Are your customers Alumni Status?
What image is conjured up for you when you think of a friend, colleague or family member being an alumni?
An alumni is a graduate of a college or university. Recently, I proudly attended a friend’s graduation of a non-credit program at Simon Fraser University (SFU). It was a one-year creative writing program. All graduates on this night were from non-credit programs. None were wearing gowns or grad hats. The ceremony was special yet low-key and lasted about an hour and a half.
What I witnessed during this ceremony was how the staff at SFU used this time as an opportunity to market themselves. It was very subtle. The premise was to make all those who attended feel special. The graduates and their guests were asked to hold off on photographs so the process could be moved along quickly. We were told there was an area in the room for photos after the ceremony. The staff and teachers would also be available to recreate the certificate photo opportunity after the event. This area was set up with a large banner promoting SFU. Imagine all the photos posted on Facebook and Instagram after the event with a big SFU logo in the background.
During the distribution of certificates to each individual, a SFU alumni pin was presented. Prior to this, the head of the university got up and spoke about how SFU recognizes all graduates as alumni regardless of whether they completed a credit or non-credit program. This all-around inclusion was a well-received acknowledgement. It also meant that after that evening even more people were walking around with an alumni pin advertising SFU.
Another colleague of SFU spoke after all the certificates and pins were given out. He jokingly said that now that the graduates were alumni, they would receive all the alumni benefits including the benefit of donating money to the SFU foundation.
All in all, I was impressed with the number of promotion plugs that lightly dusted the convocation. How does this strategy apply to your business or organization? The key is to engage your customers in ways that make them feel good while subtly using it as an opportunity to promote your business.
In what ways are you currently promoting your business while making your customers feel good?