Cedar Rapids, Iowa (PRWEB) March 09, 2015
Barbara Coward, Vice President of Innovation and Development at Converge Consulting, will present at the 2015 European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) Conference on March 25-27 in Vancouver, Canada. This year’s conference, “Understanding, Identifying and Building a Distinctive Brand,” will welcome international and external relations, PR, marketing, communication and alumni professionals from all over the world.
Coward’s session, How Do You Use Your Alumni to Enhance Your Brand, will show how to leverage inbound marketing to communicate your value proposition. Participants will learn to better connect with alumni through key digital channels to achieve strategic goals.
“In today’s global business environment, many business schools find that their alumni network stretches around the world,” Coward said. “One of the biggest questions we need to answer is ‘How do we engage alumni who are thousands of miles away from their alma mater to become brand ambassadors?'”
At the same time, business schools have less control over their brands in our digital age. Prospective students are increasingly turning to online platforms such as Beat the GMAT, GMAT Club, F1GMAT, ChaseDream, club-MBA, PaGaLGuY and Wall Street Oasis to chat with peers about various programs.
“We know that millennials trust social proof more than traditional advertising,” Coward said.
Behind a computer, anyone can become a brand detractor, which is why it’s so important to engage alumni as key influencers who can promote a school’s brand through their social networks.
To learn more about the 2015 EFMD Conference, visit the EFMD website.
Converge Consulting is a higher education inbound marketing firm with offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Manhattan Beach, California. Converge uses what’s new and next in content strategy, search engine optimization, digital advertising, web analytics and visual storytelling to positively impact student recruitment and alumni engagement for colleges and universities around the world.