Yesterday’s Logic: A Warning to Change with the Times

Tag: Articles

  • Yesterday’s Logic: A Warning to Change with the Times

    Yesterday’s Logic: A Warning to Change with the Times

    Rest assured that this is not one of those articles. I will be discussing significant changes to digital advertising in the next year, but I’m not making predictions—I’m offering a warning.

    You see, the digital advertising marketplace has already changed and there’s no going back. The only prediction to be made is to forecast for yourself if you will change with the times, or as management pioneer Peter Drucker warns, will you remain rooted in yesterday’s logic?

    “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence—it is to act with yesterday’s logic.” – Peter Drucker

    Irreversible Change

    Several factors have changed, shifting how we advertise online. The first and most immediate factor has been the proliferation of privacy laws, with each new piece of legislation reducing an advertiser’s ability to serve ads to their desired audience. In a very real way, the people we want to reach with our ads are telling us they don’t like how we’ve been doing it.

    Next up are the tech wars, exemplified by Apple’s Safari browser which simply won’t accept the cookies that power Google and Microsoft’s ads. Apple was followed by Firefox and other browser providers that uncoincidentally don’t make money off advertising.

    For context, on most of the websites where I manage analytics, 45%-50% of all traffic arrives on a Safari browser, and when it comes to paid traffic, Safari’s share approaches 70%.

    Finally, over the course of 2024, the growing interest in AI powered answer engines. While the AI option hasn’t begun to devalue search advertising or website visits, many think it’s only a matter of a few years before today’s minor pressure becomes a crushing burden on the current model of search results page.

    All of it has changed, none of it is new, and it cannot be undone. Given our reality in 2025, why are so many advertisers holding on to expectations and tactics that represent the flower of 2015 marketing?

    Shouting at the Wind

    If you visit the message boards and social spaces frequented by digital advertisers you can’t miss the undercurrent of resentment that surrounds topics like Performance Max, keyword match types, and the near total removal of user data. Typical complaints suggest that Google and Bing are being intentionally obstructive so that they can make more money from each account.

    The search engines are in it for profit, there’s no argument about that, but I lean toward thinking that privacy laws and browser wars are more the cause for ad platform changes.

    The situation can be frustrating, I agree, but it doesn’t need to be more than that. We can shout at the wind all we want to, but it won’t change anything. If the ad platforms must change to keep pace with the times, that means that the advertisers must too.

    Continuous Learning Is Fundamental to Success

    When change is forced on us, it usually isn’t fun, and it brings with it a good amount of uncertainty. Change also causes turbulence as Mr. Drucker points out, and in the case of digital advertising, our well-ordered methods that delivered success time and time again get churned up in the prop wash.

    However, if we’ve been paying attention, and we are willing to pull our eyes up from our ingrained way of doing things, we can begin to see opportunity and not just loss. We are going through a time of change, and that means to continue being successful at marketing we need to take the time to learn the new order of business. We need to learn how to be successful in an all-new way.

    Everything Is Context

    If the previous era of digital advertising was based on targeting ads through precision tracking, the next era is based on context. Banner ads have been using contextual targeting for ages, but how would that work for search ads which use keywords? The first step is to expand your definition of context. What if instead of targeting context, we create it?

    Google and Bing know a lot about their search users, but they can’t share 99% of it with us (it’s that privacy thing again). Because search engines know so much about the search user, they understand the context of the user and their search query. Knowing that, they can serve our ads when our campaign fits within that context. Magical.

    What is the “context of our campaign”: The strongest signal in determining context is landing page content. Search engines understand the meaning of your page and use other secondary signals like keywords and audience lists to determine if you are providing the correct context for the user’s search. Add in your bid limits and Bing or Google knows how, when, and where to serve your ads.

    Summary

    The way digital campaigns serve ads to consumers is changing due to privacy laws, competitor browser technology, and the growth of AI-enabled search. Methods of managing digital campaigns that have worked for years aren’t as effective as they once were and will likely continue to lose ground. Marketers must learn new ways to deliver success on the privacy-first internet, and a good first step is to understand and incorporate context as a targeting tool for any type of campaign.

    It won’t be easy, and in the beginning, it may seem awkward. We can choose to keep doing what we have been doing while shouting and cussing about the injustice of it all, or we can embrace change and learn new methods for success.

    The good news is that in early 2025, we can manage how we transition from old to new methods. While the need to keep learning creates a sense of urgency, there is no deadline. We can pace ourselves and take the time to really understand our tools and our audience much better.

    Stamats is here to help! Contact us for a FREE Google Ads assessment.

    You’re 10 days away from a better performing campaign.

    Request a Free Assessment
  • Keys to Success – Ad Bidding Strategy & Conversions

    Keys to Success – Ad Bidding Strategy & Conversions

    What started out in the early 2000s as a complex system of manual interactions has morphed into today’s complex automated auction system.

    In 2025, advertising platforms will begin to move advertisers toward fully automated bidding strategies. Google is even removing their semi-automated e-CPC bidding option, leaving advertisers with either fully manual bidding or AI-driven automated bidding—and nothing in between.

    While manual bidding is viable for some advertisers, it’s not a good option for most.

    Advertisers who use manual bidding usually target a very small group of highly specific keywords. Or they rely on advertising automation through third-party platforms such as Adroll, Optmyzr, or Adobe Experience Cloud.

    Looking at Google and Bing, there are four fully automated bidding strategies to choose from, each with a specific focus:

    • Maximize Conversions: Uses AI to analyze dozens of signals to bid higher for users who are predicted to give you a conversion.
    • Maximize Conversion Value: A good option for advertisers with multiple conversions and different values. It also uses AI but adds an evaluation of which type of conversion the user is likely to perform.
    • Maximize Clicks: As the name suggests, this strategy works to deliver the maximum ad clicks the budget can afford.
    • Target Impression Share: A competitive strategy for campaigns crowded with competitors, this is used when cost-per-click is less important than ad position above a competitor.

