Print Smart to Save Costs

Printed publications and newsletter are great assets to our organization. Our 2006 telephone survey showed that 79 percent of those surveyed thought newsletters were a very effective or effective way to distribution information. Seventy percent said brochures and reports were very effective or effective.

Also, if you are considering going all-electronic with your communication, consider this: of those surveyed in our survey, 20 percent have never used the computer and 24 percent have never used the Internet. The Web can’t do it all; there is a critical need for printed materials.

So, how can you print smarter and more economically? Here are few suggestions:

• First and foremost, use the duplicating center in our Department of Communications. As compared to printing a newsletter in your own office, duplicating can usually print your newsletter faster, for less money, and with higher quality results. They also have designers on-board to make sure the final product looks great. Contact Greg LeValley at 532-5816 to see how Duplicating can help you print smarter.
• Condense your newsletter. Look over your design and content and see if your 8-page newsletter can fit on 6 pages. Can you conserve space without losing readability?
• Print in black-and-white. Or, if you want or need to print in 2-color, pre-print the color template in bulk to save. Then, you’ll just need to print the black ink portions when it comes time to produce your newsletter.
• Plan ahead to avoid “rush job” fees and to keep your printer happy!
• Check your paper cost. Is there a cheaper paper available, without sacrificing quality?
• Think strategically. Consider the objective and target audience for the printed piece and determine what is the best way to produce the item. Postcards work great for event announcements; newsletters can provide more detailed information.
• Take advantage of your publication allocation. You can use this budget feature to pay for printing, as well as stocking your office with the necessarily publications.
  

For more ideas, check out 10 Ways to Stretch your Printing Budget

Print Smart to Save Costs

Cut Costs While Maintaining Marketing

Budgets are being cut -- that's a fact, no matter whether you are in public sector or private industry. In such times, you need to be thinking about marketing more – not less – so that stakeholders and others still see you as relevant.

Need a statistic to share with your funding source? In our 2006 statewide telephone survey, 80 percent of those surveyed strongly approved or approved of spending public funds to support K-State Research and Extension. So, let’s get the word out about our great programs and services.

I recently asked the Marketing special interest group in ACE (Association for Communications Excellence) for ideas and suggestions on how to continue marketing when the budgets dry up. Here is a compilation of their responses:

• Don’t underestimate the power of the newspaper. Even if it’s as simple as an event announcement with your organization’s name and a personal contact, publishing in the local newspaper can have a big impact. Mark Crossler from Oregon State pointed out that newspapers are getting hit, too, and might not have the funds to subscribe to the AP and other wire services. This means it’s a great opportunity for our news releases and columns to be placed in the local papers. And, as Nancy Peterson from K-State Research and Extension pointed out, news releases often end up on web sites, radio, and television, in addition to newspapers.
• Radio is still king with many audiences. For example, Sharolyn Flaming-Jackson from K-State Research and Extension said the radio PSAs to promote free radon kits in northeast Kansas were so effective, the agents involved had to pull the PSAs early, as they had given away all their kits. Our audience research shows that radio is most effective in metro areas, where people have longer commutes and spend more time in their vehicles.
• Use email. Email is a great way to distribute electronic newsletters, reminders and announcements. You want your audience to read your messages, so don’t inundate their mailbox with fluff. Send only valid, useful materials and test them for spam-guards before distributing. Also, make sure you’re email distribution list is maintained and keep in mind that not all your audiences are receptive to email. Some will still need a printed and mailed newsletter.
• Use your branding and style guides. We provide such a fabulous service to Kansans; it’s a disservice to ourselves to not take the credit for it. The best way to do that is to identify yourself and affiliate with K-State Research and Extension, so when budget cuts come, your legislators and county commissioners know who helped them and their neighbors. Plus, we want them to recognize our brand as representing quality information, great service, and friendly people. Our Communication and Style guide is undergoing an update currently, but the most current version is available online at: http://www.communications.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=660
• Review your mailing list. Cull any outdated addresses to save big on postage.
• Print smart. One state has put a ban on all full-color printing. Another is taking advantage of bulk discounts, with multiple counties pooling their resources for a larger print run. What can you do in Kansas to print economically? Next week, we’ll give some additional pointers on how to make the most of your printing budget.
  

