Marketing Report for Fall 2011

Prepared by: Keith Crawford

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TOOLS Website From August 1 to the time of writing op.appstate.edu has had 11,088 visits. During an equal period of time in the Spring 2011 semester we had 9,152 visitors. This is an increase of 21.18%. We did not have Google Analytics installed on our website at this point in 2010 so we are unable to compare to the Fall 2010 semester.

Figure 1. Website views by page. These are the nine most popular.

In Figure 1 you can see the breakdown of which pages receive the most views. 22.4% of our visits result from a google search, with belay certifcation, outdoor programs, app state outdoor programs and appalachian state university outdoor programs being the top keywords. 13.5% of our visits during the same time period came from Appalnet posts. 12.3% of the visits were from users typing in our web address directly. Recommendations Continue to maintain Google Analytics. This is an amazingly helpful resource. Research ways to have OPs website show up in even more search results. Think of other key words OP would like to have associated with the programs website and use those frequently. Continue posting on Appalnet. Over 1,500 visitors viewed OPs website due to Appalnet from 8/1/2011 to the time of writing. Keep the main page fresh and exciting. Since a large majority of views happen here OP should continue to update it regularly, and with media ,to get 2 of 6

viewers excited to engage with OP. Mail Chimp The ASU OP Mail Chimp account was created on 4/22/2011. At that time it had 988 subscribers, at the time of writing it has 1,926 subscribers. There have been an average of 18 new subscribers per month and an average of 1 unsubscribe per month. When emails are sent to these subscribers, 15% of them are opened on average and an average of 6% of subscribers click on a link in the email. This semester we have sent 7,432 emails from Mail Chimp. According to Google Analytics Mail Chimp has sent over 290 people to our website between August 1, 2011 and the date of writing.

Figure 2. Open Rate of Mail Chimp Newsletters. Newsletters are listed left to right chronologically, beginning in August 2011 and ending in October 2011.

The greatest concern with Mail Chimp is illustrated in Figure 2, the open rate for the email newsletters has steadily dropped off throughout the semester. Recommendations Continue to use Mail Chimp. The minimal effort required to use Mail Chimp compared to the exposure it provides the program seems to make the question of using Mail Chimp or not a no-brainer. Clean-up the subscriber list. Since the list began from our Google Contacts it contains many people who no longer have interest in OP. Also, we are very close to our 2,000 person limit for the free account level. Look into ways to increase the open rate. Consider contests, clever subject lines, etc. One option may to be use their A/B testing method to find days, times, etc. that increase the open rate. Facebook 3 of 6

Our Fan Page currently has 804 fans. On 8/1/2011 we had 445 fans, this is a 180.67% increase in our fan base. According to Facebook Insights, the statistical tracking software built into Facebook, some of our content has reached as many as 13,589 people. This is an above average number for us, and we seem to average closer to 1,500 people per post. These higher numbers are, in the opinion of the author, sparked by our content being shared by other pages with high numbers of fans. Examples of these are the Appalachian State University or Appalachian State University Football Fan pages. Recommendations Regularly create quality wall posts and consistently engage fans. Ask questions and/or post things which create comments. Original media that highlights students seems to be what gets shared the most. Positively encourage users who post on OPs page. Like their posts or comments, respond promptly and link (@user_name) the posters name.

Figure 3. Engaging with other popular Fan Pages.

Reciprocate with those who share our stories. Link their page name frequently and engage on their page as ASU OP. An example of this is shown in Figure 3. Doing these things presents OP in a positive light to other Facebook users and provides us more exposure. 4 of 6

Media Thus far in the Fall 2011 semester OP has posted over 500 photos and 5 original videos. This media has been hosted mostly on Facebook and Youtube with some occuring on Picasa and Vimeo. Recommendations Produce media on a regular basis. This shows us an innovative and hip program. Use quality music and fun effects so that we are associated with quality results. Find a way to consolidate our media. It is currently spread over 4+ websites and it is hard to convey the impressive collection we have accumulated effectively. Purchase tools so that media production can be done in-house. The Go Pro cameras have been a great addition to the program. However, much of the postproduction has been done using personal hardware and software. Since OP should not hope that all staff can provide this, OP and URec should look for ways to provide it themselves. PARTICIPATION

Figure 3. Number of Participants by Semester. These numbers only include open enrollment trips.

As shown in Figure 3, OP had 127 trip participants in the Fall 2011 semester, compared to 101 in Fall 2010. This is a 25.74% increase from Fall 2010. In Spring 2011 OP had 123 trip participants, Fall 2011 is a 3.25% increase from this. These numbers only include open enrollment trips. 5 of 6

Recommendations Continue the 101, 201 naming system. This system seems to help clarify trip difficulty levels and curriculum. Carefully consider which trips are planned for homecoming weekend. The two trips that didnt run in the Fall 2011 semester were both planned for this weekend. Use the OP Advertising and Marketing Rubric. Also, update it as new techniques are discovered. FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS Find a new way to evaluate trips. The current method of a paper evaluation being entered by a programmer is both inefficient and lacking in functionality. For example, it is currently impossible to tell how marketing methods have have effected evaluation data from semester to semester because the data has no dates associated with it. Look at creating Surveymonkey or Google Forms evaluation and sending it with follow-up emails. Encourage ASU Student Development to adopt Drupal. Our Content Management Software is outdated and takes more work than necessary to create engaging content. Newer CMS software, such as Drupal, would allow syndication between OPs website, Facebook and Twitter. This means OP could update one source and the content in all three places would be fresh. It would also allow more seamless integration of media. Find ways to get our name out to other parts of campus consistently. Things such such as having a slide on the student union TVs (which we did for one week) and having a slide displayed at the blood drive (we also did this).

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