    In this article, we will focus on the two most common strategies used in lead generation: Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value.

    Automation Needs Data

    I can promise you this: Going forward, any solution that relies on automation will need a specific amount of data to act on or it won’t work very well, if at all.

    Self-driving cars crashed into a lot of things before they had enough data to know how to avoid those collisions. It’s easy to win video games until they collect more data on your choices and behaviors. Amazon’s recommendations can be almost laughable until the system learns more about what products you look at and purchase.

    The bidding automation in digital advertising also needs enough data to work properly. And in the case of conversion-based bidding, the required data includes a minimum count of conversions. This applies to both the Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value strategies.

    Let’s Talk Conversions

    In digital advertising, particularly for any ad platform like Google and Bing, conversions are managed at the account level and not at the campaign level. Because of this, bidding strategies assess conversion data from across the entire account.

    Here’s the scenario:

    • We need to create a new campaign in our account
    • That campaign will target a completed contact form as its conversion action
    • We selected one of the two Max Conversions bidding strategies and launched the campaign

    For the Maximize Conversions strategy to work, it needs data from people who have successfully completed the targeted form so that it knows the common online behaviors of people to bid on for this new campaign.

    Campaigns Need Success Data to ‘Learn’

    From Google’s documentation and after a lot of field testing, we know that a minimum of 30 conversions per month are required for bidding automation to work properly. However, earning 50 to 60 conversions per month is the goal. In the example above, our account either has this volume of form conversions per month or it doesn’t:

    • If there have been 30 or more form conversions per month, the new campaign is off to the races and there is no need for the bid automation to fill gaps in the conversion data.
    • If there have been fewer than 30 form conversions per month or if the form is a brand-new goal conversion without any historical data, we have a data problem.

    If we start using a Max Conversions bidding strategy without enough historical conversion data, the automated bidding system will spend a lot of our money testing who to serve ads to and trying to learn enough to fill the gap. That expensive learning stage will last until the form conversions meet the minimum expected volume.

    If there hasn’t been enough conversion volume to feed Max Conversions sufficient data, we need to use another bidding strategy to drive traffic until the account has met the required conversion minimums.

    “You must first have something before you can maximize it. How do you maximize zero?”

    Starting Without Enough Conversion Data

    We often launch campaigns that target conversions with low volumes; it’s common, especially for new services or programs. For these campaigns, we launch using the Maximize Clicks bidding strategy to drive traffic and conversion counts. Once we’ve consistently earned 30 conversions per month, we switch to one of the Max Conversions strategies.

    If the count of conversions drops below the 30 per month threshold for several weeks or a month, auction costs will go up as the AI system goes back into learning mode.

    There is up to a two-week learning period for the bidding AI each time the bidding strategy is changed. During learning, conversion performance will drop, and daily cost will increase. For this reason, frequently moving back and forth between bidding strategies is not advised.

    Summary

    Digital ads platforms offer fully automated bidding strategies and it’s smart to know when and how to use each. In the case of Maximize Conversion strategies, to be effective there needs to be historical performance in the account of 30 conversions in 30 days for the targeted goal. Otherwise, the bidding automation will spend a lot of money trying to learn enough to fill the data gap.

    When launching a campaign that targets a new conversion action, or an action with too little conversion volume, start by using the Maximize Clicks bidding strategy. Then when the campaign consistently earns 30 of these conversion actions per month, switch to a Max Conversion strategy.

    Parting Thought: Budget and Cost Per Conversion

    If there must be a minimum of 30 conversions every 30 days, that means that across all campaigns targeting that conversion, the minimum required monthly budget must be at least 30X the average cost per conversion. For example, if the average cost for the form conversion is $80, the monthly budget across all campaigns targeting that conversion must total at least $2,400.

    Note: If the campaigns target more than one conversion action, the minimum budget is 30X the average cost for each conversion action:

    • $80 average cost per form fill
    • $40 average cost per phone call
    • (30 x $80) + (30 x $40) = $3,600 minimum budget per month across all campaigns targeting both the form fill and phone call

    These are the minimum costs. Remember that 50-60 conversions per month, per conversion action, is considered the ideal target and best practice.

    Stamats is here to help! Contact us for a FREE Google Ads assessment. You’re 10 days away from a better performing campaign. 

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  • Should an RFP Include a Budget?

    Should an RFP Include a Budget?

    Is the project fairly similar to other projects, such as a website rebuild or writing X amount of pages?

    In this situation, not giving a budget has a higher percentage of receiving similar bids for comparison. As long as your scope is clear for what you want, most agencies have standard pricing for websites and content writing type projects.

    Industry research: Over the last two years, of all the RFPs Stamats has responded to, not responded to, won, or lost, the average website budget in a signed or sunshined agreement was $312,744. The highest at $953,763 and lowest at $172,000.

    When budgeting, some additional costs include:

    • Content writing
    • Migration
    • Software licensing
    • Integrations into third parties

    Is the project a digital marketing enrollment strategy?

    This is where I believe a budget would best serve you so that you can get a comparable answer. Digital marketing offers a wide range of advertising tactics, but each has very different costs.

    “Understanding the budget range helps RFP responders put together the best package of ad tactics they believe will achieve your stated goals.”

    Here are examples of seemingly similar ad tactics with very different costs:

    • Display ad campaigns often have a cost of $3-$5 per thousand ads served (CPM).
    • Programmatic campaigns are also display campaigns, but they use one or more purchased lists to target ads. Because of the list cost, programmatic cost is often two to three times higher than regular display campaigns.

    Imagine you were buying a house and you asked your realtor to find you the best deal for a 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2-car garage with at least 2,000 square feet in a specific zip code. Even though this sounds like a lot of details, there are significant differences. For example:

    • Peoria, Illinois: $159,900 to $349,000
    • San Antonio, Texas: $165,000 to $650,000
    • Omaha, Nebraska: $355,000 to $920,000

    You can see that the same specs can vary in price by over 400%. Providing a budget would have allowed the realtor to give you better options. It’s similar with digital marketing. You can provide scope, such as the amount of programs and enrollment goals, but if the budget is very limited you might not be able to afford the options.

