Month: February 2013

New book on #highered social media: Social Works

'Social Works' goes live Feb. 25.
‘Social Works’ goes live Feb. 25.

Months in the making, a new book about social media in higher education marketing — perhaps the book on the subject — is about to hit the marketplace.

Social Works: How #HigherEd Uses #SocialMedia to Raise Money, Build Awareness, Recruit Students, and Get Results will officially be available in print and ebook formats next Monday, Feb. 25, 2013. (There’s also a launch party scheduled for the following day in Boston. I won’t say much about that, though, because I’m jealous that I won’t be there.)

Social Works is a collection of 25 case studies from colleges and universities large and small, public and private, all of which have embraced social media to help them accomplish a wide array of goals, from fundraising to student recruitment to alumni engagement and crisis management.

Edited by Michael Stoner (@mstonerblog), the president and co-founder of mStoner Inc., Social Works demonstrates, he writes, “that social media has the maturity and reach to be an integral component of campaigns focused on building awareness, recruiting students, engaging alumni and other key audiences, raising money, and accomplishing important goals that matter to a college or university.”

I was thrilled when Michael approached me about being a part of this project. He asked me to write a chapter on using social media for crisis communication, based on our staff’s response to a gunman on the Missouri University of Science and Technology campus in May 2011. (I blogged about that experience immediately afterward. The case study goes much more in depth.) I was happy to oblige. It’s been a great experience and a truly collaborative effort with Michael, his team at mStoner and Eduniverse, and many of my colleagues in higher education.

To give you a taste of what’s in store, download a sample chapter from Social Works. This chapter, by Justin Ware (@justinjware), describes how Florida State University leveraged social media to raise more than $186,000 in an online-only campaign.

Books that matter: Bob Brock on ‘Selling the Invisible’

For the second installment of a series of “books that matter” book reviews by colleagues in higher education, I’ve asked Bob Brock (@bobbrock21) of Educational Marketing Group (@EMGonline) to review his pick for the best marketing book ever. His selection is one of my favorites as well. (If you’d like to share your selection and perhaps write a review, please complete this questionnaire.)

Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing

Review by Bob Brock

Beckwith_SellingInvisibleHere’s why I’d choose Harry Beckwith’s book, Selling the Invisible, as THE book on marketing I’d have if I could only have one:

This book offers the most compelling rationale and the clearest process for building a strong brand that I’ve ever encountered.

Harry gets to his points with refreshing speed, using a clear, conversational style that engaged me start to finish. Every piece of advice is a small, golden nugget, and he serves up dozens of vignettes and examples that ring true and hit home.

The content is terrific, with perceptive insights into human behavior that have stuck with me over the years. And finally, Harry convincingly fuses marketing with selling with delivering as no other brand marketers have, before or since. Fun read, extraordinary resource.