This is a presentation I gave at the Stamats Integrated Marketing conference, November 2008

1. Eye on the Prize
Implementing Technology with an Eye on ROI
Karlyn Morissette
karlyn@karlynmorissette.com
www.karlynmorissette.com
www.doteduguru.com

2. Return on Investment:
the magic number that
will make you look like
a golden god

3. What is the difference between
Marketing and Communications
?

4. “Communications makes
marketing tactics tangible”

5. Cartoon

6. Steps of Marketing
1. Set Goals
2. Plan your communications
3. Execute
4. Assess your results

7. Set Goals
⇒ What does success look like?
⇒ Marketing goals should relate back
to the business goals of the
institution
⇒ Make sure they are
measurable

8. Plan Your
Communications
⇒ What medium is the best way to
articulate your message?
⇒ What is the strategy for the
communication?

9. Time is Money
Planning not only includes
strategy, but also
infrastructure. Will an
in-house solution or an
outsourced one be more
cost effective?

10. Step One:
Employee’s Salary
+ 1/3 Salary (benefits)
==================
Total Salary
Step Two:
Total Salary / 2080
===============
Hourly Wage
Step Three:
Hourly Wage
X Number of Staff Hours
==================
Internal Cost

11. Execute your
communications

12. Assess your results
⇒ What was achieved as a direct result
of the communication?
⇒ Did that conversion result in a return?
⇒ What can I do better next time?

13. Example: Email Marketing
Set up tracking for an email
that is sent out to
prospects, encouraging
them to fill out an online
application for admissions.

14. Set Up Tracking
Two Key Tools:
⇒ Goals
⇒ URL Builder

15. Step One: Set up
a Goal / Funnel

16. Step Two: Build a Campaign URL
http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55578

17. Step Three: Put the Two Together
Kyle’s Tool: http://doteduguru.com/stamats/urlbuilder

18. Step Three: Put the Two Together
Goal Conversion

19. Example: Email Marketing
Figure out ROI on an email
campaign that sent out
3,000 emails, had 358 click
throughs, resulting in 130
applications. The email took
2 hours to complete, at the
cost of $40/hr staff time
and $0.015/per email.

20. ROI Calculator
http://www.marketingtoday.com/tools/roi_calculator.htm

21. Dollarize Everything
Assigning a monetary
value to your results
gives you a common
denominator to
compare costs to
outcomes

22. Assigning Value
Cost of Tuition: $20,000/year
Conversion rate from application to enroll: 20%
20% of $20,000 is $4,000
$4,000 is our “average profit per sale”

23. Values for the Calculator
⇒ Number of Pieces: 3,000
⇒ Total Program Costs:
($0.015 X 3,000) + ($40 X 2) = $125
⇒ Response Rate: 358 clicks/3,000 = 11.93%
⇒ Conversion Rate: 130 apps/358 = 36.31%
⇒ Average Profit Per Sale: $4,000

24. ROI Results

25. Share Your Success
⇒ Make it tangible
⇒ Give it context
⇒ Offer recommendations

26. Breaking Down Tactics

27. The dirty little
secret of
e-marketing

28. Email Marketing: What it’s good for
⇒ Increase online
applications
⇒ Register online for an
event
⇒ Bring in online gifts
⇒ Start a conversation

29. Facebook Ads

30. Facebook Ads: What are they good for?

31. Facebook Ads: What are they good for?

32. Facebook Ads: What are they good for?

33. Facebook Ads: How you measure ROI
⇒ Use a Google Analytics campaign URL
⇒ Set up a goal or create a unique landing
page to track conversion.
⇒ Assign a value and use the ROI
calculator.

34. Facebook Ads: How you measure ROI
⇒ Number of pieces: The total number of
impressions
⇒ Program costs: The total amount paid for the
ads, plus staff time.
⇒ Response rate: The percent of people who
clicked on the ad
⇒ Conversion rate: The percent of people
fulfilled the call-to-action
⇒ Average profit per sale: The value you assign
to them fulfilling the action

35. Facebook Ads: How you measure ROI

36. Blogs

37. Blogs: What are they good for?
⇒ Provide authentic stories of
the student experience
⇒ An opportunity for
interaction with current
students
⇒ Make institutional
announcements and
calls-to-action
⇒ Gain insight into the minds
of your audience

38. Blogs: How can you measure ROI?
⇒ Conversion, if you have a call to action
⇒ Readers: Cost of advertising in a similar
content channel
⇒ Comments: Cost of a focus group, if it
provides insight
⇒ Anecdotal: Take it on a case-by-case basis

39. Social Networks

40. Social Networks: What are they good for?
⇒ Allowing your audience
to become a
friend/fan/follower of
your institution
⇒ Engaging incoming
students over the
summer to prevent
“sugar off”
⇒ Giving alumni
volunteers a way to
interact with each
other and share tips

41. Social Networks: How you measure ROI
⇒ Easy dissemination of information: What would it
cost you in over mediums? What was your
conversion rate with calls-to-action?
⇒ Ease sugar off: Did the percentage of summer
sugar off go down? How much value does that
translate into?
⇒ Support alumni volunteers: Where your volunteers
more successful as a result? What value does that
translate into?

42. Bottom Line on Measurement
How much did
achieving my goals
relate directly back to
the bottom line of my
institution?

43. Key Takeaways
⇒ Start with bottom-line
related goals, not with
the technology
⇒ Measure everything
⇒ Dollarize your results to
calculate ROI
⇒ Always ask what you can
do better next time

44. Questions?
www.karlynmorissette.com
www.doteduguru.com
Email: karlyn@karlynmorissette.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/karlynm