    Where a realtor has an opportunity to talk to you and understand your needs, an RFP response limits the personal side of crafting the best solution. Therefore, more context will create better plans for you to review.

    What should you include in a digital campaign RFP?

    Your main objective is to find an ideal partner. Since your budget most likely can’t change (although wouldn’t it be neat if the budget was adjusted each quarter based on results?), you need to focus the discussion on tactics and outcomes.

    Without a budget in your RFP, a partner will suggest a wide variety of tactics that might not be relevant to your budget. That requires additional rounds of review. If you get dozens (even hundreds) of responses, you might not be negotiating with the top five best partners, but you won’t know that because they each provided different budget strategies.

    What if I don’t have an approved budget and I need options for approval?

    This is a very common situation. Schools approach us in early stages to ask for typical scopes and ranges. If that isn’t an option, consider asking on a listserv or network of friends for their range. You can also turn to public data. Using ChatGPT, type in “How do I find what a public school paid for their website?” Then refine from there.

    What if I still don’t want to give a budget?

    Consider asking for a plan with three different budget scenarios. Scenarios in any case can be a good idea to see what strategies would change with more or less budget. It often isn’t just “spend more or less”—the actual tactics should change.

    I was once asked in an RFP, “If we provide an extra 1 million dollars to the campaign, what would you do?” I won’t detail my answer because I think it was pretty awesome (you can call me and we can chat about it!), but it definitely was not, “Send more money in the current strategies.”

    If you want a true apples-to-apples comparison in digital marketing, I believe it is in your best interest to provide a budget range.

    One last suggestion specific to digital RFPs: Consider the overall price of ad spend and management. In the last 20 audits conducted, every single one was improperly allocating ad spend due to poor ad management. When you focus on how little you are spending on management, you most likely will end up overspending or poorly spending in ad spend. A well-run campaign with higher management fees should be able to produce the same amount of conversions with less ad spend and often with an overall lower cost. It takes management fees to make sure the entire process is optimized.

    When Stamats recently took over digital campaigns for a private university in New England, we quickly realized that the current campaign set up was bleeding money spending most of their budget on branded search. Most of the budget was going towards people who already knew the university name and were including it in their search query.

    By blocking branded search from Performance-Max campaigns and shifting to asset groups focused on specific programs while dedicating search campaigns to exact match branded searches, we were able to increase conversions by 244% while cost per conversion dropped by 58% with no increase to their budget within one month of launching the campaign updates.

    We saw similar results when a community college in the Midwest hired us to manage their digital campaigns. We determined the best way to maximize their current limited budget was to align their ad spend and creative strategy with important dates in their admissions cycle, including program-specific application deadlines, open house events, and semester starts. This strategy led to a 135% increase in conversions and a 53% decrease in cost per lead with no increase in their budget within two months of us taking over the campaigns.

    Curious about results like these? Contact me to discuss a digital campaign audit.

    Ready to Get Started?

    Reach out to us to talk about your strategy and goals.

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  • Intern Spotlight: Springing into a Digital Design Career

    Intern Spotlight: Springing into a Digital Design Career

    My name is Maddy Szczypka. I am a visual artist and designer with a passion for creating laid-back yet striking artwork and graphics.

    My interests include visual layouts from magazines or zines, fashion, printmaking art, classic rock music, and travel. In my free time while making art, I focus on transforming everyday life and mundane objects into engaging, meaningful visuals.

    Over the past eight years, my creative practice has centered on graphic design and fine arts, including painting, drawing, and various hands-on media. Recently, I’ve expanded into web design and development, 3D modeling, and animation, embracing new technologies to enhance my exploration of art.

    These past few months, I’ve been a part of Stamats through a family internship. It’s a wonderful employee benefit where any immediate family member is offered a guaranteed internship.

    1. What was the biggest thing you learned at your internship at Stamats?

    I gained a lot of insights throughout my time, so it is hard to pick one thing. Some of the most significant lessons I learned include:

    • Using Resources Effectively: I discovered how crucial it is to take full advantage of the tools, software, and creative assets at my disposal. This not only streamlined my workflow but also helped me bring ideas to life more efficiently. Whether it was leveraging design templates, researching industry trends, or seeking feedback, I learned to make the most out of every resource available.
    • The Power of Collaboration: I realized that collaboration is key to achieving exceptional results. Working alongside a team of talented individuals taught me how to embrace different perspectives, communicate ideas clearly, and build on each other’s strengths. This experience reinforced the idea that great designs are rarely created in isolation—they thrive on teamwork and shared creativity.
    • The Importance of Content and Research in the Creative Process: One of the most surprising and impactful lessons was understanding how foundational copywriting and research are to the design process. I learned that some of the best ideas don’t just come from visual brainstorming—they often start with deep research into the brand, audience, and competitive landscape, followed by crafting compelling narratives. This approach not only made my designs and concepts more meaningful but also ensured they aligned with the brand’s voice and objectives.

    Overall, this internship taught me the importance of approaching design with intention, curiosity, and collaboration. I’m excited to bring these lessons into my future projects.

    2. What variety of tasks did you do?

    Throughout my internship, I engaged in extensive research and brainstorming, which laid the foundation for many of my projects. I had the opportunity to create a variety of designs and illustrations. Additionally, a significant portion of my time was dedicated to content migration and quality assurance tasks. These projects were diverse and allowed me to cultivate a well-rounded skill set, blending creativity with technical and problem-solving abilities.

    3. Which tasks or projects were the most rewarding or exciting to you?

    Some of my most rewarding projects weren’t necessarily the most exciting, but they were incredibly fulfilling because of the hard work and effort I put into bringing them to life. On the other hand, the projects I found most exciting were the ones that allowed me to be highly creative and deeply engaged during the research process. Both types of projects were valuable, as they challenged me in different ways and contributed to my growth.

