April 2007

When you go on the road as much as I do … you learn to expect the unexpected. Plan for the worst … expect the best … as my mom would say.

Take for instance … my recent trip to Fresno to visit the fine folks at Institute of Technology’s Culinary school. The shoot was going swimmingly. I was working with a new spokeswoman who I officially adore … Kristi Capel, a former Miss Missouri. I had a top notch crew who catered to my every whim. And I had managed to visit every city in Northern California ending with an “O” sound. Sacramento. Tahoe. Modesto. Fresno.

On my twelfth day of successful shooting, I was on the very last take of my very last shoot. I was so close to being done I could physically taste it. Well, that … and I had champagne chilling back at the hotel.

Without warning, there was this horrible whiff of singed hair, sulfur and something that smelled like spoiled AVON cologne. I looked down to notice a power surge had smelted one of our power cords. Stupid electricity. Stupid spontaneous combustion. Clearly, I did not expect or plan for such an occurrence.

In my haste to get away from what was certain to become a raging inferno, I may have accidentally shoved Miss Missouri to the floor. My bad. Really, though … pageant winners should move faster.

Now normally, I’m calm and collected under pressure. Not this time. I was flailing around and screaming like a twelve-year old girl … uh, more than usual.

One of the chefs heard all the commotion and came in. He calmly picked up the melting cord with his tongs … put it in a nearby skillet … turned on the overhead hoods … and offered to make S’mores over the burning embers. I politely declined. And by decline, I mean I was hyperventilating so the chef couldn’t understand me.

Needless to say we finally got the last shot we needed (once Miss Missouri got up off the ground). And all was right with the world … which is what I expected and planned for, of course.

In my previous blogs, I’ve talked about how direct mail can be an effective advertising avenue if used in the right circumstances. For example, postcards can be a gold mine if used to push some sort of event being held by the school (an open house or carnival for example). Now I’d like to push everyone to make sure they are tending to their old leads by remarketing to them.

Remarketing is a great way to reconnect with individuals who have already expressed an interest in furthering their education. Too often it seems that previous leads that fail to convert to starts fall by the wayside. Don’t be one of those schools that forget about past leads that didn’t convert. Maybe the time wasn’t right when those leads first contacted you. Maybe your school offers new programs that your old leads might be interested in. There are many reasons to make sure you follow up with old leads in an attempt to get them to start.

We have found that the typical response rate in our industry for standard search mailings is .3%, which is less than half the return we see on remarketing drops. Think about it, you’re mailing a piece to an individual who has already expressed an interest in your school.

Another positive to reaching out to your old leads is you don’t have to pay for a new list. You already have your list, so that’s money you don’t have to fork out. In addition, you’re not sending pieces to random people on a bought list.

This is a great time of the year to also make sure you are remarketing to high school students. A lot of high school kids are still trying to figure out what they’re going to do next year, so why not get your school fresh on their mind? Again, these are kids that have expressed some kind of interest in your school, so hit them again while they’re trying to make their future plans.

In conclusion (I haven’t said that since 10th grade English), make sure you’re not forgetting about prior leads that didn’t convert into starts. The average response rate for remarketing drops is more than double the average for standard search mailings and you know you’re hitting individuals who have already expressed an interest in your school at some point.

Communication is part of our daily lives, but in the Media department it IS our daily lives. With dozens upon dozens of clients relying on our expertise to bring in lower costs-per-lead and lower costs-per-start, our communication on the schools we serve is vital, and that’s what makes PlattForm the top direct response agency in the educational sector.

Constant updates on even what seem to be mundane details can make all the difference.
If a client has several schools across many markets, and we test a new spot in one market, relaying the success of the test across the team may allow us to find our newest hit spot for multiple markets. You’ll find the buying and analyzing teams in Media watching new creative extremely closely and reporting the data to the Client Services team. We get just as excited about new ads as our client do.

