My Top 5 Books I Read in 2016

For as long as I can remember I always preferred non-fiction, business books to fiction novels.  I always had a thirst for knowledge.  This year was no exception as my favorite books I read this year are all marketing books.

I read many books for my job that deal with education, but my true passion is marketing. My top five books for 2016 concentrate on content marketing, digital marketing and analytics.  One of the top five books was even written by a graduate of the very district I work for.

So without further delay, in no order, here are my top five books of 2016:

1. Welcome to the Funnel by Jason Miller

I got to here Jason speak at Social Media Marketing World 2016 and really enjoyed his passion for marketing and rock and roll.  While I was at the conference, I picked up his book and had it read before I left San Diego. Very nice ideas about content marketing and social media.

Buy the Book Here: Welcome to the Funnel

From Amazon.com

Raising brand awareness, building trust, establishing credibility, and ultimately driving revenue, that’s what the top of the funnel is all about. It can be a marketer’s “Paradise City”, but without focus, it can quickly become overwhelming. The one-two punch of social media and content marketing is a vital part of any successfully integrated marketing approach. If you are not pairing these two powerhouses together then you are simply missing opportunities to grow your business. The tactics and strategies in this book have come together through a tremendous amount of research, trial and error, expert input, and real world applications. 

From startups to enterprise—what’s included here works across the board and can very quickly make an impact. Just like your favorite double album, this book is separated into four sides, each one addressing a different aspect of Content and Social Media.

2. Momentum by Shama Hyder

I have been a fan of Shama since her first book The Zen of Social Media Marketing. Like her bio says, she is one of the top voices in marketing and social. She is also a graduate of the district I currently work in. Her book is chock full of great digital marketing examples to use in your own business or school district.

Buy the Book Here: Momentum

From Amazon.com

Today's online ecosystem can be summed up in one word: overwhelming. With new social media platforms popping up all the time and new technologies disrupting even the most “reliable” marketing strategies, business and nonprofit leaders and marketers are faced with the challenge of getting ahead in an environment that makes it seem impossible to keep up.

Momentum: How to Propel Your Marketing and Transform Your Brand in the Digital Age will help you figure out what’s important and what can safely be set aside. No matter your industry, if want to gain momentum for your marketing efforts—along with the just rewards—Momentum is the resource you’ve been waiting for. Based on her experience as CEO of The Marketing ZenGroup and her work with clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, Shama Hyder cuts through the complexity and explains the five essential principles required to develop a successful marketing plan that will withstand the digital world’s constant changes and result in real ROI.

3. Content Inc. by Joe Pulizzi  

When I first fell in love the with the strategy of Content Marketing it was because of Joe Pulizzi and his book, Epic Content Marketing. He is the go to source for all things content marketing. I also highly recommend his podcasts called Content Inc. and This Old Marketing.

Buy the Book Here: Content Inc.

From Amazon.com

In Content Inc., one of today's most sought-after content-marketing strategists reveals a new model for entrepreneurial success. Simply put, it's about developing valuable content, building an audience around that content, and then creating a product for that audience.
Notice a shift?
 
Author Joe Pulizzi flips the traditional entrepreneurial approach of first creating a product and then trying to find customers. It's a brilliant reverse-engineering of a model that rarely succeeds.
 
The radical six-step business-building process revealed in this book is smart, simple, practical, and cost-effective. And best of all, it works. It's a strategy Pulizzi used to build his own successful company, Content Marketing Institute, which has landed on Inc. magazine's list of fastest growing private companies for three years straight. It's also a strategy countless other entrepreneurs use to build their own multi-million dollar companies. Build an audience and you'll be able to sell pretty much anything you want. 

4. The Analytical Marketer by Adele Sweetwood 

My professional goal for the year was to heighten my knowledge on analytics. I use Google Analytics, but I needed better background to really drive our districts strategies. This book not only discusses analytics, but it also explains how to build an organization around the concept. It is a great book for anyone wanting to expand their knowledge on the subject.

Buy the Book Here: The Analytical Marketer 

From Amazon.com

Analytics are driving big changes, not only in what marketing departments do but in how they are organized, staffed, led, and run. Leaders are grappling with issues that range from building an analytically driven marketing organization and determining the kinds of structure and talent that are needed to leading interactions with IT, finance, and sales and creating a unified view of the customer. The Analytical Marketer provides critical insight into the changing marketing organization—digital, agile, and analytical—and the tools for reinventing it.

Written by the head of global marketing for SAS, The Analytical Marketer is based on the author’s firsthand experience of transforming a marketing organization from “art” to “art and science.” Challenged and inspired by their company’s own analytics products, the SAS marketing team was forced to rethink itself in order to take advantage of the new capabilities that those tools offer the modern marketer. Key marketers and managers at SAS tell their stories alongside the author’s candid lessons learned as she led the marketing organization’s transformation. With additional examples from other leading companies, this book is a practical guide and set of best practices for creating a new marketing culture that thrives on and adds value through data and analytics.