    Related Reading: The ‘Who’ and ‘Why’ Behind Gen Z Employees: What We’ve Learned at Stamats

    4. What surprised you the most during your internship?

    Initially, I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy working on content migration, even though I had some prior experience with site builds. However, as I got into the process, I found that I could approach the work with efficiency, which made it surprisingly satisfying. In the end, completing these tasks was incredibly rewarding and gave me a sense of accomplishment.

    5. How was it working with family?

    Working with my family wasn’t much different from working with any other team member. While we were naturally more familiar with each other than I might have been with others initially, the team treated me just like any other member. This allowed me to focus on contributing to the work without any special treatment.

    And it didn’t change what I thought my family member did for work. I was glad to have seen firsthand how the team works together, creates concepts, and interacts in a professional environment.

    Maddy Sczcypka working on her personal art

    6. What are your career or educational goals, and how has this internship helped you take steps toward them?

    My goal has always been to build a career rooted in creativity, using my inspiration to contribute meaningfully and pursue roles in art, design, illustration, or other creative fields. I’ve always been passionate about modern design, zines, fashion, and anything visually compelling. This experience has reignited my excitement for these environments while allowing me to develop my skills and take meaningful steps toward advancing my career.

    7. How has this internship changed your view of the type of workplace you’d like to join in the future?

    This experience has solidified my vision of working in a welcoming and creative environment—a goal I’ve had since I first imagined what my ideal career would look like. The team I worked with here embodies that vision; they are talented, supportive, and truly inspirational.

    8. What do you think sets Stamats apart from other companies offering internships?

    I believe the team genuinely wanted the best for me and was always willing to help with the smaller details—things that might go unnoticed in another internship. Their support extended beyond the day-to-day tasks, as they truly wanted to see me succeed, even after the time allotted.

  • Accreditation Content: Requirements, Expectations, Anxiety

    Accreditation Content: Requirements, Expectations, Anxiety

    We’ve learned from schools at every level that the answer is yes. You need a strategy and a plan for adaptation. Accreditation requirements for web content matter—yet they are often vague, open to interpretation, and carry a load of faculty and administrator anxiety that can confound all your UX content strategy. 

    You Need an Accreditation Content Strategy

    Without an accreditation content strategy, your prospective students may be greeted by a stiff, intimidating disclosure statement as they arrive at your website. (Worse, it might show up on the search engine results page as the metadescription.) 

    We know students care about accreditation, yet it needs to surface at the appropriate point in their journey. As you clarify your institution’s strategy for this content, keep the user front and center.

    Accreditation 101

    If you’re new to working in higher education, the whole accreditation process can be mystifying. Annual reports, learning outcome tables, student demographic data, words like “pedagogy”—it’s a lot of work for a very important reason. Prospective and current students need to know that the school they choose is legitimate and isn’t turning their hard-earned tuition money into useless credentials.  

    Accreditation also ensures that administrators, faculty, and staff willingly open their doors for a thorough background check. The oversight agencies look for more than just graduation rates—they’re digging deep into curriculum standards, faculty credentials, financial records, student demographics, and more. In fact, post-secondary schools must earn accredited status to participate in federal student aid. 

    The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) has some great information about the who, what, when, and why. They also monitor the accrediting agencies themselves and maintain a public database of over 8,200 institutions and over 44,000 programs in the U.S. 

    The Top Accreditors Are Regional—Usually

    At the institutional level, most colleges and universities in the U.S. undergo review by 1 of 6 regional organizations:  

    Regional accreditation is considered the gold standard for institution-wide accreditation. Generally, national accreditation is considered a lower standard for the college or university as a whole. However, CHEA also recognizes certain faith-related governing bodies to accredit religiously affiliated schools nationally. There’s also a CHEA-recognized organization for schools whose students learn primarily by distance education—a modality at odds with the notion of “region.” 

    First, Verify the Requirements 

    As an accreditation deadline looms or a website overhaul ramps up, administrators and content managers are already harried. The requirements might be buried inside a 100-page policy PDF or guarded behind a portal with a login no one remembers. There’s rarely time to investigate the rules. That’s when we hear such directives as: 

    • “Just get it up there on the homepage somewhere.” 
    • “Put it at the top so the accreditors see it.” 
    • “Keep it the way we’ve always done it.” 

    That’s not really helpful—to the accreditors or to your future students. 

    Do the legwork; discover the requirements. 

    Start with the Required Words 

    Accrediting bodies provide the specific wording they require every school or program to use when claiming their accreditation status. These statements typically include the full name of the accrediting body, their full contact information, and a link to their site, for example: 

    In an ideal world, this verbiage would be conveniently accessible on the agency’s website. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to locate—we were unable to find the official guidance on the websites for NECHE and WSCUC despite extensive searching.  

    If you need to hunt for it, try searching with the current wording or keywords like website, compliance, disclosure, public, status, advertising, or marketing. 

    Accrediting bodies care about your students, but not necessarily your students’ experience on your website. 

    It’s a given that we can’t change the words. What we can control is where it’s positioned on the page. An administrator may tell you to “put it at the top so the accreditation agency sees it.” In fact, this is rarely required and has a strong likelihood of stopping the user’s journey in its tracks. Analytics and usability testing clearly show that students are drawn to practical details (location, tuition, etc.) and emotional appeals to their career aspirations. Presenting them with a dry official statement is never a good first impression. 

    Unless the official agency says otherwise, it’s OK to place a regional accreditation statement on a child page, in an accordion, or towards the middle or even near the bottom of the page. 

    Most schools choose to publish their institutional accreditation statement within their “About Us” section:

    Other schools publish their accreditation status as part of a fact sheet or in website sections devoted to compliance, policies, academic affairs, institutional effectiveness, or consumer information: 

    Some schools create a page that lists not only the primary accreditation statement, but links to accredited programs as well. This can make it easier for the marketing team to monitor and maintain: 

    Assuaging the internal anxiety

    The accreditation process is always stressful, so a documented web content strategy can help alleviate worries and avoid last-minute decisions. Be sure to have the URL(s) for the specific requirements and a simple visual mockup ready to share, along with links to accreditation pages at other schools governed by the same organization. 

