We all need some help from time to time. It gets difficult to find time to do research or get some casual blog reading in. Branding in particular, is something that doesn’t cross our minds all that often. We get so caught up in the day-to-day running of our schools that the big picture doesn’t often come up. Analytics are another topic that isn’t discussed as often as it should be, so this blog will focus on branding and analytics respectively. I see a lot of different blogs and come across many useful web apps that can be informative and time saving, so here are a few good ones that I’ve spent the time finding, so you don’t have to.
Here are three resources to help develop your school’s branding and three resources to better analyse your online content.
Best of web (Focusing on branding)
1. How to build an unbreakable brand culture
Alyssa Armstrong outlines six steps to building an unbreakable brand culture. This would be particularly pertinent to a new school or a school looking to rebrand. It is more important than ever for schools to have a clear brand and identity in the growing market that is becoming flooded with competing branding and messaging due to increasing communication channels.
2. The power of proactive customer service
Another blog from Duct Tape marketing, Ian Landsman discusses five points on the power of proactive customer service. So often customer service is seen as reactive where-by you solve your parents problems as they arrive. Being proactive in your customer service can solve issues before they arise and delight your parents in the process.
3. 10 most effective ways for building your personal brand
Jaffrey Eric outlines ten ways in which we can build our personal brand. The tips range from creating good content to presenting yourself as confident and patient. A great article that can also be applied outside of the workplace.
Cool tool (focusing on analytics)
4. After the Deadline
After the Deadline is a sophisticated spelling and grammar checker for use on web applications and browsers like Firefox and Chrome. The advantages don’t only include a high level of checking but it is open source and free for personal use, which are an extra plus.
5. Hotjar
Hotjar is an analytics application that uses heatmapping to study clicks, scrolls and moves on your site and then displays them on a heatmap so you have a visual representation of what is attracting your site visitors. What’s a heat map you say? Check out the video on their site for a great explanation. You can also watch videos of your visitors mouse movement and learn what they like and what they ignore.
6. Send Check It
Send your important emails to Send Check It before you send them out to your recipient/s and receive a report email less than a minute later that highlights any problems your email might have. Send Check It can check your links and that your email personalisation has worked, plus many other elements of your email.