5. #AskGaryVee by Gary Vaynerchuk

What's not to love about the fouled-mouth marketer from New York? Gary tells it how it is and what he is saying is always spot-on. His fast-growing Vayner Media is on of the fastest growing digital agencies in the country. His short burst of insights in his book are a great resource for any entrepreneur and marketer who wants to take the digital age by storm.

Buy the book Here: #AskGaryVee

From Amazon.com 

The New York Times bestselling author draws from his popular show #AskGaryVee to offer surprising, often outrageous, and imminently useful and honest answers to everything you’ve ever wanted to know—and more—about navigating the new world.

Gary Vaynerchuk—the inspiring and unconventional entrepreneur who introduced us to the concept of crush it—knows how to get things done, have fun, and be massively successful. A marketing and business genius, Gary had the foresight to go beyond traditional methods and use social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to reach an untapped audience that continues to grow.

#AskGaryVee showcases the most useful and interesting questions Gary has addressed on his popular show. Distilling and expanding on the podcast’s most urgent and evergreen themes, Gary presents practical, timely, and timeless advice on marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and everything else you’ve been afraid to ask but are dying to know. Gary gives you the insights and information you need on everything from effectively using Twitter to launching a small business, hiring superstars to creating a personal brand, launching products effectively to staying healthy—and even buying wine.

Whether you’re planning to start your own company, working in digital media, or have landed your first job in a traditional company, #AskGaryVee is your essential guide to making things happen in a big way.

What are your top choices for books in 2016? Leave your list in the comment section below or let me know on Twitter at @wheelercfb

 

My 2016 School Marketing Social Media Draft

In the spirit of this year's NFL draft, our district has put together our 2016 - 2017 Social Media Mock Draft.

Does your district have a ranking?  Are you ready for the new future of social media?

1. Facebook

This is our highest engaging social media platform.  Driven by parents (we don’t see students here much anymore), this social media powerhouse just reported record earnings fueled by advertising.  Our strongest demographic on the platform is women aged 35 – 44.

How Your District Can Benefit from Facebook Audience Optimization

You don’t get much bang for your buck with organic posts like you use to, but this veteran can score you some engagement wins with target and retargeted paid ads.  Ads can be very cheap compared to traditional media such as newspapers, radio and television.  Now with Facebook Live, you can broadcast live video straight to your timeline.  Game Changer!

2. Instagram

We get most of our student traction from social media on this Facebook owned platform (we are early into SnapChat with no official launch).  Students in middle school and high school don’t mind mentioning us on their feeds or interacting with our posts.

7 Awesome Ideas to Kick Your District Instagram Account into High Gear

Now that you are not limited to a square pic, and that you can post video, this is an awesome resource to reach your students.

3. Twitter

Unfortunately, this star has fallen quite bit in engagement and reach.  We do get some interaction from the parents and students, but we have noticed less and fewer students want to interact on Twitter.

We do think it still has some potential with the ability to post video and to conduct Twitter chats with parents and the community.  Twitter does work well with community and business partners, as they tend to retweet our content.  I think the company needs to overhaul some things to have a fourth quarter resurgence.

4. LinkedIn

This is on our list to great things for our district in the 2016 – 2017 season.  LinkedIn is not just a tool for HR.  It has become a content hub for professionals.

We feel this platform will be a superstar when it comes to engaging our community and business partners.  Now with “showcase pages”, we can provide strategic content to our different audiences.  We are looking to take our content marketing to the next level with this professional player.

5. YouTube

I do not really consider YouTube social media (it is more like a search engine for video content), but it still has some social aspects that allowed us to have it ranked number five in our mock draft.

Video is power in marketing.  With broadband internet pretty much the norm, you do not have to worry about the dreaded buffering pop-up like the past.  More and more marketing departments are investing in video.  It is time your district invests in the “number two” search engine in the world.

6. SnapChat

This will be a game changer in video marketing.  I am sure in next year’s draft; this young platform could reach number two. 

Millennials are now the largest demographic surpassing baby boomers… and they are all on SnapChat. Now with the Story Tool, this has become a powerful way to publicly communicate.

If you are scared to tip your toe into the SnapChat waters, there is still a way to be noticed on the platform.  I suggest Geo-Filters.  It is a great way to target SnapChatters in certain zip codes to interact with your brand or district.  Geo-Filters alone would make SnapChat a safe bet to draft this rookie at number five.

7. Periscope

This platform had a quick rise, but has lost much of its luster with Facebook introducing Facebook Live.

