Bob Johnson

Ph.D. & President, Bob Johnson Consulting

Biography

Bob Johnson

Bob Johnson is president of Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC where he has worked with 44 colleges and universities since 2006 to develop strong online marketing communication programs.

Specialties include Customer Carewords research to better engage website visitors, marketing communication reviews of college and university websites, and “Writing Right for the Web” workshops. He is a partner with Gerry McGovern at Customer Carewords, Ltd. in Dublin, Ireland.

Bob’s popular email newsletter, “Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter,” is sent monthly to 4,100 subscribers at more than 933 U.S. colleges and universities and others in several other countries including Australia, Austria, Canada, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.

Bob’s prologue on online communication challenges for strategic enrollment management opens The SEM Imperative, Taking Enrollment Management Online (AACRAO, 2007). Another prologue opens a 2009 AACRAO book, Campus Visit Programs.

Bob is the author of “Advancement and the Web: Thriving in a New World” and “Transforming Your Web Site into a Collaboration Marketing Tool,” (Handbook of Institutional Advancement, CASE Books 3rd ed., 2000). As co-editor of Integrated Marketing Communication, A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Communication Strategies he wrote three chapters, including “Marketing on the Web: Blending the New and the Newer.” (CASE Books 1999).

A frequent speaker at professional meetings and online conferences sponsored by Academic Impressions, ACT, American Marketing Association, CASE, Aslanian Group – Education Dynamics, and Magna Publications, his topics include Writing Right for the Web, web analytics, best practices for online communications, and building websites for brand engagement.

Bob chaired the AMA’s annual Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education from 1994 until 2003. From 2000 to 2005 he was Senior Vice President and Director of Strategy at Creative Communication Associates. Before joining CCA, he held college and university leadership positions in marketing and enrollment for more than 25 years.

Bob earned his bachelor’s degree from Alfred University and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Presentation

Perils, Pitfalls, and Pleasures: Moving Print Publications to Life Online

Higher education, Conference Day #1, Wednesday May 5th, 1.00 pm - 2.00 pm

Colleges and universities are challenged today (1) to reduce printing costs as much as possible by moving major print publications (alumni magazines, annual reports, and more) online and (2) to create websites that engage visitors and increase effective online communication.

This session will focus on the best way to achieve effective online communication with this transition. We’ll examine examples from schools in Australia, Canada, and the U.S. that have done this without resorting to PDF files and “flip” technologies.

We’ll note basic “writing right for the web” principles to show that publications designed and written for print cannot be transferred directly to websites without seriously degrading the ability of visitors to read them online.

We’ll use input from people who have managed the conversion from print to web using WordPress and other reader-friendly approaches to create effective, engaging publications in the online world.

Joint presentation with Jay Collier from Bates College.

See slides online

Philadelphia 2010: What's new in higher education marketing?

Philadelphia 2010: Which is the best way of moving print publications online?