Thank you to Larry Jackson, Mark Crossler, Sharolyn Flaming-Jackson, Deborah Morehead, Jennifer O’Leary, and Nancy Peterson for contributing to this article.

Cut Costs While Maintaining Marketing

Strategy First, Creativity Second

When we sit down to begin planning a marketing project, no matter the size, the creative ideas start coming in droves. The hard part is knowing when to rein in the creativity and refocus on strategy.

A creative idea may be a good one, but it may not be a good one for your objective. One historical example of this is the Taco Bell chihuahua. Many people still say "Yo Quiero, Taco Bell" whenever they think of the fast food chain, but being affiliated with a pint-sized dog is not necessarily the best image for a restaurant of any kind.

It created awareness, yes, but it didn't result in the increase in sales the company was looking for, and thus ended that marketing campaign.

So how does that apply to your job? When you thinking of ways to reach new audiences, follow these steps:
-Always keep your objective(s) in focus.
-Think like your target audience. Place the information where they will find it in a way they will absorb it.
-Make certain you are not offending anyone.
-Keep the creativity, but set limits. It's okay to push the limits, but not to exceed them.

To quote this marketing resource:

Because marketing decisions have both internal and external impact, marketers are wise to make their decisions only after engaging in a careful, disciplined planning process. Marketers who make hasty, off-the-cuff decisions without regard to the implications are taking risks that may lead to problems. Instead, marketing decisions should be made with consideration of how these affect others and the resources (e.g., funds) required to carry out the plan.

Strategy First, Creativity Second

Print or Electronic Newsletters

In a telephone survey conducted for K-State Research and Extension in mid-2007, 4 in 5 Kansans interviewed said they consider newsletters to be "somewhat effective" or "very effective" ways for them to receive information from our organization.

While print is a common format for newsletters - and presumably still effective for K-State Research and Extension - a shift to electronic newsletters is occurring in many organizations. Cost savings is a common reason for going to an electronic version only.

Either format can be effective, but may be determined by your particular target audience or demographic. For example, if your community is low on the technology learning curve or technology infrastructure, it's easy to know that a printed version would work best.
Some other tips for either version:

* Write short articles. People want to get the message and get on to other items. And, write in short sentences because it's much easier to read on paper and screen.

* Use pictures. It's still true: A picture is worth a thousand words!

* Keep your information updated. Related, plan ahead 2-3 months; there's nothing more frustrating than finding out an event is happening in a few days when you've already got something scheduled.

* Adhere to deadlines. Plan to release the newsletter on a regular schedule so that people know when it's coming. Over time, they'll expect it.

* Maintain the same format in every issue. You are "branding" your look and feel with the format. People recognize this and will associate your newsletter with you.

* And, use the correct logos for K-State Research and Extension and your office. Create awareness by building familiarity with your readers.

Learn more about K-State Research and Extension's marketing strategies by visiting our marketing blog, http://ksremarketingminute.blogspot.com/ . --Pat Melgares melgares@ksu.edu

Print or Electronic Newsletters

Brochure Stand and We Know Cards

Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth at Annual Conference. It was great visiting with you and hearing your ideas. Quite a few people asked about the brochure stand that we use. In the six months we've had it, the stand has proved itself convenient and sturdy. If you are interested in getting your own, we purchased it from this Web site: http://www.displays2go.com/product.asp?ID=7342

One of our goals at Annual Conference this year was to gather more ideas for the We Know campaign. Specifically, we plan to produce more We Know cards, similar to the ones created for the State Fair. We want to insure that we produce cards that are useful and applicable for you and your clientele, so please let us know what topics you think we should cover. We will gather input from you and, coupled with the research findings we have, create additional cards by February 2009. Here is a complete list of the existing cards (available also at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/We_Know.htm):
Energy Conservation
Fall Lawn Care and Gardening
Farmers' Markets
Kids
Money Management
Food Safety
Tips to Trim Food Costs
Families
Health and Nutrition
Health and Wellness
Kansas Communities
Severe Weather Preparedness
Crops and Livestock
Country Living
Water Quality and Conservation (Urban)
Water Quality (Rural)
4-H Youth Development, and
Kansas Farm Management Association.
Please send any suggestions to us via the "comments" section or by emailing us at lsleicht@ksu.edu or melgares@ksu.edu.

