Together with my team I developed a coordinated approach to communications at the University of Newcastle and this presentation provides a summary of this work.
2. Student Communications Journey
Timing 2010 – Prior to
establishment of Student
Comms function
Semester 1, 2011
Student Comms function
established
Semester 2, 2011 Semester 1 and 2, 2012
Summary of
approach
No calendar
Single channels
Inconsistent language, tone
and style
Calendar established
Weekly creative
Single business owner
Web page designed and
developed in-house
Individual comms plan for
SAS
3 week integrated creative
campaign
Message coordinated
across multiple business
owners
Web page designed
externally and developed
in-house
Facebook and Twitter
added to integrated
approach
Integrated campaigns
Single source of truth for all-
student communication -
Experience Newcastle
Semester based proactive
campaigns
Cooperative traffic (channels
direct students interested in a
message, who then receive
the added value of seeing
other relevant messages)
Page Views No measurement 2,000 page views per cycle 6,000 page views per cycle 25,000 page views per
semester
Engagement One way communication One way communication Resource intensive
(creative/ development)
Highly engaged – commenting
on, liking and sharing stories
(two way communication)
Examples
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SEEWP PROJECT SHOWCASE – STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS 2012 | www.newcastle.edu.au
STUDENT
COMMUNICATION
CHANNELS:
4. AN INTEGRATED APPROACH: EXPERIENCE NEWCASTLE CYCLES
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SEEWP PROJECT SHOWCASE – STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS 2012 | www.newcastle.edu.au
5. AN INTEGRATED APPROACH: EXPERIENCE NEWCASTLE
1. Website
• The key communications channel for
all students.
• A collection of information from over 60
business owners across the University
• Grouped into four key communication
cycles across the semester
• Promoted across multiple channels
managed by the team
• Encourages students to engage with
the content through social media
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6. CHANNELS (contd)
• HTML emails:
– Sent to all students at the start of each communication cycle encouraging them to engage with
the new content on Experience Newcastle
– Significantly reduces the number of emails students are receiving by coordinating content into a
professionally designed email
• Social media:
– Social Media channels are integrated with Experience Newcastle content through Facebook
(posts, comments, shares, likes), Twitter and YouTube videos.
• Digital signage:
– By December 2012, there will be a total of 49 TV screens across
• Callaghan
• Central Coast
• City
• The Conservatorium
• Sydney campuses
• The team is also sending displays to TAFE Port Macquarie for promotion on their network.
- The signage network is used to drive students to Experience Newcastle
- A centralised approach where business owners send their information/slides to one central point
- The team has provided support to business owners by writing guidelines, training manuals, and
easy-to-use templates for the signage network as well as general communication advice.
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7. INTEGRATED COMMUNICATION: PROMOTION OF THE STUDENT FEEDBACK ON
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE SURVEY
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8. INTEGRATED COMMUNICATION: PROMOTION OF A SAAF FUNDED PROJECT
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9. The integrated model supports ongoing and return traffic to Experience Newcastle. Spikes in traffic
are driven by key communication pieces such as HTML emails and Facebook posts.
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SEEWP PROJECT SHOWCASE – STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS 2012 | www.newcastle.edu.au
EVALUATION OF
STUDENT
COMMUNICATION
CHANNELS:
11. Experience Newcastle
From February 2012 to November 2012, the Experience Newcastle site
received 49,291 page views and 35,653 unique page views, which ranks
the site as the 37th most visited page on the www.newcastle.edu.au web
site.
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SEEWP PROJECT SHOWCASE – STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS 2012 | www.newcastle.edu.au
12. HTML Emails
In 2012, email, in the main, has been
coordinated through the team into a multi-item,
collaborative piece, sent to 37,271 enrolled
students at the beginning of each Experience
Newcastle cycle.
This is a total of eight emails sent to the all-
student email list
14% of 2012 traffic to Experience Newcastle
(6,717 visits) has been from students clicking
through to view further information from the
eight HTML emails.
Based on over 200 pieces of content written for
Experience Newcastle in 2012 and the
collaborative approach to sending multiple
messages in a single student email, we believe
there to be an estimated 54% reduction in the
number of emails students receive from the
University in a year.
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13. Social Media – Facebook likes
Facebook is the most successful channel for communicating with students.
In September 2012, an incentive campaign was launched, significantly increasing likes
during the campaign period by 66% to 41 likes per day (total likes during campaign
period of 54 days: 2228).
The chart illustrates the steady increase in Facebook likes following the initial launch
campaign in July – September 2011.
