Newsletter #48: Three universities are experimenting with NFTs; Twitter is a lot better than it gives itself credit for; Doctors are in the gig economy now
✏️ From the Education Marketer desk
The education marketer’s guide to blockchain and crypto + applications for HE. Read
Most Clicked: I discuss with Nathan Monk and Matt Lees (WeAreSmile) which unis are winning for Welcome websites and how Mark Zuckerberg makes Ray-Ban Stories inherently uncool. Watch
The ambassador chat checklist: 5 enduring principles for engaging student-to-student conversations. Read
📰 HE news
“I do think that the value proposition of universities is being challenged in the age in which we live. I don’t think you can ask students to pay £9,000 for just online lessons.” Hard-hitting words from Andreas Schleicher, the OECD’s director of education and skills. Setting the obvious argument that some students prefer in-person teaching aside, we would all do well to watch this trend: The global online education market is projected to reach a total size of over $319 billion by 2025, up from $187.87 billion in 2019. The scary bit? Universities only have part of that pie, the marketing of which they usually outsource to companies to run on their behalf - very risky. If you are concerned about the conversion or retention rates of your online courses, now is the time to start building your own in-house team. Online education trends | OECD Report
💻 Digital marketing news
The new Twitter super follower feature has only generated £6K in its first week of launch - although, I wouldn’t call this a failure of the feature. While TikTok is rolling out creator funds to the tune of millions of dollars and poaching existing talent, Twitter did nothing to promote its new revenue-generating tool for brands. Such a wasted opportunity. There’s loads of innovative stuff happening on the platform, but you wouldn’t know it. The other day I dropped into a digital auction on Twitter Spaces that was using Spacial, a kind-of metaverse 1.0 app that allows you to interact in a virtual world. I’m usually off on the whole “uncanny digital avatar” thing, but you can see how this stuff will smooth itself out over the next few years. Twitter needs to get better at working with its community and sharing its platform as a place where these experiences can happen. Super Followers | Spacial demo
The ad council put out a new PSA targeting vaccine-hesitant young adults. I like this one - it uses conversations between friends and family to break down vastly opposing views. With just under half of young people yet to be fully vaccinated, it’s a good watch if you’re looking at ways to convince your cohorts to take the Covid-19 vaccine, rather than relying on incentive schemes alone. Look
Google’s getting into the newsletter business with Museletter (did they think of that themselves?) Its differentiator: Create content directly from your files in Google Drive, which sounds horrible, but it confirms how all major tech companies are now going after your mailing list. Honestly - I wouldn’t build your audience here, Google will likely already be working on a way to display snippets of your letter in search results. Yes, answering user questions, but not giving you subscriptions. Read
Bonus: In other Google news, Google ads is rolling out Advertiser Pages, which is all about ad transparency, but as a byproduct allows you to snoop on all your competitor’s ads run in the last 30 days. Nice. Read
🏫 What unis are doing
Hardly surprising, but this year we’ve seen a new class of “Welcome” and student-to-student content from universities. The last two I’ll feature is University of Middlesex and University of Sussex. Both take really nice approaches, but the common theme is that they have members of their community directly addressing students’ anxieties. “We have everything in place to switch to online learning if needed”, “even though it was online it was brilliant” and “there’s a community vibe here which I think is important for learning.” It’s all very specific, focusing on being personal and quietly reassuring. It’s less: “WELCOME!!!” and more “Hey 👋 don’t worry, we’ve got you.” Sussex | Middlesex
“Three words: Dynamic. Desktop. Menu…”
“Dynamic desktop menu?”
"YESSSSS.” Look
Lynn, Louisiana State and Syracuse Universities are entering into NFT projects. It’s happening, people. Lynn University is playing it safe with the creation of an “NFT Museum” to showcase creative work and partner with local tech companies, whereas Louisiana State and Syracuse are trying something new. In partnership with Recur, the two unis are building NFTs that capture “college sports moments” and offer a “collectable fan experience” - I can’t wait to see what that will look like. Do people want to own a college moment? I'm not so sure, but people bought a video of a baby biting a toddler’s finger, so maybe these will sell too. Prediction: Some more unis will experiment with NFTs in 2021. Everyone piles on by 2023. Lynn | Louisiana State and Syracuse
🧑🎓 What students are saying
“The only reason I’m getting it is because I was constantly being called by my local GP. I’d love not to be vaccinated as I’m not confident about having such a new vaccine, but there’s so much preferential treatment for those that are vaccinated.” Various views from students on why they got double-jabbed. Interesting in the context of university incentives - money doesn’t seem to be the thing pushing them over the line. Read
👾 Culture shock
Doctors are part of the gig economy now. Read
Someone did a Doom mod about Margaret Thatcher. It’s very British. Look