    ALERT: We did the legwork for you! See the links in the Quick Reference section. 

    Your content team should also anticipate potential obstacles and have focused talking points handy. Always acknowledge the concerns and reinforce that your recommendations are based on thorough research and long-term strategy. Some examples might include: 

    • “We understand it may seem risky to make this change. We’ve done our homework, and we’re confident that this strategy will meet the requirements and streamline future updates.” 
    • “We know it’s sometimes difficult to visualize what we’re suggesting. Here’s a quick example of what the new page will look like.” 
    • “Our web analytics and industry research have shown us that prospective students and other key stakeholders expect to find accreditation information in the ‘About Us’ section.” 

    If an anxious administrator holds out for a particularly awkward implementation, recruit support from a trusted department director or project champion. They can give you pointers on finding the most persuasive words to achieve consensus. 

    If all else fails, ask, “When is your next accreditation review?” Offer to hold the changes for their program until after their next review cycle.  

    It comes down to this: Research, plan, communicate

    You, your department chairs, and the accrediting bodies all want to help prospective students make smart choices. Keep the focus on what’s best for your user, and you all win.

    Your regional accreditation quick reference

    NEED DROP-DOWN MENUS FOR 6 REGIONAL ACCREDITATION ORGS

    Remember: Web pages belong to the users

    Accreditors and administrators are not your target audience. Don’t be afraid to flex your content strategy muscles to reinforce your professional expertise. Developing trust with leadership teams is crucial for a vibrant and engaging website that truly works. 

    It’s time to create a student-centered content strategy for your accreditation info. Email me today. 

  • Marketing for Continuing Education

    Marketing for Continuing Education

    Because of its breadth of programming—everything from certified nursing assistant (CNA courses) to basket weaving—CE courses are managed by multiple teams from several departments. That means disparate stakeholders with varied levels of time, budget, and enthusiasm, and lots of opinions about how to market and who should be the decision-makers.

    Because of this diversity, some adult learners are looking for a class to start a hobby while others are giving up something important—family time, overtime at work, the comfort of the status quo—to plan for their careers.

    The CE audience is special, and institutions can’t rely on one-size-fits-all or generic messaging to reach them.

    Each campaign must be unique in tone and angles, with shared design elements. To successfully market for CE, institutions need a thorough understanding of who their niche audience members are outside of school, the challenges they face, and strategies to help them make the trade-off of time/comfort to choose your institution.

    At Content Marketing World and NCMPR District 6 2024, I joined Jennifer Perez, Director of Campus Communications at North Orange Continuing Education (NOCE), to discuss how to create on-point, engaging messaging that connects with underserved adult learners. We focused on three specific tactics to promote upskilling and enrichment programs—and deliver the help and information this unique audience needs.

    Ads Should Match a Specific Emotion & Career Pathway

    Someone interested in CNA is probably not interested in a class about chair yoga for seniors (at least not at this moment). So, it makes sense that you wouldn’t try to lump both programs into one ad.

    But we see this misstep time and again. Limited budgets and low understanding of audience needs can lead institutions to generic messaging that spreads itself too thin.

    A better strategy, Perez said, is to tap into the emotional journey of the prospective adult learner:

    • What do they need? To get a better job making more money to better provide for their family.
    • What is the obstacle to starting now? Meeting their basic needs. They can’t take time off work for school, their car is on its last legs, and they can’t afford groceries, let alone tuition, training materials, or better WiFi.
    • How does your institution support students to fill the need? NOCE helps on all fronts to help learners meet basic needs, such as a food pantry, online/flexible classes, and financial aid or grants for transportation, internet access, childcare, and event technology loans such as laptops.
    • What will they get if they choose your institution? You can complete job training in X months and be ready to get that job—and we’re here to support you in that journey.
    • What one step does the learner have to take to start? Click, call, register, download, or watch. Choose one specific call-to-action that matches the next natural step.

    Here is an example of a good ad from NOCE:

    Campaign landing pages: Clear beats clever

    Just like an ad shouldn’t be generalized, nor should the page to which you are sending that paid traffic. Even the best ads won’t convert to expectations if the campaign landing page (CLP) experience is vague or confusing.

    With limited budgets or time comes the temptation to include *all the details* in the CLP. But doing so will overwhelm a busy adult learner. On-page busyness and unclear calls-to-action will make the conversion steps unclear, resulting in page abandonment.

    Instead, Perez recommends choosing one call-to-action per ad and landing page. Think of the call-to-action as the visitor’s “to-do” or next natural step. Give them one thing to do—repeated as necessary on the page—and the chances it will get done will increase.

    NOCE worked with Stamats to revise a series of CE campaign landing pages for a more streamlined user experience. The result? A 1,000% increase in conversions and more than 3,000 student leads in six months.

    After the visitor provides their information or completes the conversion step, make sure the follow-up is validating, quick, and sincere. Provide a thank-you page with next steps, along with a follow-up email or text to explain next steps.

    For even better results, take time to mystery shop your campaign experience. Many clients believe their system is working as expected, only to find that emails weren’t being sent or calls weren’t being made. Stamats mystery shopping answers questions such as:

    • How long did it take to get the follow-up communication?
    • Did the messaging of that communication make sense?
    • Is it clear what I’m supposed to do (or get) to move forward?
    • What could have improved the experience?

    Related reading: Reimagining the Marketing Funnel: Time for a New Model

    Answer adult learners’ questions through content marketing

    Adult learners want to understand the value of their investment before diving in. And throughout the academic experience, they’ll need answers to specific questions about their training, future career, and how to manage the work-life-school balance.

    NOCE relies on real-time insights from students, staff, and faculty to understand the questions learners are asking. They send surveys and host an in-person forum each fall to get feedback on everything from their curriculum to their social services, such as the food pantry and tuition assistance.

