications technologies, such as instant and text messaging, can be integrated into traditional communication flows.

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SUNY Oswego: A Case Study in Designing a Brand-Driven Web Presence

Planning a redesign of your institution's website? Want to meet your goals, while avoiding as many project pitfalls as possible?

Then, join Drew Hill, Web Coordinator at SUNY Oswego, as he presents a case study on how his institution created, launched, and continues to maintain, an award winning website. Learn how SUNY Oswego successfully redesigned a complex site and implemented a web content management system. Topics include:

• RFP considerations
• Navigating organizational change
• Project management best practices
• Key considerations to maintain brand consistency
• Do's & Don'ts

So, if you're considering a redesign, have begun one or are simply looking for ways to help make your site more brand-driven, you'll not want to miss this webcast!

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All About RSS In Higher Ed- What it is and How it Fits Into Your Communications Strategy

You may have heard the buzz about RSS (Real Simple Syndication). RSS is quickly gaining popularity as the easiest way to get the latest information from the Web. But, is RSS just another technology fad or is it potentially the most powerful communications tool you have to market your institution and communicate with students, faculty, alumni and prospective students?

To find out, join us for this informative webcast where we will help demystify RSS and discuss its practical application to recruiting, marketing and communications. Topics include:

• RSS & Content syndication - what is syndication, how does it work and why is it important
• How RSS is being used by colleges & universities today
• How to implement RSS on your campus
• Role of RSS in your marketing and communications strategy

If you're responsible for marketing, recruiting or communications for your institution, this is your opportunity to quickly get up to speed on this emerging trend in Higher Education communications.

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Driving Enrollment: Tools and Strategies for Improving Your Website's Recruiting Performance

Join John Stapleton of Paskill, Stapleton & Lord for the 3rd webcast in the "Trends in Higher Education Marketing" Series. Learn about simple tools and techniques to improve your website's ability to attract, manage and communicate with target student pools.

Topics include:

• Search engine optimization
• Laser-like strategies to increase your web effectiveness
• Increasing site personalization (Microsites, Email marketing, etc...)

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Join John Stapleton of Paskill, Stapleton & Lord for the 2nd webcast in the "Trends in Higher Education Marketing" Series. Learn what mix of publications and online methods (websites, emails) are affective at reaching today's students and parents. Also, learn which contact strategies and schedules work best.

Topics include:

• Integrated Marketing—How your website and viewbook most effectively work together
• Seven issues important to Millennials and how you address them
• Beyond the Viewbook—what else do you need?

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Trends & Tactics in Higher Education Marketing

Research and experience has shown that families are searching for colleges and universities earlier than ever before and that their first contact with a school is usually through their website. This change in how students find you and you find students is universal, irreversible and profound.

To learn how you and your staff can best take advantage of this change, join John Stapleton of Paskell, Stapleton & Lord.