Thank you for your time!
Linda Sleichter

Brochure Stand and We Know Cards

Results of State Fair Survey

At this year's Kansas State Fair, our marketing team asked visitors to K-State Research and Extension's booth to fill out an online survey to give us their opinions of the organization's programs and services.

Because this was a convenience sample (and not randomly-selected), it's not possible to generalize the results. But respondents' answers were strikingly similar to results we got from a Summer, 2007 telephone survey of Kansas residents; and to responses from Kansans in a Fall, 2007 focus group project.

Here's some of the highlights:

* 86.9 percent of the respondents said they were very likely to use the Internet to learn more about a topic that interests them. Local newspapers (52.6 percent) and brochures/reports (47.4 percent) were also rated high as very likely to use.

* More than 80 percent of those said they were somewhat or very interested in community development issues; health and nutrition; home and family; environment; lawn and garden; and youth development.

More than 61 percent of the respondents were between the ages of 25-44, an audience currently being targeted in K-State Research and Extension's five-year marketing plan. More than 73 percent of those responding rated K-State Research and Extension's booth as good or great, and less than 3 percent said it was below average or poor.

Share your thoughts about this or other marketing strategies for K-State Research and Extension at our blog, www.ksremarketingminute.blogspot.com . --Pat Melgares melgares@ksu.edu

Results of State Fair Survey

Logo Usage, Outside Vendors

We've received a few questions lately about using local vendors for K- StateResearch and Extension paraphernalia. We certainly don't mind going to localbusinesses and asking them to put the K-State Research and Extension logo on shirts, cups, and other items. In fact, it supportsTHE local economy and that is a good thing. But, here are some things tokeep mind when going to a local vendor.

1-Check prices of items in K-State Research and Extension's inventory. Weare able to buy items in bulk and usually provide them at a lower cost thanavailable at the local level. Plus, you can buy them with your publicationsallocations funds, which makes it convenient for your office.

2-We do not keep apparel items in our marketing inventory, due to variationsin sizes and logo needs. If you don't have a local vendor from which topurchase K-State Research and Extension apparel, we tend to go to retailersin Manhattan for our apparel, as they already have our artwork on file andgive us good deals. We do not have a contract that requires us to use anyparticular company, however, so feel free to shop around.

3-If you are using a local vendor, make sure they are aware of recent policychanges and enforcement from K-State's Division of Licensing(http://www.k-state.edu/logos/). Since our logo includes the powercat, wemust be sure to follow all guidelines regarding the powercat usage. Vendorswho do not follow the policy could risk forfeiture of their inventory. Thepolicy states, "The program requires producers of products displaying theUniversity's name and/or marks to be licensed through CLC or the University.The licensing royalty is 10 percent of the wholesale value of the product(s)being produced. All artwork must be approved by K-State's main licensingoffice. The artwork approval forms are located on the Web site athttp://www.k-state.edu/logos."

4- What about our powerpoints, Web pages, brochures, etc? If you are amember of K-State Research and Extension's faculty or staff, you aregenerally allowed to use Kansas State University's name and marks forprofessional presentations. If you are not affiliated with Kansas StateUniversity as a current faculty or staff member, you must request permissionbefore using logos or items owned by the University.

5- When it comes to using the logo, it might be lot easier to ask permissionthan forgiveness. For questions about logo usage or to get permission to useit, contact K-State's Division of Intellectual Property(http://www.k-state.edu/academicpersonnel/intprop/). For other marketingquestions, contact the K-State Research and Extension marketing unit or go to our blog athttp://ksremarketingminute.blogspot.com/.

Logo Usage, Outside Vendors

Metro residents’ preferred sources for information

In Fall, 2007, K-State Research and Extension’s communications staff interviewed approximately 250 residents in five metro Kansas counties to learn more about how they prefer to get information, among other marketing questions.