    Stamats and NOCE complement that invaluable feedback with digital tools that surface search queries real people are typing into social media and search engines. Some of these tools include social listening platforms, Looker Studio organic search query dashboards, and query patterning sites such as Google Trends.

    Using these insights, create pointed articles, videos, postcards, and infographics that go deep to answer specific questions. Insert details about how your institution helps throughout this process.

    Here’s an example outline of what to include in a story about “how to become a CNA”:

    • Introduction that describes the joys of being a CNA, why it’s in high demand, and how quick/easy/affordable it is to get started in that career at your institution.
    • Section 1: Class format and duration
      • Online, hybrid, accelerated options
      • X months to complete (don’t speak in credit hours)
      • Experiences (hands-on, classroom lectures, job shadows—you don’t need to list all the classes in the catalog)
      • Facilities (cool labs, new buildings that make it easy to choose you)
    • Section 2: How much it costs
      • Tuition and materials
      • Financial aid, grants
      • Loaner items you provide (laptops, protective gear)
      • Other services (childcare, transportation, food pantry)
    • Section 3: What to expect after training
      • Salary/wages
      • Where to find a job (great opportunity to tag local employer partners)
      • Ongoing support from your institution (certificates to help with your next promotion)

    Take this strategy a step further to create a knowledge hub of content that focuses on niche aspects of the main topic. Your stories could answer FAQs about welding, and you could profile alumni who completed the program and now excel in their career.

    Throughout the story, sprinkle in links to supplemental information. This is where we can bend on our CTA rule—while there should be one primary call-to-action, content marketing is the art and science of balancing the next steps of visitors at multiple journey points. Often, users are coming in from search or social media, whereas ads drive users from focused micromoments of interest. So, the story should include supplemental calls-to-action for a strategic range of next steps.

    And don’t forget the platform—think about where your adult learner audience spends the most time. Most use a smartphone for digital communication, so text messaging, email, and social media are important channels for CE marketing. Stamats and NOCE have also seen success with radio spots, native ads (placing blog content on relevant websites your audience uses), and good old-fashioned mailers.

    Listen: ‘Do You Do SEO?’ We Do, and You Should Too

    Ready to launch your CE marketing campaign?

    We love Continuing Ed marketing because it is true to the soul and spirit of the goals of education—tapping into your talents to make the world a better place and providing a better life for yourself and your family.

    When you are ready to launch your CE, email me or message me on LinkedIn. Stamats will help you craft the right messaging and marketing plan to reach adult learners with the training and enrichment programs they need to thrive.

  • 4 Reasons Your Website Traffic Decreases

    4 Reasons Your Website Traffic Decreases

    1. Moved internal content off your website.

    If internal users were a big audience for your site, it makes sense that the traffic will go down when the content they wanted is no longer there. Why this is OK: Your site is now refined for your target audience (prospective students) rather than serving as an “intranet.”

    2. Started sending paid traffic to a campaign landing page or microsite.

    Often, we see that analytics were not added to the landing page or microsite. Why this is OK: It really is ok! 😊 But it is a great indicator that you need to add analytics to that property.

    3. Internal school computers no longer default to your website homepage.

    Those unintentional visits were inflating your session and user counts. Why this is OK: Removing those bounces reduces the noise that hides your “real” site visitors.

    4. Google is providing clickless answers on more of your site content.

    More user questions are being answered on the Google search result page. On average, 3-5% of searchers get answers without clicking through to your website. Why this is OK: Your site is ranking well with Google, and you are seen as a source of truth. While a sign that your content is authoritative, performance can’t be tracked in analytics and requires digging into the search console. Clickless behavior is difficult to quantify, but it remains a benefit to the user and a reflection of high ranking for your content.

    Sometimes traffic goes down for understandable reasons and seasons. Understanding these data situations can help you provide better insight to your stakeholders.

    Need help setting up analytics? Contact me to learn how we help clients answer these questions and learn more about our proprietary audit.

    Related reading: You Have 10 Seconds—Thrill Me!

  • Brand Resilience: Thriving in a Changing Political Landscape

    Brand Resilience: Thriving in a Changing Political Landscape

    After November 5th, public relations and brand advertising will require yet another set of nuanced strategies. Here are five key things to consider in your messaging, why they matter, and what to do:

    1. Messaging and Tone Sensitivity

    • Why it matters: After an election, the political climate can be charged with emotional reactions, whether positive or negative. Brand advertisers and PR teams need to be sensitive to varying sentiments.
    • What to do: Adopt a neutral or inclusive tone that respects different perspectives. Avoid polarizing language and remain cautious about referencing alignment to political statements. Even if your message aligns with your brand’s core values, it’s best to create a neutral tone.

    2. Audience Segmentation

    • Why it matters: Different segments of your audience may react to your brand differently depending on the election results. Some might feel empowered, while others may feel disappointed or marginalized.
    • What to do: Segment your audience and tailor your messaging to each group’s needs and expectations. Understanding regional, demographic, and ideological differences will be critical in maintaining engagement.

    3. Brand Authenticity and Values Alignment

    • Why it matters: Prospective clients and clients tend to align with  brands to reflect their values, especially after politically significant events. Misalignment can lead to brand distrust so proceed with caution.
    • What to do: Reinforce your brand’s core values in advertising and PR efforts. If your brand has a history of social or political engagement, ensure that your post-election messaging remains consistent with past actions.

    4. Timing and Relevance

    • Why it matters: Timing is critical in post-election periods. While the public may be bombarded with political content, there’s also fatigue.
    • What to do: Consider whether it’s the right time to advertise or launch a PR campaign. Focus on adding value, offering solutions, or delivering non-political content that resonates with audiences beyond the election buzz.

    5. Crisis Management and Preparedness

    • Why it matters: The aftermath of elections can lead to unexpected shifts in the political landscape, regulations, or public opinion that may affect your brand or industry.
    • What to do: Prepare your team for potential PR crises. Develop a rapid response strategy to address negative fallout, whether it’s related to the election or unrelated events heightened by the political atmosphere.

