We believe that whenever possible marketing or communications of any kind should be targeted and tailored to individuals. Casting a wide net by trying to market to the masses can be a costly and very often an ineffective way to get your message to your customers and prospects. So when the Clemson University Alumni Association asked Merge to help streamline its email communications to its 70,000+ subscribers, we put this guiding principle into action.
Background
Founded in 1896 The Clemson University Alumni Association today serves the needs of some 124,000 members of the Clemson family, including a network of 82 Alumni Clubs and special interest groups across the country. The Alumni Association helps coordinate and host reunions, special events, award scholarships through endowments, sells and markets the Clemson ring and provides career services to students and alumni. But the most important and basic reason the Association exists is to connect alumni to each other and to Clemson University.
The Challenge
In 2010 the Association developed “The Echo,” an email newsletter to communicate important updates to alumni. However, while the bi-weekly emails were full of great information, each and every alum received the same, very long newsletter. Staff didn’t have a way to deliver only specific content to each individual. Merge was approached by Senior Director of Alumni Relations, Wil Brasington, to help develop a system that allowed alumni to sign up to receive email newsletters tailored to their specific areas of...
I couldn't help but think, this model can apply to quite a bit more than just teams. Let's see how it applies to a Digital Strategy:
The fact of the matter is that social media sites are changing the way we communicate and the medium in which we do. Sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google + are bringing us together in a way we never thought was possible. Small businesses, corporations, and politicians are using these avenues to connect with their customers/constituents on a personal level, and it’s working.