The focus groups – held in Sedgwick, Shawnee, Douglas, Wyandotte and Johnson counties – indicated three sources of information important to metro residents:
1) Web sites;
2) Friends and family;
3) Local businesses, professionals, or community resources.

The results are similar to those found in a summer, 2007 telephone survey conducted for K-State Research and Extension in which metro residents said they prefer the Internet, radio, direct phone access with experts, and displays in public places for receiving information.

Taken together, the responses indicate the importance of face-to-face contact; trust in someone you know; and placing information in areas where metro residents live, work and play.

For more information or specific questions, post a comment or contact Pat Melgares, 785-532-1160, melgares@ksu.edu

Metro residents’ preferred sources for information

Research findings: interests and involvement

In a telephone survey conducted for K-State Research and Extension in Summer 2007, 70-percent of Kansans said they were “very interested” in health and nutrition issues; and 68 percent said they were “very interested” in environmental preservation issues. About 80 percent said they were “very” or “somewhat” interested in not only those two topics, but also community development; home and family; lawn and gardening; and youth development.

The same survey showed that the highest number of Kansans are “very” or “somewhat” involved in health and nutrition (81 percent) and home and family (78 percent) activities. In order, the same group said they were also involved the following:
- lawn and gardening (69 percent);
- youth development (56 percent);
- environmental preservation (55 percent);
- community development (54 percent);
- agriculture (35 percent); and
- 4-H (21 percent).

The results indicate strong opportunities for K-State Research and Extension to reach Kansans who have interest in areas beyond their direct involvement. One approach may be to make sure that participants in a program also receive information about all of the programs offered at the local office.

For more information, contact Pat Melgares, 785-532-1160, melgares@ksu.edu

Research findings: interests and involvement

Metro Residents Areas of Interest, Means of Communication

In a statewide telephone survey conducted in summer, 2007 for K-State Research and Extension, we wanted to find out what type of information metro audiences were wanting. Of those who indicated they lived in "urban" or "suburban" areas, two-thirds or more said they were "very interested" in the following types of information:
-Environmental Preservation
-Health and Nutrition
-Home and Family
-Youth Development

How does that compare to all current users?

Metro residents are less interested in community development, and lawn and garden; and more interested in home and family issues. There seems to be similar interest among both groups in the areas of environmental preservation, farming/ranching/agribusiness, health and nutrition, and youth development.

We also wanted to know how metro residents wanted to receive information. According to this research, more than three-fourths of metro residents indicated the following communication methods were "effective" or "very effective":
-Internet
-Radio
-Direct phone access with specialists
-Displays in public places

Further focus groups confirmed this, finding metro audiences´ three top sources of information are the following:
-Internet/Web sites
-Radio
-Local businesses/ professionals/ community resources (including public library)

This differs from our current users, in that current users say they prefer newspapers, television, brochures/reports, presentations/seminars, telephone, public places, and newsletters.

These results - and how they differ from our current users - are something to keep in mind as you are developing programs and materials to attract new clients in metro areas.

Metro Residents Areas of Interest, Means of Communication

Web 2.0

Web 2.0

We asked Neal Wollenberg, information and education technology specialist, how he defined Web 2.0, and here is his response:

Oooooh baby, baby it’s a wild world wide web... 2.0.

Okay, maybe Cat Stevens wasn't thinking about Web 2.0 when he wrote the lyrics to Wild World, but in the IET unit we certainly are! Web 2.0 is one of the many techno buzzwords being used today by, well, just about everyone. In May, 2007, I attended a conference in San Francisco aptly titled “Web 2.0 Expo.”

During this expo, many of the participants were given t-shirts that had a printed graphic on the front that said, “Web 2.0 is ______________.” Out of the thousands attending the conference who proudly wore their Web 2.0 t-shirts, I saw two people who had actually filled in the blank.

I thought about this for the entire week of the conference, continually asking myself the question, “Why is everyone, myself included, purposely leaving their shirts blank?”

I came to two conclusions:
* The first was that no one really knows what Web 2.0 is;
* The second was that Web 2.0 is literally “everything” and therefore it is incredibly hard to define with one word.

