Engagement Posts

Ascend Learning uses 12+ brands to deliver custom products and services to high-value industries like healthcare. They have over 1,000 employees with over 30 percent working remotely. But two years ago, the majority of Ascend Learning employees didn’t think much about other brands in the company’s portfolio.

Modern marketing is complicated. But when you break down the components of a strong marketing program, it suddenly feels familiar and approachable. The best tools out there are easy to set up, easy to use, and get results.

Still, there is an overwhelming amount of technology and techniques marketing teams need to sift through. What do you really need and which tools are key for getting results?

In recent years, digital marketing strategies like search engine optimization, paid advertising, social media marketing, and blogging, have replaced traditional marketing tactics as the preferred methods for promoting products and attracting potential customers. Inbound marketing encompasses these "new" strategies, with a focus on bringing interested potential buyers to your website and product.

Outbound marketing techniques like mail advertising, cold calling, or radio commercials aren’t as targeted, measurable, or cost effective. They simply canvas large swaths of people and are difficult – if not impossible – to track.

But this shift doesn’t make outbound marketing obsolete. If implemented in conjunction with inbound techniques, outbound marketing can help cement brand recognition with your target audience.

No matter where you go these days, you'll find people nose deep in their phones - on the bus, in line at Starbucks, or even as they wait for a meal at a restaurant. These gaps of time are known as micro-moments, and have become the newest frontier for marketers.

These moments are an enormous opportunity, as the average consumer experiences them about 150 times a day. Research shows that on average, people spend an astonishing one-third of their waking time on their mobile devices. About 55 percent of this time is spent in short bursts of 30 seconds or less.  

Tis the season for giving, whether it’s children’s toys, holiday galas, or advocacy groups. For nonprofits and charities, that makes the holidays a great time to focus on fundraising. You’re probably already leveraging the giving season to improve your campaigns and help meet year-end goals.

New and repeat donations are important during the holidays (and year-round) but is your fundraising strategy missing a critical step?

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is more than a century old, but that doesn’t mean it relies on old technology. Their member engagement and technology strategies are cutting edge, which makes sense—they have a global member base, with over 1,600 organizations comprised of 40,000 individuals spanning 100 countries/territories. Managing and providing value to such a wide-ranging membership is no small task, especially given AACSB’s relatively small staff—time and efficiency are precious commodities.

Did you know, according to the Pew Research Center, 73 percent of American adults consider themselves lifelong learners?

Education is a huge benefit associations can provide for their members, and online education is a great way of providing it. And today, with learning management system (LMS) options that seamlessly integrate with your online community, it’s possible to create a centralized member experience that includes education and certifications of all types.

You have all the pieces in place in to go mobile – a responsive website, mobile-friendly design elements, even an online community app that lets users receive push notifications and access your community from any device. It's a great plan, especially since studies show that by using apps push notifications in your app, you could increase engagement by 2,770 percent. 

There’s just one problem: people aren’t using your app. They’re not even downloading it.

Want some easy to create and implement ideas that will enhance, protect and engage your community?

We’ve been in this industry for more than a decade, so we put together a list of what we consider are seven of the most underutilized online community features and processes. By making the most of these, you can save time and cut down pressure on your staff.

Subject matter experts (SMEs) have the potential to be the most versatile and impactful members of your community. But are you enabling them to make an impact and, more importantly, do you know what obstacles they are facing within the community and your organization?