When it comes to the big picture, Media works to push the envelope. Our goal is to answer the clients’ questions before they are raised. If we notice slugglish lead flow at the beginning of the day, we’ll be on the phone with our television reps to make sure we’re not experiencing pre-emptions or there’s no outside event causing leads to trickle in slower than normal. If a market has been having a particular struggle, our goal is to provide a comprehensive plan of action on how we will bring the market back on track. When a client is getting PlattForm service, they can feel safe in knowing that because we keep our level of communication and responsiveness high, they’ll have an accountability factor that is unprecedented in the industry.

Our biggest pleasure is communicating successes and wins. It’s a great feeling to be able to let our clients know that we’ve been able to lower our rate on our best television station or that we’ve negotiated a bonus ad in our best employment publication. We’re so invested in our schools that oftentimes we genuinely feel a true sense of ownership. When the month is finished, and we overproduced the amount of leads projected for the school, we feel satisfied in knowing we did the right thing. And you’d better believe we’re going to communicate that. We don’t mind a little bragging every now and then.

So, what’s the best part of the Monday morning Public Relations meetings? How about dating tips from none other than me, the company’s well-established family man. Back when I used to date (six years ago), it was a different dating environment. Still, I feel I have a lot to offer to my younger colleagues in the Quality Assurance department who sit in on our 10 a.m. rap sessions about ongoing projects.

Here’s what I sent out last week to an entire department of people without fear of judgment or care for my own corporate image – probably not the best personal PR move (this material has been slightly edited for public consumption):

Suffering is key in meeting the “right” person

Most of the people I know put too much emphasis on meeting the “right” person, like dating is some sort of means to an end. The thought seems to be that if you go on enough dates – if you put in your time – then suddenly that qualifies you to meet your soulmate. This is just fantasy.

Meeting someone happens only when you come to a place in your life when you stop searching, when you truly reach rock bottom and realize love has to find you. When your mind loses its ambition and changes its focus, whether you are cognizant of it or not … BANG, you find the person you were meant for. The key to reaching this psychological state is suffering (NOT JUST the sheer number of dates.)

So take on as many bad dates as possible. The girl whose friend you’d rather be dating … take her out. The (girl) with bad breath and who changes the stations on your car radio without asking … bring her dinner. The woman slightly older than you who thinks you look like Ricky Schroeder, which reminds her of some other guy she went to high school with who wouldn’t talk to her … as creepy as that might make you feel, accept her invitation for a drink.

Pile on the suffering. The more you feel bad about yourself, the greater your chances down the road. This is your life. This is your love. Suffer greatly and it will come.

Little known fact about me … in my spare time, I freelance for a major greeting card conglomerate. And, no, it’s not THE major greeting card conglomerate headquartered here in KC.

I write clever little anecdotes on demand. Then, I bribe one of PlattForm’s crazy print dudes to come up with some catchy artwork and voilá … insta-card … just add paper.

Right now I’m working on stuff for Valentine’s Day 2008 – which is just short of a miracle. It takes an Act of Congress to get me to work on something in advance. I can barely decide what to have for breakfast each morning. I often forget where I park. So for me to forward-think nearly a year ahead … well, it gives me a headache.

I’m more spur-of-the-moment. I like immediate gratification. That’s why I work at PlattForm. I can write, produce, edit and shove some little slice of brilliance out the door in less than two weeks if necessary.

I have two (COUNT ‘EM!) charity wing dings this weekend. They have been on my calendar for months. Since I don’t use a planner … I’ve accepted and then had to cancel umpteen other events because I forgot I committed to these MONTHS ago. Well, that … and I’d go to the opening of an envelope.

So, if you really want to get the best out of me … force me to write something on the fly. If there’s a tight deadline … if there’s panic … if there’s chaos and mayhem … I’m a freakin’ genius. Give me two weeks to plan and storyboard something … forget it.

My boss often calls it “going beige”. You can either see words … visuals … ideas … in bright bold colors or you can “go beige”. A lot of writers stare at the ceiling looking for inspiration. I stare at my fish … Shillelagh and Shenanigan … both are neon orange.

Another little known fact … I wrote this blog in 36 seconds while staring at my fish for inspiration. Deadlines be damned! Now, if I could just find a way to incorporate them in to a Valentine’s Day card.

Any ideas?