    Remaining sensitive to the mood of the nation while staying true to your brand values will be crucial for post-election advertising and PR success. Let’s talk about your plan!

  • AI & the Human Connection: Highlights from Content Marketing World

    AI & the Human Connection: Highlights from Content Marketing World

    Last year, the “Robots will never take our jobs!” vibe drove strong emotions from speakers and attendees. This year, though AI surfaced in nearly every session, I was pleasantly surprised by the challenging, yet optimistic, perspective I gained from each session.

    It felt like the dust has settled on the AI Freakout of 2023, and industry experts are feeling more enlightened than afraid of the possibilities of AI in marketing. Session discussions were wiser, focusing on how AI tools can help creators reconnect with and leverage our humanity in the creative process—not how to avoid the creative struggle that produces the best work.

    Rather than turning creative work over to AI, marketers should use it to give creative teams more room for innovation and creativity. In doing so, brands can find their way back to the heart of marketing—understanding the pain points and human needs of their audience—and create content that leads with emotion to achieve customer satisfaction and realize our business goals.

    Three main themes surfaced among the keynotes, my session with Jennifer Perez of North Orange Continuing Education, and the sessions I was fortunate to attend.

    1. ‘Friction Work’ Should Still Be ‘Human Work’

    Robert Rose, internationally recognized content expert and founder/chief strategy officer of The Content Advisory, kicked off the conference keynotes by introducing the elephant in the room: Marketers today are treading water.

    Trying to do *all the things* with strapped resources hinders creativity. The creative struggle, which Rose calls “valuable friction,” is the work that makes us wiser as marketers and strategists. Friction sparks fire, and first leads to innovation.

    So don’t be tempted to turn friction work over to AI, cautions Rose. Passionate content marketers create authentic, unexpected, and enlightened thought leadership pieces that drive meaningful, SEO-rich engagements. Stories appeal to consumers in a way that generic AI content simply can’t (yet).

    Instead, Rose challenged brands to leverage the efficiencies of AI to turn the building blocks of your creative process into strategic steps—making space for your strategists to take those ideas to the next level. Companies that lean into the power of tech-supported human creativity and innovation will become the content authorities in the age of AI.

    Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs, echoed Rose’s sentiment that with great speed comes great responsibility—to use generative AI appropriately and authentically in content creation.

    GenAI invites us to ask important questions that can help marketers create content more efficiently. But, Handley asks, is speed always the goal?

    In the creative process, fast does not always (often?) equal good. And “good” is not good enough for brands that want to make an impact. So, Handley said, we must be strategic in the shortcuts we take. Otherwise, we risk losing the storytelling spark that makes our brand content unique, along with the experience that makes our audience feel seen.

    2. Highlight the Outcome, Not Just the Process

    R. Ethan Braden, Vice President, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Texas A&M University, gave a moving keynote that hit this message on the head. After making everyone tear up over Google’s 2013 “Reunion” ad—a sentimental reunion between two grandfathers who were childhood friends, powered by Google Search—Braden reminded the audience that brands aren’t selling a thing or a service. Rather, brands provide an experience that resolves a need or fulfills a wish.

    Braden showed a photo of a drill bit and explained that consumers typically don’t buy something just to own it. There’s a need to fill and emotions connected to that need. The satisfaction isn’t in owning the item; it’s the feeling one gets from its use.

    Paraphrasing Seth Godin, Braden said consumers buy drill bits to make holes, but the holes aren’t the outcome your product/service fulfills. The consumer buys a drill bit to hang those family photos that have collected dust on the floor for a year. That satisfaction is the moment the drill bit company should appeal to in their marketing—and today’s AI tools can’t capture those sentiments as well as a human can.

    Erika Heald, founder of Erika Heald Marketing Consulting, provided guidance for setting up your brand strategy to put this sentiment in motion with the use of AI tools. Since how consumers talk about (and search for) answers to their needs changes rapidly, it can be challenging to make sure your brand voice echoes their desired outcome.

    Heald suggests using AI to create a list of dos and don’ts for brand content creation. You can train the tool with examples of “good” and “bad” branded content, then ask it to create a table or document that outlines the sentiment with which your brand aims to align.

    Heald did not suggest using AI to fully create important branded content for you—the current AI tools are designed to support the creative process, not take it over entirely. When we turn over creative work to AI, she cautions, it will be obvious that your brand’s humanity has been glossed over with generic phrasing.

    3. Get Vulnerable with Your Audience

    Jennifer Perez, Director of Campus Communications, North Orange Continuing Education (NOCE), highlighted the importance of empathizing with your audience beyond the marketing personas AI can help create.

    NOCE provides free career upskilling services, ranging from citizenship and English as a Second Language courses to IT and Bookkeeping training for underserved adult learners in Orange County, California. But for many students, the desire for job training floats in a sea of unmet needs: substandard housing, food insecurity, and limited flexibility due to lacking childcare or work schedules. Missed the session? Email me to get the slides.

    NOCE provides supportive services to help underserved adult learners meet these needs, reducing the mental load so students can get the education they need to thrive. Perez noted in her presentation with Stamats that only by inviting members of their audience to be vulnerable in personal conversations—in person, over Zoom, and by survey—can NOCE help students achieve their educational and professional goals.

    Analisa Goodin, CEO of Catch+Release, showcased the power of understanding your audience by leveraging user-generated (UG) content. She played a heart-tugging Mother’s Day video ad from Teleflora’s “The Hardest Part” campaign that captured the trials and joy of motherhood. The piece was created almost entirely with licensed UG content found through the AI-driven search function of the Catch+Release platform.

    Goodin noted that leveraging UG content mutually benefits creators, audiences, and brands. Creators love the content engagement. Audiences value seeing real people feel authentic emotions. And brands can appeal to the emotional impact that drives consumers to action.

    Change Is Here—How Will Your Strategy Grow?

    Artificial intelligence tools are changing how creatives tell your brand story. But if your team or vendor believes that churning out high-speed, low-authenticity content for your brand is good enough, it’s time to reconsider your strategy.