10 Periscope Ideas for Your School PR Department 

Periscope is still a great way to interact with your Twitter followers in a live setting.  I don’t mind picking it up in the third or fourth round.  Here are some suggestions on great ways to use the platform from an earlier post on my blog.

8. Pinterest

To be honest, our district needs more of a Pinterest presence.  It is still a powerful tool to interact with parents, especially moms.

The key is to be strategic with your posts and not go pin crazy.  We need a clean-up on aisle Pinterest in our district.  We do get some nice engagement using the Pin-It button on our blog visuals.  Try to find this WordPress plugin for your blog.

9. Vimeo

Not as widely accepted as YouTube, but it is a great for embedding clean video on your website and blog.  The best part is there are no ads or pre-roll to get in the way of your content.

10. “Mr. Irrelevant”

Google Plus

You would think Google would be able to get at least one hit in the social media landscape, however, this is not really a game-changer for our district.  We do use it to drive small traffic to our blogs, but other than that we rarely use this dying platform.

The Death of School PR: Mad Lib Edition

“The sole purpose of marketing is to get more people to buy more of your product, more often, for more money.” – Sergio Zyman

“When you understand that marketing is what you do to sell stuff, then the money you lay out is an investment instead of an expense.” – Sergio Zyman

We were very excited the morning after we had filmed one of our middle school principals being duct taped to the wall.  The video got a lot of views on YouTube, it had close to 100 likes on Facebook, it was at the tipping point of becoming a mini-viral hit within our district. Then we decided not to repost it or Tweet it again.

Why would we pull the brakes on something that was getting us likes, something that was being viewed over and over again?

Because looking closer at the data, and analyzing the analytics, the video was doing nothing to drive more parents, more often to our program and school webpages or getting them to attend informational events.   From a marketing standpoint, it was not bringing in the results.

Does that mean we are never going to film fun events like this?  No way.  They’re fun. They make people laugh.  We are going to keep filming as long as our priniciapls are willing to be daredevils.  However, we are not going to rely on “viral videos” to push our message.

Well… I was going to finish this post with some thoughts on the future of School Public Relations and Marketing, but decided for you guys to finish the article. 

Tweet me, email me, or leave a comment on where you think the future of School PR is heading… Because just like a shark... you have to keep moving or die!

Meet Jennifer DiBella - School PR Pro

1. How did you get your start in education and School PR?

My background is in journalism. Several years ago I put my skills to use online using social media as a platform and began working as a consultant/marketing strategist for individuals, companies, and organizations that needed social media training and assistance with managing their social accounts and brand online. I was recruited to volunteer at my children’s school to assist the parent organizations with their online communication. Two years ago, my work experience and volunteer service led to a full time position as the Electronic Communication Specialist at Adlai E Stevenson High School located in Lincolnshire, Illinois. At Stevenson, I work closely with the school Public Information Coordinator to generate valued communication across all e-channels for students, staff, parents, and the greater community.

2. What is your favorite part of the job? 

My favorite part of the job is information sharing and relationship building. Fostering relationships with community members/organizations and being a liaison between the school and my community is what I value most in my role at Stevenson.

3. What piece of advice can you give other School PR pros?

Social media must be a part of your communication mix. Invest in social training. Provide workshops and guidelines to teach your staff and faculty how to navigate the social scene online.

4. What are three things you think will change the landscape of School PR the next five years?

Mobile technology will continue to change the landscape of social communication. If your website isn’t mobile responsive yet, it’s time to update.

Livestream social sharing will become more of the norm. It offers parents and the community a view of your school like never before. It also increases audience reach. The use of Livestream apps like Periscope and NomadCast will be used to share what’s happening at school with parents, families, grandparents and community members that are interested, but unable to attend in person or at that specific time.

Gone are the days of blasting out press releases and hoping traditional media outlets pick up the story. Video communication the future. Just as other forms of communication are changing, so is how new information is released to the public. Look for visual content to become standard.

5. Where can people find out more about you? Twitter? Blog?

For social tips and more, connect with me @JennQBrendan on Twitter. You can also find me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JennQBrendan and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennydibella

Meet Jason Wheeler (Me) - School PR Pro

Since I was doing these School PR spotlights, I thought I would introduce myself by answering the same questions as my colleagues.  Here are my thoughts...

 

Jason Wheeler

Marketing Coordinator, CFBISD 

1. How did you get your start in education and School PR?

I graduated from Texas A&M University in 2000 and still had no real clue as to what I wanted to do.  This was right after the Dot Com Bubble burst, and not many marketing or advertising firms were hiring.  In fact, no one was hiring.

Getting scared, and slightly embarrassed about being unemployed, I took a job as a salesperson for an image company in Dallas.  I worked for the company for little over a year doing fairly well, but hating every minute of the job.  While I was at my brother’s football game, I ran into my former assistant principal from when I was in high school and she suggested I apply for a teaching position at her new school.