So at this point in my rambling, you may be asking yourself, “What is Web 2.0 and how does it benefit me as an Extension Agent?” It's a great question and one that I'll try to briefly answer.

First of all, Web 2.0 as we know it is an evolving phenomenon. It truly is hard to define with one word, but it can be narrowed down to the following.

Web 2.0 is a trend in web design and development that provides
1) a second generation of web-based communities (blogs, wikis);
2) web services (RSS, Web Search and Atom feeds); and
3) applications (Content Management Systems, Workflow Management)

…that aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration and sharing between users. (I modified this definition from http://www.cpseo.com/glossary.html)

Personally, I think this is a pretty decent definition. The key word, though, is “users.” The World Wide Web was originally a network of static pages updated by a few people that pushed information at its users with relatively little interactivity. Web 2.0 technologies are
just the opposite, in that different applications, services and communities push to and pull from the user and allow the user to define what s/he wants to interact with.

A second question for Extension professional is, “How does it benefit me.” With Web 2.0 new technologies are emerging every day that take advantage of this interactivity. I'll limit this to one example, but hopefully it will be easy to see this concept applied to other areas in your field of work.

Consider that you may receive an e-mail with a question regarding average daily grain consumption on a Kansas dairy farm. To answer that question, you would need to gather information from as many dairy farmers in Kansas as possible. It may very well be a tedious task, or the information you gather may be a year or two or ten old.

However, what if there were a section of the K-State Research and Extension web site where dairy farmers could go in on a daily basis and record how much grain was being used on their farm, and that information was then immediately and automatically updated on the web site and broken down into any different number of combinations? The information you are needing to reply to the e-mail would be at your finger tips.

Take this a step further and add in an RSS feed that pushes the information out those who have requested it through the Web site. Then you have information that people need, generated and input by many people (rather than tediously gathered by a few) then automatically sent out to the people who need it. Web 2.0 gives us the capability to do this.

So, when we re-ask the question, “What is Web 2.0?” we realize that when we fill in that blank on the t-shirt we can use the word “Us.”

Web 2.0

MARKETING: THE BEST OF US

Sometimes it's nice to stop and smell the roses, so this week we want to focus on the great marketing going on across K-State Research and Extension. Below are just a few of our favorites:

-Sedgwick County 4-H is an excellent example of the impact of consistency, with their consistent look-and- feel on banners, handouts, and other materials.

-Shawnee County sends out picture-postcards with quick tidbits about what they've been doing, and their Impact Annual Report is short and makes good points. This is just the tip of the iceberg on their marketing efforts.

-Cowley County's Website continues to provide excellent content in an attractive layout.

-Deb Sellers's work on "Sage Wisdom" materials continue to leads the industry, with a comprehensive Website, and additional audience-targeted materials in 2008. It's not so much the tactics she implements, but more the strategy she puts behind them.

-Jana Beckman's field days, press releases, special winter meetings, and quarterly reports are great examples of a small shop partnering with many others (on and off- campus groups) to get projects done and communicate impact information.

-Stacie Minson does an excellent job keeping residents in mind. She develops targeted fact sheets, advertisements, comprehensive Website, great signage, and much more in her watershed efforts.

-The newsletter design templates that are being produced through Distribution in the Dept of Communications have provided great quality, consistent looks to many county and district newsletters.

-The Event-in-a-Box project, spear-headed by Nancy Peterson, has helped with many events throughout the state. Possibly the top outcome of that particular project is the real estate style signs that are now staked across the state.

-Johnson County's horticulture program continues to be a leading source of horticulture information in Johnson County and beyond. Especially noteworthy is their stable presence in the KC Star.

And let's not forget Bourbon County's brochure, Meadowlark District's introductory display, and Labette County's Web sites.

We Know there are more great marketing examples in our state. Please, tell us about them. Click "coment" below and brag about yourself or your peers.

MARKETING: THE BEST OF US

Marketing: The Best of our Peers

This week, I will be attending an Association for Communications Excellence conference, where I have the chance to talk with my peers at other land-grant institution. With that in mind, let me share with you some of the great things going on across the system, nationwide:

-eXtension. Can we really talk about marketing Extension without listing eXtension? If you haven’t already, visit the site (www.extension.org.) See what all the fuss is about.