    As these CMWorld experts remind us, marketing success is built on human innovation and creativity. While AI can improve efficiency, strategic use is imperative. Brands that find content success in the age of AI will be those that respect the balance of humanity and mechanics, continually optimizing the use of AI to support and challenge creators in content delivery.

    Ready to revamp your content strategy? Email me today.

  • NCMPR 5 Wrap-Up: How to Extend Your Advertising Budget (Without Adding More Money)

    NCMPR 5 Wrap-Up: How to Extend Your Advertising Budget (Without Adding More Money)

    That’s exactly what Bianca Myers, Ph.D., Executive Dean of Advancement at Indian Hills Community College, and I discussed at the NCMPR District 5 conference.

    A little over a year ago, Indian Hills came to Stamats for an overhaul of their advertising strategy. We first made sure we understood the messaging, audience, and market parameters. Indian Hills is a relatively small school in a rural area and was experiencing declining enrollment. About 98% of their student population was local, and 12% were over the age of 23. About 70% of their students were enrolled in career and technical education programs, with 30% enrolled in arts and science programs.

    A full audit of the current strategy showed us quick wins and optimization opportunities. Before working with Stamats, Indian Hills had a mostly brand-focused campaign approach, with 80% of their budget going to people who already knew of them. After gaining a deeper understanding of their campaign, we applied the ten insights discussed at the NCMPR 5 presentation.

    Insight #1: Are you advertising to the people you’re already going to get?

    Analyze your search terms. What percentage of your advertising search terms did the user include your college names? It’s easier to get traffic from people who are searching “Indian Hills welding classes,” but harder to get hits from non-branded search terms like “welding classes near me.” But non-branded searchers are who you should be focusing on. Together, Dr. Myers and my team at Stamats refocused the ad spend from 80% branded search to 80% non-branded search.

    Insight #2: Where do the ads go?

    The landing page is where the conversion work is done. Google also rewards your campaign with lower ad costs if the search and the landing page align. Initially, Indian Hills had generic pages for all the ads. In the first few months, we went from a generic brand landing page to tailored landing pages about welding, associate nursing degrees, industrial maintenance, and more.

    Insight #3: What is the goal of the campaign?

    What is an actual conversion? During our audits, we have seen soft conversions, such as viewing a program page. Stamats has a high standard of what we consider a conversion. For Indian Hills, we defined it as:

    • Submitting an RFI form
    • Clicking the Apply button (from there, we couldn’t track the submit)
    • Calling our admissions number (identified through a trackable number)

    NOTE: This might mean that your conversions go down. Now you are only counting “real” conversions; your numbers are more realistic. That extra padding is gone. Dr. Myers shared how she prepared leadership that we are now ROI-focused and no longer counting general interest.

    Insight #4: How do you prioritize what helps each program’s needs?

    With so many programs, it can be hard to know exactly what needs an advertising boost. Stamats created a decision tree to help colleges like Indian Hills allocate their advertising budget. Run each program you have through the decision tree to decide what action to take next, whether it’s paid search ads, market analysis, thought leadership, and more

    Insight #5: Align your ad spend with your enrollment cycle.

    If you’re dividing your advertising budget by 12 and prescribing the same amount to every month, you’re not being effective. Instead, increase your ad spend during months with deadlines, such as class registration and application deadlines, and decrease your ad spend during the more low-key months.

    Insight #6: Push admissions deadlines in your ad campaigns to drive conversions.

    Deadlines help spur action. Indian Hills and Stamats worked together to drive conversions with deadline-driven marketing. Campaign landing pages should also prominently feature deadlines and become part of the overall strategy.

    Insight #7: Have strong organic pages.

    On average, a visitor comes to the site seven times before they convert. Their journey includes a mix of paid and organic. The organic program pages play a key role and must be robust to support and optimize the conversion process. Your program pages are your key selling page. They should not be catalog data-focused. That detail is saved for later visits. First, you must convince them that your program is a good fit for them.

    Before the program page updates, it took an average of seven days and five site visits to convert. After content updates, it only took four days and three site visits to convert.

    Insight #8: Continue the experience from platform to landing page.

    Let’s say someone is browsing Instagram and sees an interesting video showcasing an Indian Hills student story. They click the link for more. They suddenly see a text-heavy page. Guess what? They will most likely bounce. Stats show the average time on site after clicking an Instagram or TikTok ad is three seconds.

    Our recent optimizations created a continuation of their video and interactive experience with a mobile-optimized, video-heavy landing page.

    Insight #9: Mimic a campus visit in a flexible and easy-to-update way.

    Sometimes students are not able to come onsite for a tour, especially international students. But a tour is a great opportunity to tell more about life on campus.

    During our interviews, coaches shared PowerPoints they created to showcase the culture, student life, dorm life, and opportunities. We recreated that experience with a Virtual Campus Experience. After funding a 360 virtual tour for years, reallocating those dollars to a one-time expense freed up budget for other marketing.

    The Virtual Campus Experience mimics a campus tour with a greeting by the Director of Admissions, video tours, interviews with students and faculty, campus highlights, and a “day in the life” information about their students.

    Not only did it save marketing costs, but it’s also very easy to update!

    Insight #10: Keep adjusting.

    In order to have a robust digital marketing strategy, you need to expect adjustments. Make a plan and then reevaluate each and every month. Digital properties change, competitors change, and environmental activities change.

    For Indian Hills Community College, these ten insights had an enormous effect. Clicks-to-apply skyrocketed by over 95%. For institutions following these insights, clicks and impressions may go down initially, but the high-quality conversions that lead to applications will increase.

    We challenged our audience with these three insights:

    • Every quarter, challenge your strategy.
    • Tactics and budget must be adjusted regularly.
    • Focus on the real impact of enrollment.

    By focusing on results, such as enrollment numbers, and learning and adjusting, you can achieve the success that Indian Hills Community College and Stamats found together. If you would like to talk more about our presentation, please email me to schedule a time to discuss.