Five years in middle school and eight years in high school I was everything from a Texas history teacher to the Director of a Video Production and Graphic Design Academy at a high school in Carrollton, Texas that was called AMAT.  It was this academy position that introduced me to the School PR World.  Having access to high quality video equipment, I was the go to guy to create video marketing pieces for the school district.

After partnering with the Public Relations Department for four years, I made the transition to my current assignment as Marketing Coordinator for the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District. This was the same district I grew up in, and the same district I have spent the last 14 years as an educator.

2. What is your favorite part of the job?

I love combing creativity with data and statistics.  I love being strategic in everything I do. I have a strong passion for marketing, and feel there has been a shift in public education where it is needed now more than ever. It is also a plus to interact with so many different people on a daily basis.  From community partners to other PR Pros, I have met many interesting people.

3. What piece of advice can you give other School PR pros?

Be passionate about what you do.  People know when you are faking it.  From building a newsletter to speaking in front 1,000 parents at a community rally, make sure you are excited about public education and the schools that make up your district.  The more excited you are, the more excited your audience is going to be.

4. What are three things you think will change the landscape of School PR the next five years?

First, I think we are seeing a big shift in public education. We have more competition now than we ever have before. From online institutes to private and charter schools, we can no longer expect children in our community to choose our schools. It is very important that school districts invest in marketing and public relations to spread the word of the great things public education is achieving.

Second, I think we can no longer win with traditional School PR. The days of just creating a newsletter and getting your parents and community excited is a thing of the past.  I feel the next breakthrough in school marketing will be the discipline of Content Marketing.  Direct advertising no longer works.  People want help solving their problems and concerns, especially when it comes to their child’s schooling. We need to create content that will make them confident they are making the best choice for their child’s education.

Third, I think social media is a great way to still reach parents, students and the community.  No other advertising medium allows us to target micro-groups like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Use these networks to have a conversation with niche audiences for the niche programs you offer. Right now it is the cheapest form of advertising and could possibly be the biggest bang for your buck, and create incredible return on your investment.

5. Where can people find out more about you? Twitter? Blog?

The best place to interact with me is on Twitter (@WheelerCFB) and you can read my blog at www.socialmediaschoolhouse.com.

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn

What Your School District's Social Media Plan Can Learn From Oreo - Less is More

 

According to the Dallas Morning News, Mondelez International Inc. is launching a new line of Oreo Thins in the U.S. next week. The slimmed down cookie will be 140 calories for a package of four, compared to 160 calories for three cookies. The thinner cookie was created to appeal to adults who want a  “sophisticated cookie,” the company said.

Oreo’s thinner philosophy should be your school’s new social media strategy. Just because social media is all the rage these days, does not mean you have to dive into every platform that is out there. Your school district should be strategic on selecting your social media communication plan.

The best piece of advice I can give your district is to find out what platforms your core audience is using and conquer those before you move into emerging areas. Most school districts have a core audience of parents, students and community members including local business that they are targeting. My recommendation is to choose five platforms to reach those audience members. Those can be different depending on your district and its demographics, but there are some that are better than others when it comes to market saturation.

Here are our big five:

1. Facebook

Facebook is big for us. Even though students claim to hate Facebook, we find that when there is an engaging post they like, they are still there. Facebook has also become a hug communication tool to our parents. More and more of our parents have chosen Facebook as their social media platform of choice.

2. Twitter

We tend to be a little less serious when it comes to Twitter.  We find more of our students and young professionals are on this platform.  We use Twitter to post pictures of our students doing great things, and event follow-up notices after we have posted a more detailed description on Facebook.

3. Instagram

This is where we target our students. This platform is safe compared to Snapchat and Vine for us. Most of our content on this platform are pictures of students and the great things they are doing in our district. Anytime we post a picture of students, our engagement levels are through the roof. We do tend to see parents on Instagram, but our students engage more then our parent browsers.

4. YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the United States.  Video is a wonderful platform for engagement. The more visual you can get in your social media is for the better.  Not only is Youtube very popular, but also Facebook native video is doing wonderfully in the engagement rankings.

5. LinkedIn

We have started to revamp our LinkedIn strategy in our district.  We know the business community can be a great asset for financially strapped school districts.  LinkedIn is much more than a job search platform.  You can engage professionals with event posts and recycled blog articles that best represent your district and what it has to offer. We have a long way to go with this social media site, but we have a strategic plan to get better.

As of right now, the sites above are what we are focusing on. We do have a Pinterest, but we are not very active. We do dabble with Periscope, but once again it is not our main focus.  We are continuing to monitor the social media offerings and see what we need to do next.  However, there is no need to jump on everything. Find out what you are good at and conquer those worlds before you dominate the entire industry. Take it from Oreo, sometimes more is not better.