Donna Lehmann, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications at Fordham University, is one of the 12 presenters of the 3rd Higher Ed Content Conference.
In this 3-question interview, Donna shares a surprising outcome from content work, the biggest hurdle for content quality and a higher ed content dream.
1) What’s the most surprising outcome – in your work with content – you experienced in the past 12 months?
I am continually surprised by the success of email marketing, among all audiences.
Here is a channel, ancient in online terms, whose demise has been predicted for the past decade, and not only do we see above average open and click-through rates, we see conversions. It speaks to the power of opting-in and the logic of fishing in your own pond.
2) What’s the biggest hurdle for content quality at work? How do you deal with it?
Our biggest hurdle is the decentralized model of content development we encourage with the use of a CMS.
It’s unrealistic to expect that we’re going to turn all of our CMS users into ace web writers and SEO mavens.
We’re finding ways to offer professional assistance through third-party tools and freelance writers. It’s a worthy investment.
3) If you were given everything you need, what’s the first piece of content you’ll create for your school?
An extensive faculty database which includes not only biographical information, photos, publications and press, but also short videos of faculty talking about their research and areas of expertise.
It would be great to have the resources to properly showcase our greatest assets.
4) What role does video play in your content strategy?
If you’re looking for engagement, video can’t be beat, especially if web attention-spans are kept in mind. Looking into the future, I can’t see planning any content initiative in which video won’t play a part.
