How we choose to communicate can make it or break it.
During my tenure at Indiana University School of Medicine, I honed my expertise in digital communications, particularly in leveraging Salesforce Marketing Cloud, for effective messaging. I revolutionized email communications for my clients, transforming them from a neglected channel into a highly valued asset. Previously, my clients relied on basic listserv communications or lengthy Word documents for important updates, which often hindered engagement or made it time consuming to learn area updates. By integrating Marketing Cloud, I ensured that email lists were meticulously maintained and collaborated with area and school leaders on how email analytics provided valuable insights into audience engagement.
This transformation not only enhanced the professionalism and style of communication for my clients, but it also established a higher standard for how messaging was delivered and received. Incorporating appropriate branding and professional messaging became synonymous with trust, and as a result, area newsletters and other email communication fostered a stronger connection and increased anticipation for each message.
Newsletter CTR Growth
Over time, the click-thru-rates for my newsletter sends improved as I became more accustomed to my client’s needs when it came to messaging. Asking questions like, “What will make them want to attend or register” or “How can I get them to read this story?” helped me to grasp relevant information for my clients that created incentive to click. CTRs were comparably to larger school and university emails.
Newsletter Open Rate Growth
With every message, I would test new ideas for better engagement, specifically focusing on open rates. From more targeted messaging to including content that immediately answers questions or enables participation, I rebuilt trust for my clients allowing them to look forward to future newsletters and seeing it as a vital outlet for communicating to their colleagues.
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Solving a problem
A constant battle for one of my clients included a lack of high-quality portraits of faculty members. Having these images was crucial for storytelling, digital presence, and potential press releases. To help us get ahead of the curve, I organized annual portrait days for experts to get free, professional environmental portraits. This project was a big success, with dozens of people signing up. As a result we were able to update experts bios and have better imagery for future stories. Since this proved to be beneficial, I organized another successful photography event in 2024. Without the targeted messaging I used, this effort wouldn’t have worked and the department would be without key imagery.
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Appreciation
Messaging that proved to be most engaging for my clients were often the short n' sweet ones where the department would meet individuals where they were and connect via a shared value in one another. Sending messages where leadership expressed their gratitude during a difficult situation not only helped folks feel valued, but also was a great way to use messaging as a fun and engaging outlet for the department to overcome a difficult situation. Messages like this heightened peoples spirits and created a shared value of purpose.
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Newsletters
Newsletters became a unique and exciting challenge for me as I had little previous experience. However, I was able to create a strategic plan, including a schedule, for newsletter messaging each year which, as it grew in success, transformed the way my clients chose to communicate important news. Additionally, this type of messaging encouraged my clients to alter how they stay connected to one another by encouraging some information to be reserved for the newsletters, like key interviews, events, or exciting opportunities. This, coupled with a template design, workflow process, and ensuring clients knew of release timeline, enabled newsletters to become a cornerstone to area communication.