Launching Plymouth Connect its all about the plan

Launching Plymouth Connect, it’s all about the plan. Jean Almond, Alumni Engagement Manager Plymouth University

Plymouth Connect • background to the project • marketing plan which was developed by the team to launch the platform to alumni • ask you to share your marketing knowledge • lessons learned – my top 3 tips • questions

Plymouth Connect: Background to the project § collaboration between Alumni Engagement, Careers and Employability, IT, data protection, legal, Digital Marketing, the Director of Student Services and Student Recruitment § born out of alumni feedback – alumni wanted to connect with each other and mentor current students but that location was a barrier § employability is a priority § online platform as a way to securely network alumni

Plymouth Connect § introduced to Daniel at a CASE event § formed working group to guide us to implementation § phased rollout - why § sign up alumni first § followed by our current students

The Marketing Plan § I knew from talking to other universities that the Aluminate platform would work in a technical sense § my biggest fear was that no-one would join § alumni are busy people with lots of competing demands § I knew we needed a really good marketing plan to launch the platform successfully

Plymouth Connect § we started writing the marketing plan almost as soon as we started work to develop the platform § our marketing plan was broken down into the various different audiences for the platform: § alumni and staff – I led on this aspect of the plan § students – our Careers and Employability led on this aspect of the plan because they have the expertise and channels in place to communicate to students

Plymouth Connect § visual identity of the platform was one of the first elements which we tackled § had to appeal to alumni and students, international audience, wide age range § started working with our design and digital teams to develop this very early on

§ convey Plymouth as a place § sense of an international community § friendly and welcoming

Plymouth Connect § once we had the visual identity agreed the other actions followed quite naturally § messaging § alumni networking and professional network § giving something back which are powerful motivators for our graduates

Plymouth Connect § we worked to develop the following: § § § § § launch emails and thank you emails web content on the alumni web pages a feature on the University web home page flyers pop-up banner posters articles in our e-newsletter email signatures for the Alumni Engagement Team social media posts using infographics

Plymouth Connect § because we didn’t have a hard copy alumni magazine at that time virtually all of the launch to alumni was digital, with the exception of flyers and banners at events § I’m sure that having a printed magazine would be an advantage but you have to work with what you have …. .

Plymouth Connect … so we got creative and we found as many channels as we could which were essentially free to us, including an ad on the University app

Plymouth Connect § we looked really carefully at our timeline § it was feasible to be live in time for our 2015 graduation ceremonies, which are in September but this wouldn't have allowed time for really robust testing § you only get one chance to launch! § so we developed pre-launch ‘coming soon’ messaging and promoted this to the graduating students as a new benefit and a reason to stay in touch § coming soon messaging went out in our email newsletter and on our website and social media channels in the 6 weeks prior to launch to raise awareness

So our alumni marketing materials were all in place and it was simply a case of deploying them!

Plymouth Connect – phased launch § friendly phase where we asked 30 very engaged alumni to sign up and feedback so that we knew we hadn’t missed anything § we launched to key groups of alumni, for example our alumni ambassadors who were likely to adopt the platform § sent personal emails to the alumni who had replied at the first stage to tell them that we had acted on their suggestion § then the main launch to all other alumni

Plymouth Connect § went live to alumni in November 2015 § 350 alumni joined the platform in the first month § membership has grown steadily to almost 3, 000 graduates

Plymouth Connect § my team sit within the External Relations Directorate and so we had an advantage, close working relationships with design, digital, internal comms etc § sought expertise and help from colleagues § regularly meeting to discuss the platform and marketing § as a result a lot of the actions in the plan fell to others which spread the workload! § I also looked at what other universities were doing and borrowed some ideas - Aluminati advice

Staff Communications § staff comms would be almost as important as alumni comms to get staff to promote this to their alumni and, later on, their students § encourage staff to join § again we started early with pre-launch, coming soon messaging on the home page of the staff intranet and in the staff e-bulletin to raise awareness

Plymouth Connect § created an intranet page with information and resources to make it easy for staff to share this with alumni and, later, students § social media posts (alumni) § email template (alumni) § colleagues are busy – help them to help you

Plymouth Connect § presentations to colleagues at School, programme level § key to engaging staff was explaining the benefits to the staff as well as the alumni and students: § employability of students (DLHE) § maintain connections with alumni Working group acted as champions

Exercise – 10 minutes You have heard about our launch but I know that there will be some great ideas which weren't part of our plan and I'd like to hear from and learn from you! 1. What is your top tip for marketing to alumni? 2. What is your top tip for marketing to students?

Lessons learned – my 3 top tips § collaboration is key so make sure that you have the right people around the table - greater academic input at the outset could have saved us a lot of time § allow plenty of time to implement and launch – this takes the pressure off § enough staffing to really capitalise on the platform, my main frustration with the project is that I know that we could leverage more value from it if we had more time to communicate with alumni and students

Questions? Contact jean. almond@plymouth. ac. uk alumni@plymouth. ac. uk www. plymouth. ac. uk/alumni Find us on Linked. In, Twitter - @Plym. Uni. Alum or Facebook!