charlene blohm - these bananas aren’t going to sell themselves

Serious Games Association – July 28, 2016

These Bananas Aren’t Going to Sell Themselves

@CharleneBlohm@[email protected]

C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.• Public relations and digital marketing for the

education and special needs industries

• 30 companies from Northern California to Norway

• 18 communications & marketing professionals

• 3,274 items with combined cumulative impressions of 4.7 billion for members of our client family in the previous 12 months

• Delivering thousands of leads per month via integrated earned and paid marketing programs

2

Educators on…Social

CIC 2016

What is the “mix” of media channels educators are using?

June 2016

Educators on…Games

SGA 2016

Are educators planning to integrate educational games into classroom activities in the coming school year?

July 2016

3

Taking the Pulse of the Market

Are they using social media in aprofessional capacity?

Do they believe there is a role for instructionally sound learning games in current curriculum programs?

4

What channels are they using most frequently?

Which social media channels are they using to learn about gaming?

9

Obligatory Pokémon Go Reference…

Education Week surveyed 853 school district

leaders for their Ed Marketer 2015

report.

Purchasing…to the Test46% discussed the

likelihood of a product to improve achievement results in making the

most recent curriculum decision

46%

Personal Research61% of educators conduct their own

research before making purchase

recommendations

61%

Conversations with Internal Teams

73% of educators have conversations with their

co-workers before making curriculum

decisions

73%

Site Visits

81% of educators visited a vendor’s

website within the past 6

months

81%

Webinars & Whitepapers

90% attended a education webinar or

downloaded a whitepaper within the

last 6 months

90%

What’s in Your Toolkit?

10© 2016 C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.

Demand & Lead GenerationUse geo-targeting, innovative pilot & trial programs, sampling programs and efficacy studies to fill the prospect pipeline.

Test Something New

From a new “type” of offer to a new communications channel, keep testing to find the next “tried and true” tactic.

Evaluate results in context.

Unlock Hidden Opportunities The high school product that can

work in 2-year colleges. The cross-curricular opportunities

inside your content…

Find Venues and Channels that Connect Educators

and Your TeamFrom focus groups and

advisory panels to Google

Hangouts & Twitter Chats.

Put Your Sales Team in the Spotlight

Social visibility. Events. Customized emails.

Synch Marketing & Sales


Content is KingBut Engagement is

Her Royal Majesty

Teachers. Share.

Everything.

Go Viral(aka “Word of

Mouth”)

Let Your

Evangelists

Preach

Go Mobile!

Go Now!

10 Tips from Educators to All of Us


Never Underestimate the Power of a

Webinar

Synergy is the

New FocusThe marketing

mix counts

Conferences Count 1:1 Chat Time

Direct Mail. Really!Mail still has power

Don’t Cut that Print Budget Yet…“We still need concrete things”

13

New TestsTry new tactics

strategically and with

commitment.© 2016 C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.

14

01

Direct (app store, mail

order, web order,

telesales, inside sales,

field sales) v Indirect

(distribution, dealers,

VARs, indep. reps)

Distribution Method

02

Teacher, Principal,

District or Site

Admin, Supt.

Customer

03

Package product,

single solution,

integrated solution

Product Type

04

1-2 people, 2-5, 3-

10, 20+

Decision Makers

05

Impulse, 30 days,

90 days, 6-12

months, 18

months

Sales Cycle

06

<$100, $100-$2,000,

$2,000-$5000, $5,000-

$35,000, $100,000+

Average Order Size

07

Revisit after first

25 and 100

customers, add

value!

Build Value

© 2016 C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.

Let’s keep the conversation going:

[email protected]

@charleneblohm

@cblohmassoc

C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.

5999 Monona Drive, Monona, WI 53716

608-216-7300

Thank you!

Final Questions?