Nelson Croom's Blog

London 2012 is missing a social media trick

Anna Faherty, author of 5 Nelson Croom courses, explains why the London Olympic Games Organising Committee are missing out on the opportunity that Social Media presents.

by Anna Faherty

For most people, their social media strategy is either non-existent or based on strict rules about what their organisation says they can or can’t say. But if you’re organising one of the biggest sporting events in the world, you need to think more creatively than that. You also need a lot of people and a lot of time to make the most of social media around your event.

Almost a year before last weekend’s US Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis, marketing company Raidious set-up a city-centre office to manage the event’s social-media strategy. Packed with 50 employees and student volunteers working around the clock, they then got blogging, tweeting and Facebooking.

Of course the social media command centre was sure to be sending out messages to market both the Super Bowl and the city in which it is taking place. But it also monitored the use of 300 keywords across different social media. If someone spotted a question or concern they could respond to, or a fun experience they could share, they got to work. Plus they also created new content – sourcing photos, videos and stories to share on their Highlights blog.

With our own major sporting event just around the corner, perhaps London 2012 can learn a thing or two from Super Bowl XLVI. So far, we’re not doing so well. Despite encouraging competitors to make this the ‘Twitter games’, the London Olympic Games Organising Committee (LOGOC) didn’t win itself any favours when it recently announced that anybody volunteering at the games would be banned from using social media – hardly the way to get people talking, sharing and promoting the games online.

LOGOC’s approach might not be so surprising if you take a look back at the 2010 Winter Olympics. In an article for Mashable, blogger and social media marketer Teresa Basich says most of the Twitter action for Vancouver 2010 was ‘pushing’ agreed messages out, rather than engaging with audiences in any real sense. Perhaps if LOGOC heeded Basich’s advice to listen to people, connect with them and foster links between people with shared passions things might be different. Because, as a recent article in Forbes magazine confirms, social media today isn’t about broadcasting, it’s about meeting like-minded individuals, participating in meaningful conversations and collaborating to make a difference. That’s true for LOGOC. And it’s true for you. Don’t miss the trick…

Nelson Croom, a child’s perspective

I walk in to my first day of work experience at Nelson Croom and it’s different to what I expect. The introductions are out of the way, I have the company broken down for me, what they do and how, what they’ve achieved and their future goals. It’s as if I am not here for only two weeks, they are trusting me with everything, and see me as being a productive part of their working environment. I have been trusted with helping Andrew, the Marketing Executive, create a new campaign and will be heavily involved with every step of the process.

My days generally start the same, a couple of nods and a hello as I take my place at my desk. I turn the computer on, the machine brimming, as I reach for my notepad and occasionally some breakfast if I bothered to pick some up. Offerings of tea and coffee in the background, and the clanger of keyboards. I start my research; I reach for my coffee and take a sip, careful not to miss my mouth. That would be embarrassing. But the threat is gone.

I'm onto another task, an email. It may not seem that significant but this was the email, the email I was going to send as the crux of the campaign. I plug away, trying to get it right. And I do, eventually, with the help of Andrew. I can’t help but think that I am much slower than everyone else; it is as if I am slow motion in the midst of a blur. Everything I do, to me, seems important; and it’s important I do it properly.

Occasionally there is a meeting, a time to discuss what people have achieved and understood in their area. I grasp some of what is said and understand the finances quite well yet there is still a gaping hole in my knowledge of Nelson Croom. And I get the feeling two weeks may not cover it. But I carry on, learning as much as I can. An E-learning course on Nelson Croom would be perfect, I think to myself; but again, that may be the longest course available.

My time at work experience has been an invaluable insight in to professional life, and I am very grateful to everyone who has made it so.

Nelson Croom Wins Gold Twice at the E-Learning Award's 2010

by Andrew Turner

 

Last night we were in attendance at the sixth annual E-Learning Awards ceremony in London.  It is a great event and one we were really looking forward to.

Last year we were delighted to be awarded the Silver prize for ‘E-Learning development company of the year’ and this year we were hoping to improve on that with our nominations in the categories of, ‘Excellence in the production of learning content – Not for profit sector’ for our work with One Plus One, and once again for ‘E-Learning development company of the year’.

We attended the event with some members of the One Plus One who were involved in our project and had a really entertaining evening. This was topped off by getting the gold award for both of our nominations.  This is a huge achievement for both ourselves and One Plus One.

We would like to thank all of our clients and partners for their feedback and support and hope the next year can be as successful as this, our tenth, has been.

