Need another reason to take Facebook seriously?

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Facebook is now beginning to direct more Web traffic than Google in several categories. Likewise, our law school Web stats have seen a dramatic increase in traffic from Facebook in the 12 months. We didn't release of our official Facebook fan page until April 2009, but still, the change is fascinating.

A few details:

• Facebook has become the #1 referral source to our site, after organic searches on Google, Bing and Yahoo.
• Our main university's .edu site is the #2 referral source (after Facebook).
• From Jan. 15–Feb. 15, 2010, we received nearly 27 times the number of Facebook visits than the same timeframe in 2009.
• Our Facebook page has just over 1,050 fans. Not too shabby when compared to most law schools.

Protect Your Brand From Yourself

Google. Apple. Toyota. These strong brands have suffered some powerful blows in the past few months. Business and marketing pundits much smarter than I have offered explanations of what went wrong, but here are a few thoughts I've taken away:

• Don't forget who brought you to the party (aka don't forget the strengths that differentiate you). Google grew into the giant it is by creating powerful tools with simple, user-friendly interfaces. Then came the confusing Wave, and the jury's still out on Buzz. Both applications seemed to have great potential in Google's introductory presentations. However once you start using these tools, filling them with content and conversation, they become cluttered and complicated. Simplicity is what differentiated Google from its competitors in the beginning, and I can't help but be disappointed that this trait hasn't carried over into its newer products.
  Higher ed takeaway: Don't get so caught up in new trends and ideas that you forget your core strengths.
  
• Don't forget the power of a name. The hype over Apple's newest device included speculation over names: iTablet, iSlate, etc. So what were they thinking when they developed the unfortunate name, iPad? No one needed to be reminded of that bad MadTV sketch. (You would think that Apple's research could have at least caught that tidbit, even if their focus groups were too embarrassed to say so.)
  Higher ed takeaway: Try to find fault with advertising taglines and brand messages before someone else does. Take them out of context, and don't be afraid to look them up in the Urban Dictionary.
• Don't get caught up in your own press. Toyota's reputation for reliable cars was a hallmark of its brand, but two major recalls have required them to shut down production to address the problem. Did Toyota get complacent? No one is immune from mistakes, no matter how good they are.
  Higher ed takeaway: Be humble, and like Toyota, don't be afraid to apologize when necessary.
  

Fantasy ad buying

My husband loves playing fantasy sports. He bids for players, monitors their stats, makes changes to his rosters, and follows their games, even if they don't play for his regular favorite teams.

This past year, I've had the chance to experiment with online advertising. Not traditional banner advertising (though we've done those, too), but targeted text advertising through Google Adwords and Facebook. Like fantasy sports, this kind of advertising allows you to also bid for keyword placement, monitor stats, and make changes throughout your campaign.

While I'm far from an expert in these channels, here are a few of my takeaways from the experience:

• Check out your competition. And by competition, I mean the other organizations who are advertising for your keywords. Are they groups you want to be associated with from a branding standpoint? For example, a Google search on "law schools" yields paid advertising from unaccredited online institutions, which an ABA-accredited school wouldn't want to be mistaken for. However a search for "online masters library science" yields a combination of universities from the for-profit, public and private-nonprofit sectors. Related conclusion: Niche degree programs seem to have a better balance of programs with decent reputations.
• Remember why users are in that channel. Why do people use Facebook? To connect with others. Why do people use Google? To find information. If you're trying to build your social networking communities, then Facebook may be a natural fit. If you're hoping to drive people to your Web site to learn about your programs, Google would be a more logical choice. Last year's study by Noel-Levitz on prospective student use of social media indicated that students generally don't use Facebook to research schools, so save yourself some trouble and find a more appropriate advertising medium.
• Prepare to be vigilant. Unlike traditional advertising, Facebook and Google ads are prioritized based on a pay-per-click bid amount. Your bid rate is compared with what other advertisers are willing to pay and has a direct correlation to the number of impressions your ad will get. This amount can fluctuate daily, but there are other reasons to pay close attention to your campaign's analytics. In Facebook, you can run similar messages and compare the click-through rates on them. These results can help not only to inform your decisions on which ads to run in Facebook, but also to let you know what messages resonate more with your target audiences. In combination with my other research, these details have helped me develop more relevant messages for our other marketing efforts.

When done strategically, online advertising can be an exciting addition for your marketing mix. Few other media can provide such tangible details about the effectiveness of your work. Plus, because the ads are paid on a pay-per-click basis, the online providers provide ample resources to help you improve your campaigns.

Who knew that ad buying could be so much fun?

Professional resolutions: Wave, connect and streamline

As television and store advertisements are shifting from "buy this, eat this, drink this" mode to "lose weight, organize this, exercise more" mode, I've been thinking of various resolutions for many categories of my life as well. Here are my professional resolutions for 2010, which I will write about and hope you will help keep me accountable on:

• Figuring out Google Wave: I've had an invitation for about three months, and I've visited the site about four times. I'm connected to a handful of waves, but I find them about as easy to follow as an e-mail thread with 15+ messages. Is it because I don't have enough daily contact with the site? Is it because I don't know enough people on it? Is it because the people who use it are as lost as me? Is it because Wave is trying to do too many things at once? These are the questions I hope to resolve in 2010. (And if anyone wants to include me on Waves or have one of my invitations, I can be found at davinagould@gmail.com.)
  
  
• Connect with other graduate and professional school marketing professionals: I've had the pleasure of connecting with many higher ed communicators on Twitter and a few who work specifically with law schools and business schools, but I'd love to connect with more of you out there. I'm especially interested in learning more from those in the health sciences—my law school has a few dual-degree programs and I'd love to find out more about what makes prospective medicine, nursing, or public health students tick. Suggestions on connecting with peers in every category (business, law, health, liberal arts) are welcome!
  
  
• Get more done in less time: I know, this resolution is hardly original, and as a working mom, it certainly isn't limited to my professional life. But with so many new online resources for streamlining activities and managing priorities, I'm bound and determined to find new applications for accomplishing this goal.

What are your professional resolutions for 2010? Any suggestions for helping me with mine? Best wishes to all for a wonderful new year!

Low-cost creative productivity tool #1: Google Docs

Problem: Collaborative editing and file access.
Solution: Google Docs.
Tired of tracking versions of Word files when working with multiple editors? Hate transferring Office files via jump drive or e-mail so you can access them from another computer? Then it's time to discover cloud computing via Google Docs. Requiring only a free Google account and a working internet browser, users can save and share a variety of file types: word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and forms that can be exported into Office (.doc, .xls, .ppt), PDF, RTF, HTML and other formats. Files can be shared with other Google account holders, and version tracking makes this an ideal environment for collaboration. I have also found it to be any extremely handy place to keep my contacts...especially in the rare occasion that work servers are down.