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14. Social Media – Facebook reach
An important outcome of increasing the UoN Students Facebook fan base has been the
positive impact on reach.
Total reach is the number of unique individuals who have seen any content related to the
Facebook Page.
As an individual student likes or interacts with the page, it also displays in the newsfeed of
their friends.
As the fan base has grown, reach has also increased by an average of 51%. The below chart
shows the increase in reach since September 2011.
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15. Social Media – Facebook engagement
Working with 67 stakeholders across the University, and ensuring the content is exciting
and encourages response is key to increasing engagement.
Weekly engagement and people talking about the page has increased from an average
of 136 comments, likes and shares a week, to an average of 239. This is an increase in
engagement of 43%.
The below chart shows the increase in engagement since Sept 2011.
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16. Social Media – Facebook Win A VIP Experience
In September 2012, a new incentive campaign was launched, significantly
increasing likes during the campaign period by 66% to 41 likes per day (total likes
during campaign period of 54 days: 2228).
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SEEWP PROJECT SHOWCASE – STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS 2012 | www.newcastle.edu.au
17. Digital Signage
In 2012, an estimated 250 different digital slides have displayed unique
messages to students over up to 49 TVs, lecture theatres and screensavers.
The key call to action with the all-student digital signage messages is “visit
www.newcastle.edu.au/experience for more info”.
74% of traffic to Experience Newcastle in 2012 has come either direct to the
page or through Google search. We can assume that the signage is
responsible for driving considerable traffic.
In a survey of 100 students at Ourimbah and Callaghan, 42% said they,
“Noticed the information on TVs, computer screens and lecture theatre
screensavers”.
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19. Whilst the 2012 Student Feedback on the University of Newcastle (SFUN) survey results are not yet
available to provide a detailed view on awareness and knowledge of services, the Student
Communications team have clearly delivered on the key objectives of the 2011 Communications
Plan.
• Deliver a calendar of communication to coordinate timing of student communication
through an integrated campaign with four key cycles per semester based on the student diary
• Align the content of communications with a consistent language, tone and style through
clear guidelines, stakeholder support and all messages uploaded through Experience Newcastle
• Support areas across the institution to improve communication with students by providing
strategic advice and assistance on planning, channels and messaging
• Develop robust and effective communication channels and processes as highlighted
throughout this presentation
• Move from broadcasting information to engaging students through social media and
integration of social media into Experience Newcastle
• Implement proactive campaigns that celebrate University strengths in key communication
cycles in Experience Newcastle and Win a VIP Experience on UoNStudents Facebook page
• Establish evaluation processes and Student Communication Forum as highlighted in this
presentation
• Improve staff communication through updates on the channels and their effectiveness at the
M&PR hosted Marketing Network Group and utilising staff channels such as In the Loop
The 2011 Communication Plan outlined:
If we are successful, students may begin to listen and interact with the University, allowing us
to build an ongoing relationship with our student body.
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Notes de l'éditeur
Integration of the various social media channels provides stakeholders with an opportunity to engage with a larger audience, have two-way conversations with students, and build a sense of community.
Incentives for the recent “Win a VIP Experience” campaign included weekly prizes of a lunch at the Bar on the Hill, Campus Central, Central Coast and arrangements were also made for Port Macquarie and Sydney for a UoN student and 3 friends; and larger prizes of a three month gym membership and a private outdoor cinema party for a student and 30 of their friends at the Derkenne Courtyard, Shortland Building. To enter this competition, first, students of UoN had to “like” the Facebook page and nominate friends to attend the weekly prize lunch (who would also need to “like“ the page). Multiple entries were available per week through coupon codes, that were handed out either physically across campuses by “Tom Thumb” – the teams Facebook ambassador – or hidden in specific Experience Newcastle content pieces, helping drive further traffic to important content on the site. Where relevant, the Student Communications team were able to support key initiatives of the University, such as incentivising participation in the Student Feedback on the University of Newcastle (SFUN) 2012 survey, by offering out an additional 20 coupon codes for students that completed the survey. Further detail on the alignment between student communication channels, the strategy, and specific stakeholder needs are included in Section 5, Case Study 1. The example posts on this page show winners of a weekly VIP lunch at the Central Coast campus, and Tom Thumb handing out coupons at Port Macquarie and the Auchmuty Library. The overarching goal of the campaign was to increase awareness of the Facebook channel and increase the student audience in this important and engaging channel.