Institute of Physics – record number of registrations

by Rachel Bruce

I recently met with Vishanti Fox at the Institute of Physics who has been creating and coordinating a campaign to market the online courses that we provide for them, to their members.

IOP set themselves a target of generating 400 new registrations for courses throughout the first month of the campaign. As the result of an email campaign to their members, they have had 420 new registrations in June, the most they’ve had in any one month since the launch of their portfolio at the end of 2005.

Vishanti was delighted with the result, and I asked her how she had worded the campaign.  She said that it was very straightforward and to the point:

• The online courses were chosen to meet the needs of the members
• The content was tailored for physicists
• The registration process was easy
• There were 18 new courses available

Keeping it simple clearly works.

Registration numbers are all well and good, but we also need to know that the courses are being well-received.  As part of a new initiative at the beginning of this year, the IOP courses now include a completion area with an evaluation questionnaire.  The evaluation questionnaires confirm that the IOP’s online portfolio of CPD is a success story, with plenty of positive comments and testimonials from the members.

I’m now talking to Vishanti about how we can sustain registration numbers and positive feedback on a monthly basis going forward.  So far, so good.

New Course: Promoting Your Professional Practice

by Rachel Bruce

We have launched a new course this week in both our Accounting and Finance Portfolio, and our Professional Development Portfolio.  Promoting your Professional Practice, written by Drayton Bird enables a learner to:

• Assess their current marketing activities, and decide what other types of promotion will work best for their business

• Think about what aspects of their business differentiates them from their competitors

• Target potential clients, and retain their existing clients

• Build and develop a targeted marketing database

• Maximise their return on investment

I’m pretty excited about this new launch as it is a really practical course written by an extremely knowledgeable marketeer who has great tone of voice, a wealth of experience to draw upon, and a straightforward approach to helping people promote their practice, so I’m sure it will prove successful in both of our portfolios.

A New Face at Nelson Croom

by Andrew Turner

Sitting down to write this blog, I am unsure how to introduce myself. Do I go for the formal ‘Hello, I’m Andrew Turner ……’? Or a more relaxed feel, full of quirky comments about me and the role I’m taking over.  Not sure either would be that great and so I went for the approach you have just read.

I have been fortunate to be offered the role of Marketing Executive at Nelson Croom and started on Monday 21st of June.  Previously I completed a degree in English Literature and History, travelled Australia,  and then studied a Masters in Publishing at Kingston University upon my return. This led many friends and family to suggest I was avoiding ‘the real world’ for as long as possible and should get a ‘real job’.

Much to their surprise, and my delight, I was able to do this shortly after completion of my course, being offered a position after my first interview.  It is a position which will enable me to develop the skills I learned through my Publishing Masters in a very unique way.  The friendly team here at Nelson Croom is something which will hopefully enable me to gain a greater understanding of the business as a whole, whilst also allowing me, selfishly, to pull out as much from the teams combined experiences in and out of publishing, as possible.

I also feel that I can bring something to the team, making it a somewhat less one-sided affair.  To deliver an old cliché, ‘I feel I can bring a fresh insight’, which, although is one of the most overly used interview phrases ever, is something I truly feel I offer.  With a Masters behind me as well as experience writing copy for a permanent cosmetics company (don’t ask!), I also believe there is a lot I can bring from my 7 years working in a bar come restaurant that makes what I offer quite unique.

Time will tell but I can say that I am very happy to be starting my career at this exciting, friendly and conveniently placed - on the cusp of Zone 2 - company!

10 years on: How things have changed

by Alan Nelson

As part of Nelson Croom’s 10th anniversary celebrations, we have been looking back at how things have changed.

The Office for National Statistics recently announced changes to the basket of consumer goods which form the basis of two main inflation trackers, the consumer prices index and the retail prices index. This isn’t in itself noteworthy: changes are made fairly regularly to reflect changing consumer habits. Over time though, the changes reflect pretty major shifts in behaviours and attitudes. Indeed, only three items have remained constant throughout the basket’s history: sliced bread, sausages and flour.

This time round I was struck by a number of changes. Hairdryers have been removed in favour of hair straighteners and tongs. I don’t have much hair any longer so I’m not ashamed to say that that one had largely passed me by. There are no more bars of soap – only liquid soap dispensers. We have both in our house but I see the point. Also deleted are disposable cameras – who needs one when they have a camera on their phone? Most worrying, just as we have caught up at home with flat screen TVs, digital radios and DVD players, is the inclusion of Blue-ray disc players – I feel myself getting poorer again!