-UNL’s Lancaster County (Lancaster.unl.edu/4h). Their Egg Cam drives users to their site from around the world, especially during hatching time. And while the Web visitors are there, they can learn more about the 4-H program in Nebraska.

-Extension en Espanol (http://extensionenespanol.net/). This site is not only a great resource for existing Spanish materials, it also serves as a quality-control checkpoint for Spanish Extension materials nationwide.

Let us know what else you've seen. Add your own "best of" list by clicking "comments" below, or contact me at lsleicht@ksu.edu.

Marketing: The Best of our Peers

Great marketing find: brochure holder

If you are looking for a portable brochure holder, consider this one:

http://www.displays2go.com/product.asp?ID=7342

It rolls up into a 3-inch by 24-inch cylindrical bag, and is easy to carry. It has a steel base and is stable once it is set up. It has eight pockets that will hold 9-inch by 12-inch documents.

We bought three of these for use at the State Fair, 3i show and other similar events. They cost less than $40 from the vendor listed above, and seem to be good quality. They are a little challenging to set up, so you do want two people to help with that. Otherwise, we're excited about this find.

If you would like to see a sample before you purchase it, we have them standing in our offices in Umberger Hall. Just contact Pat Melgares (melgares@ksu.edu) or Linda Sleichter (lsleicht@ksu.edu) to schedule a time to check it out.

Great marketing find: brochure holder

COMMUNICATING DURING CRISIS

Every organization or business is susceptible to a crisis. In addition to its numerous workings with the public, K-State Research and Extension has facilities, personnel, livestock and other resources statewide that carry the risk of something going wrong.

Thinking ahead of crisis is crucial for managing a crisis. While detailed plans are the best way to make sure everyone in your office or unit know what they should do in a crisis, here're some guidelines for forming a crisis response:

* When a crisis occurs, gather the following information:

1. What happened?
2. Who does this affect?
3. Is danger still present?
4. Who is responding to the incident (local authorities, other?)
5. Are there injuries or fatalities?

* Contact your immediate supervisor immediately. He or she will need the above information, and should also know what additional steps should be taken.

* Communicate immediately. If you don't know all the facts of a situation, let people know what has happened and what you are doing - even if to say that you don't have all the facts but are working to get complete information. You will immediately be recognized as an organization that is being open and accessible.

Crisis communications guidance, templates and consultation is available through the K-State Research and Extension Department of Communications. For more information, contact Pat Melgares, 785-532-1160, or melgares@ksu.edu . --Pat Melgares

COMMUNICATING DURING CRISIS

Make Your Web Site Google-icious

For many Web users, Google or Yahoo are their first stops when searching the Web. And, when those search results appear, it is our goal that K-State Research and Extension sites top the list, and that our descriptions within those results are captivating enough to get users to click on our links.

So, a question we ask is how to make our sites more “Google-icious!” Here are a few tips:

-Title your site. Make sure your page has a descriptive, accurate title. It’s the first thing people will see from your site when they do a search. And keep it short. If you look at Google search results, Google only displays about the first 64 characters of a title.
-Always add descriptions to documents. When making PDFs with Acrobat, use Control D, and put a good title in the title field.
-Include alt text on navigations, graphics. Without alt text, search engines cannot “read” what your graphics represent. Adding the alt text lets a visual item be read as content.
-Create a network of links. By linking to other sites and encouraging them to link to your site, you can move up the ranking of search results.
-Add metadata. These are the descriptive words that explain what is in your site, and it also appears in the site description in a Google search.
- Register your site at Open Directory Project, a web directory of Internet resources, including Google: http://dmoz.org/add.html. Or use http://www.google.com/addurl.html

For more tips to make your site Google-friendly, check out these resources:
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/Help_Google.htm
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/Help_Google_Find_Ext.pdf
http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/Help_Google_Find_Kansas_U.pdf

If you need more information on search engines, please contact Amy Hartman at 785-532-6379, or email ahartman@ksu.edu.

Make Your Web Site Google-icious

Expanding on Branding -- Who do we want to be?

