In this 4-question interview, Bill tells us about an exciting content project, a favorite tool, the place of SEO and shares a cool video with us.
1) What is the most exciting content project you’ve worked on over the past year?
I got the ball rolling on getting our mascot, The Nittany Lion, nominated for a spot in the Mascot Hall of Fame, which is set to open in 2018. At the close of the online fan vote, our Lion earned the most votes (35%!), besting the five other collegiate and pro candidates. This has produced a bounty of web and social content as we celebrated the nomination and mobilized our fans to vote. We’re still waiting to find out if the Lion will advance through the other rounds of voting to gain induction, but I feel good about our chances and that there’s more fun content opportunities to come.
2) What is your favorite tool to use when working on content projects?
I’m a big fan of tomato-timer.com to stay on task and get things done. It’s rooted in The Pomodoro Technique meant to keep you focused on 25 minutes of sustained work. When time’s up, you take a tiny break and then jump back in. I’ve found it especially helpful for writing and tackling my email inbox.
3) What is the place of search engine optimization in your content creation and distribution process?
I’m not involved in the search engine optimization of Penn State’s web content, but we’re constantly aiming to improve how we compose our posts for social. We’re aiming for a conversational style and frequently inviting feedback from our students to how best to connect them with our content. Hashtags are crucial – #PennState is well established, plus we’re attentive to any hashtags emerging organically among our audiences and watching what hashtags can get us a broader audience, whether it be among college students in general, researchers or photo enthusiasts.
4) Video has become a key format. Can you share the most successful video produced at your school?
Our annual holiday greeting video generated a lot of good vibes on social in 2016 with 45.4K YouTube views and counting, making it one our most viewed videos in recent years. Each year the video is charming, but this time it really tapped into the excitement of winter break thanks to some fun storytelling with heart from a great cast of students plus our president. It’s an excellent example of what can come about when you have creative minds working together, talented students and a president who’s a good sport and embraces the importance of good content.
A conference focusing on content strategy & practices in higher ed?
The HECO conference has become a must-attend event for marketing and communication professionals in higher education looking for new ideas and best practices for content creation, management and distribution..
Read below what a few of your higher ed colleagues who attended the past editions of the Higher Ed Content Conference say about the event.