All this got me thinking about how attitudes have changed to online learning over the ten years that we have been in business. Ten years ago the people we worked with were pioneers and were fairly thin on the ground. Nowadays almost everyone we meet understands the rationale for what we do. The debate is more around the migration path from where they are now to where they would like to be.

There seem to me to be three main aspects to the change:

• The massive increase in personal use of the internet
• The perceived value of online resources
• The internet as a social tool

 

The internet for personal use

Ten years ago, most of the professional communities we engaged with were used to working with technology. They had PCs on their desks at work and in more or less sophisticated ways, they used them. The big change has come from the growth of home PCs. Back then, few people had a PC at home and those that did accessed the Internet via a dial up connection. Now the vast majority have a PC at home and a broadband connection.

It is the arrival of a PC and bandwidth at home, and frequently its use by children for school work, that has made decision makers in the professional bodies we work with decide that they must migrate their professional development services online. From study materials for professional qualifications, through general educational services, to structured and formalised CPD, the change has been dramatic and rapid.

 

Perceived value

Although the pace of change hasn’t always seemed as fast as we would have liked, there has been a rapid growth in the use of online services, most importantly at home. Online banking, comparison services for insurance quotes, Amazon (not only for books, but now for all our Christmas shopping!), BBC iPlayer – ordinary people using the internet every day to get stuff done and enjoy themselves. About five years ago my wife took the micky out of me because I moaned that she had thrown away the Yellow Pages. Now I wonder who keeps one at home: It just gets in the way and gives you out-of-date information.

How does this affect us? I remember one early conversation with an organisation that produced distance learning materials - ring binders to support students studying for their qualification. Printing the binders was expensive enough, but storing them in a warehouse and then sending them out to people who signed up was prohibitive. It was easy to demonstrate that they could do something better online and save money. But we couldn’t get over the loss of perceived value. If you signed up and paid your fee for study materials you expected a big box to arrive with stuff in it. Spin forwards ten years and the issue is no more.

Imagine you are a 23 year graduate living in London and taking a post graduate professional qualification. All you can afford as accommodation is a room in a shared house. The last thing you want is some big fat ring binders around the place. You see far more value in a good website where you can access the materials you need, complete learning activities and assignments, ask questions of a tutor and communicate with other students.

 

The internet as a social tool

All of which brings me onto the third and perhaps most significant factor – certainly the most exciting. Ten years ago the discussion was all about how we could provide content to people. We spent much of our time trying to persuade people to stop thinking of trying to teach remotely and to think instead of facilitating their learning. This was an important distinction even back then, but there were limits to how far you could go in offering a personalised experience.

The advent of Web 2.0 technologies has enabled us to move way beyond the idea of teaching online and instead create professional development resources that facilitate the community of learners building their awareness and understanding together.

And this is going to change ever more rapidly. As the current generation of teenagers grow up into the next generation of professional students they will expect a different kind of service. This is exciting and scary in roughly equal measure but it certainly keeps me interested!

Marketing the experience - practice as we preach

by Alan Nelson

Yesterday an accountant in Africa sent through a message using our feedback button to say how impressed he was with our online CPD courses. He said he thought the service would be particularly useful to people in the third world.

Gratified not only that he had liked our course, but also at the suggestion that it might help people less able to access conventional CPD for both logistical and cost reasons, I took a look at which course had inspired his enthusiasm. It turned out that he was a member of the Association of International Accountants and had been looking at a new demo we have created for them – a cut down version of Due Diligence in Mergers and Acquisitions.

We have had demos on our website for some time and they are a great way for people to get a real feel for the sort of thing we can do. We take a course that’s maybe 4 or 5 modules long and hide everything except the first module. This leaves the curious punter with a good 45 minutes of material that they can explore and get a really good feel for what we do. This has generated quite a lot of enquiries from people who I think might have otherwise gone away from our website interested but not quite hooked enough to make contact.

It’s all very appropriate that we should do this of course, as we separately publish the Institute of Sales Promotion’s distance learning course on experiential marketing. Never let it be said that we do not practice what we preach!

Recently, we have been working with some of our professional body partners to create similar demos for their versions of our courses, so that they can offer the same taster to their members and customers. The professional bodies are also starting to use the tools in the management system within Imago. The list of people who have registered is held in Imago. This list of prospects can be downloaded into other systems. Alternatively Imago enables our partner organisation to communicate with the prospects directly, pulling up lists of people who have registered for the demo or who have bought other courses, and contacting them with information about new courses.

The commercial relationship we have with these partners means that we only make money when they do, sharing a proportion of their income from sales, so it is in our interest to help them to market the service. It really is a partnership where all our interests are lined up.