In marketing, the term "branding" is used to reflect what an organization wants to be. Sometimes, however, branding is confused as being our logo or perhaps some other graphical representation of the organization.

An organization's brand is a promise -- a promise that whenever "customers" come to the organization, it will provide something of value.

K-State Research and Extension promises practical, research-based information that improves the quality of life of people in Kansas. That's the foundation of our organization's brand. From that, many "sub-brands" might represent our organization -- maybe good, maybe bad -- depending on how well we serve our customers.

For example, our customers may come to know us as having excellent customer service, friendly people, being easily accessible or something else. What we are known as depends largely on how well the entire organization consistently displays certain values.

Logos and other images become a symbol of an organization's promise. People who see our images and have a positive or negative impression often tell others about us -- a concept known as "buzz marketing" or creating "buzz."

Bottom line: When all members of an organization consistently deliver on the organization's brand promise, that's what people come to know you as.

See and share more marketing tips online at www.communications.ksu.edu/marketing.
-- Pat Melgares, melgares@ksu.edu, 785-532-1160

Expanding on Branding -- Who do we want to be?

Newsletters Appeal to Current Users

The time you spend on developing a professional newsletter representing your local office or your program seems to be well worth the effort. Marketing research continues to show the value of newsletters as an information source for people currently involved in your program.

In his 1988 doctoral dissertation, Jim Lindquist (currently the Assistant Director for Extension Field Operations), reported that 57 percent of all Kansans used newsletters as an information source. In 2007, K- State Research and Extension's statewide telephone survey showed that more than 3 in 4 Kansans consider newsletters as "very effective" or "somewhat effective" ways to find information.

Lindquist's study found that the use of newsletters was highest in rural areas and for Kansans who were already involved with an Extension program ("users"). The 2007 survey also indicates high usage among rural residents (83.3%) and current users (86.9%), but also among young adults (84.4%), non-users (75%) and suburban residents (72.6%).

Professional newsletter design and printing services are available through K-State Research and Extension's Department of Communications, and can be paid with the county allocation. For more information, contact Greg LeValley at glevalle@ksu.edu . --Pat Melgares melgares@ksu.edu

Newsletters Appeal to Current Users

Signage for Offices and Trade Shows

First impressions are critical when it comes to reaching new customers, and often your signage is the first thing people see. People often form an impression based on your signage: expectations of quality, accessibility, what type of service is provided, and cost. This applies not only to your storefront, but also trade shows and exhibitions. When you consider how many potential customers walk past your booth at a fair or trade show, think about what they perceive from your booth´s contents. Does it look dated? Does it look thrown together? Or does it look modern, top-quality, and thorough? Does it tell them what you offer and how to reach you?

One quick way to update your trade show presence is by purchasing a new display. Roller-shade displays are gaining in popularity. They are compact, easy to set up, affordable to update, and look more `hip´ than the traditional trifold booth display. There are two K- StateResearch and Extension banner displays available through Steven Graham, and a few counties have also purchased them individually. We encourage those of you have purchased and/or used this type of display to comment about them on our blog at http://ksremarketingminute.blogspot.com/. Specifically, please post about the vendor you used, the cost, and benefits or negatives of this type of display.

And, if it´s your office or storefront that needs the update, consider applying for a signage mini-grant, now available from K- StateResearch and Extension´s Department of Communications. Details are available at http://www.communications.ksu.edu/marketing. If you have any questions about signage or any other marketing-related topic, please contact Pat Melgares or Linda Sleichter at 785-532-5804.-- Linda Sleichter, lsleicht@ksu.edu

Signage for Offices and Trade Shows

Applications Now Being Taken for Signage Mini-Grants

All K-State Research and Extension offices should have received information via mail regarding a mini-grant program to update outdoor signage.

A minimum of 10 grants, worth $200 each, will be awarded. Priority will be given to offices that currently have outdoor signage that pre-dates the 1996 merger, but all county, district and area offices are encouraged to apply. The primary intent is to help all local offices obtain updated outdoor signage.

The deadline to apply is May 1, 2008. Grants will be awarded by the Department of Communications no later than June 1.

Information on the program was mailed to county, district and area offices late last week. Information also is available online at www.communications.ksu.edu/marketing . Please direct additional questions to Pat Melgares at melgares@ksu.edu.