It is important to note that there are approximately 40,000 pages on the www.newcastle.edu.au web site, highlighting the value of appearing in the top 50 pages of the site. It is also worth noting that when looking at the top 50, many of the most visited sites are default landing pages (i.e. all staff see the Staff Landing page when they access the internet) or specific log in or search pages (such as NUmail, the library, staff directory, blackboard), whereas Experience Newcastle is a ‘destination-style’ page users have to navigate to.
A minimum of 100 less emails would be sent based on content being on Experience Newcastle. This is a conservative estimate.
Comparing 7-month period September 2011 – March 2012 to April 2012 – October 2012
The team have been working hard at this and comparing the 7-month period September 2011 – March 2012 to April 2012 – October 2012,
Incentives for the recent “Win a VIP Experience” campaign included weekly prizes of a lunch at the Bar on the Hill, Campus Central, Central Coast and arrangements were also made for Port Macquarie and Sydney for a UoN student and 3 friends; and larger prizes of a three month gym membership and a private outdoor cinema party for a student and 30 of their friends at the Derkenne Courtyard, Shortland Building. To enter this competition, first, students of UoN had to “like” the Facebook page and nominate friends to attend the weekly prize lunch (who would also need to “like“ the page). Multiple entries were available per week through coupon codes, that were handed out either physically across campuses by “Tom Thumb” – the teams Facebook ambassador – or hidden in specific Experience Newcastle content pieces, helping drive further traffic to important content on the site. Where relevant, the Student Communications team were able to support key initiatives of the University, such as incentivising participation in the Student Feedback on the University of Newcastle (SFUN) 2012 survey, by offering out an additional 20 coupon codes for students that completed the survey. Further detail on the alignment between student communication channels, the strategy, and specific stakeholder needs are included in Section 5, Case Study 1. The example posts on this page show winners of a weekly VIP lunch at the Central Coast campus, and Tom Thumb handing out coupons at Port Macquarie and the Auchmuty Library. The overarching goal of the campaign was to increase awareness of the Facebook channel and increase the student audience in this important and engaging channel.
Incentives for the recent “Win a VIP Experience” campaign included weekly prizes of a lunch at the Bar on the Hill, Campus Central, Central Coast and arrangements were also made for Port Macquarie and Sydney for a UoN student and 3 friends; and larger prizes of a three month gym membership and a private outdoor cinema party for a student and 30 of their friends at the Derkenne Courtyard, Shortland Building. To enter this competition, first, students of UoN had to “like” the Facebook page and nominate friends to attend the weekly prize lunch (who would also need to “like“ the page). Multiple entries were available per week through coupon codes, that were handed out either physically across campuses by “Tom Thumb” – the teams Facebook ambassador – or hidden in specific Experience Newcastle content pieces, helping drive further traffic to important content on the site. Where relevant, the Student Communications team were able to support key initiatives of the University, such as incentivising participation in the Student Feedback on the University of Newcastle (SFUN) 2012 survey, by offering out an additional 20 coupon codes for students that completed the survey. Further detail on the alignment between student communication channels, the strategy, and specific stakeholder needs are included in Section 5, Case Study 1. The example posts on this page show winners of a weekly VIP lunch at the Central Coast campus, and Tom Thumb handing out coupons at Port Macquarie and the Auchmuty Library. The overarching goal of the campaign was to increase awareness of the Facebook channel and increase the student audience in this important and engaging channel.
Incentives for the recent “Win a VIP Experience” campaign included weekly prizes of a lunch at the Bar on the Hill, Campus Central, Central Coast and arrangements were also made for Port Macquarie and Sydney for a UoN student and 3 friends; and larger prizes of a three month gym membership and a private outdoor cinema party for a student and 30 of their friends at the Derkenne Courtyard, Shortland Building. To enter this competition, first, students of UoN had to “like” the Facebook page and nominate friends to attend the weekly prize lunch (who would also need to “like“ the page). Multiple entries were available per week through coupon codes, that were handed out either physically across campuses by “Tom Thumb” – the teams Facebook ambassador – or hidden in specific Experience Newcastle content pieces, helping drive further traffic to important content on the site. Where relevant, the Student Communications team were able to support key initiatives of the University, such as incentivising participation in the Student Feedback on the University of Newcastle (SFUN) 2012 survey, by offering out an additional 20 coupon codes for students that completed the survey. Further detail on the alignment between student communication channels, the strategy, and specific stakeholder needs are included in Section 5, Case Study 1. The example posts on this page show winners of a weekly VIP lunch at the Central Coast campus, and Tom Thumb handing out coupons at Port Macquarie and the Auchmuty Library. The overarching goal of the campaign was to increase awareness of the Facebook channel and increase the student audience in this important and engaging channel.