Applications Now Being Taken for Signage Mini-Grants

Keep your e-newsletter out of the junk mail folder

Email is an essential communication tool, allowing for quick, cheap and easy distribution of information to many people with the click of a mouse. But, unfortunately, it has become tainted by unsavory junk mail. There are things you can do, as the sender of an e-newsletter, to encourage the recipient to open your email and to prevent that email from being dumped in a junk-mail folders.

1. Provide an easy way to subscribe or unsubscribe and an easy way to contact you. We want our clients to have a positive experience, whether they receive the information in person, by phone, online, or via email.
2. Watch your subject line. Some words, such as “don’t delete,” “hot,” and “FREE” will trigger spamblockers to junk an email.
3. Avoid all caps. It gives the impression that you are yelling.
4. Avoid HTML email whenever possible. Email systems are less likely to junk text-only emails.
5. Test the email. A spam checker, like http://www.ezinecheck.com/, will analyze your email and show you what could trigger the spam blocker on email systems. You can then make some minor adjustments and improve the delivery rate of your e-newsletter.
6. If you are sending to more than 20 addresses, the message is more likely to get blocked as spam. Instead of entering the addresses individually, consider creating a listserv or create a short distribution list. Our staff in IET (785-532-6270) can help you with this.

If you need more information, please contact Linda Sleichter at 785-532-5804, or email lsleicht@ksu.edu. If you’d like to comment on this or any Marketing Minute discussion, we encourage you to visit our Marketing Minute blog at http://ksremarketingminute.blogspot.com/.

Keep your e-newsletter out of the junk mail folder

Viral Marketing

Its name may not sound appealing, but viral marketing is a great way to expand your client base. Also called “referral marketing,” this concept was originally defined by venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, as “network-enhanced word of mouth.” Viral marketing runs on the idea that word-of-mouth is the best way to attract new customers. In our case, we would provide materials (an email, brochure, postcard, etc.) to current clients and/or volunteers, then ask the clients and volunteers to share those materials with people they know who are unfamiliar with K-State Research and Extension.

As part of the five-year marketing plan, we plan on implementing a viral marketing strategy in targeted areas. If you would like assistance with a viral marketing campaign of your own, or have questions related to this or any other marketing topic, please contact Linda Sleichter at 785-532-5804, or email lsleicht@ksu.edu. If you’d like to comment on this or any Marketing Minute discussion, we encourage you to visit our Marketing Minute blog at http://ksremarketingminute.blogspot.com/.

Viral Marketing

Internet Usage

The common assumption is that Internet usage continues to increase, but does the research support that? The short answer is, yes. In 1996, 17 percent of those surveyed had been on the Internet in the past month. In 2000, that number increased dramatically to 56 percent. Our 2007 data shows 76.1 percent of those surveyed have been on the Internet in the past month. A majority (55.8 percent) of those who had been on the Web said they go there daily. Based on those results, the Web is an effective way to reach three-fourths of Kansans.

However, the flipside is that 23.6 percent of those surveyed had not been on the Internet in the past month. In addition, 20.5 percent had not been on a computer for any purpose in the past month. In order to reach all Kansans, there is a continued need for face-to-face contact and phone access to information, because not everyone is online.

If you need more information, please contact Pat Melgares at 785-532-5804, or e-mail melgares@ksu.edu .

--Linda Sleichter lsleicht@ksu.edu

Internet Usage

Return of Marketing Minute

We've had a lull in the publishing of our marketing minute segments, but we have not been sitting on our laurels. Since our last post (August 2007), we have conducted a series of focus groups in five urban Kansas counties and continued to analyze data from the statewide telephone survey. In the near future, we'll be rolling out a marketing campaign targeting young adults (24-44) and metro audiences. Starting today, we will post a weekly Marketing Minute in The Tuesday Letter and on our blog. But, enough about us. Let's talk about you.

What type of information would you like us to cover? What marketing-related questions do you have? Please let us know and we'll do our best to find the answers.

Please contact us by phone, via e-mail, or by posting comments below. Thanks!

Return of Marketing Minute