Tech Transfer Marketing Metrics in
the Digital Age: What’s Working and
What’s Wasting Time and Money?
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Cara Michaliszyn
Marketing Manager
University of New Mexico-STC
Teresa Fazio, PhD
Portfolio Analyst
Columbia Technology Ventures
Margaret Elliott, MPH
Marketing & Communications Manager
Columbia Technology Ventures
Outline
• Branding:
• Why a brand is important
• E-Marketing Mix
• General Metrics for Tracking Brand Marketing
• Marketing Videos
• Email marketing
• Using student interns to prepare & launch marketing documents
• Company lists and resources for targeted marketing
• Email templates
• Using e-Marketing for Faculty Outreach
• Keys to writing an Effective Web Brief
• Optimizing Content for Search Engine Visibility
• Leveraging Social Media
• Lessons learned
Marketing by medium
Email
Blog
Social Media
One to One
Press releases
Unspecified
University website Listing
Brand Marketing method Ranking by %
Email
Blog
Social Media
One to One
Press releases
Unspecified
University website Listing
Social media activity Ranking by %
Twitter
facebook
LinkedIn
Pinterest
None
Lead generation Ranking by %
Email
Blog
Social Media
One to One
Press releases
Unspecified
University website Listing
Do you employ SEO metrics?
Yes
No
Survey Results
What is your marketing budget? ranking by percent
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
What is your marketing budget? ranking by percent
10%
5%
0%
Using the power of the Digital Age
to Build your Brand
• Why is brand important?
• Brand increases awareness and recall – your technology transfer office
(TTO) is the source of technology
• University inventions are generally not developed in response to
market need
• Brand increases familiarity/comfort level with TTO
• Brand motivates licensee diligence/ respect
• Brand creates the opportunity for pull marketing rather than push
• Brand expands outreach efforts locally, nationally and internationally for
TTO’s technologies and the organization
E-marketing Mix
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Website
– Flintbox (or other technology showcase site) contains technology briefs
• Inquiries/established companies directly contact TTO
– Press releases/newsletters
– Communication
– Promotion
Subscribe to profile alerts
– (i.e. LifeSciencesLink, CommNexus, etc.)
Webinars to entrepreneurs & investors
• Utilize GoToMeeting, AdobeConnect, etc.
Direct Marketing via Email
– Solicit commercial interest and corporate relationships
Social Media
– Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Vimeo, Pinterest, Blog
Track Brand Marketing
•
TTO Website and Technology Portfolio (Flintbox,
iBridge, Nouvant, etc.)
– Analytics
• Daily visitors
• Pageviews
• Social Media shares
• Domain names
•
Press releases
– Create awareness that TTO is a source of innovative
technology
– Create buzz around technology
– Track inquiries based on press releases
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Newsletter E-mag
– Track views, technology inquiries
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Blog – focused on all activities not just technology
– Creating awareness
– Track followers
Marketing Videos
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Educate your constituencies about the research happening at your University and that
your TTO is the source of technology/patents
Use marketing videos to:
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Educate university researchers about TTO and inform them of how to disclose to the TTO
General outreach
Create additional promotional material that can be used in email marketing
Highlights prolific inventors and their success stories
Create awareness
Start off with a cheap camera and do minimal editing. If see increased interest or a
direct licensing deal as a result of videos, invest more.
Email Marketing Program
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Average success rate with 400 campaigns sent 2008-2012:
• 21% click-through rate
• 10% reply rate
Reasons for doing email marketing:
• Extend the reach of our licensing officers
• Even if a technology isn’t licensed, the program can be helpful:
• Get market feedback before a major patent decision
• The PI knows we are putting the invention out there.
Launches & responses monitored through a central Outlook mailbox
Salesforce can also be used
Metrics: Clicks, Bounces, Opens, Replies
Using Student Interns to Prepare E-Marketing
• One intern completes entire “marketing package” per technology
• Launched from central mailbox
• 3 parts to a typical marketing assignment:
1. “Company List” of Potential Licensees (4 hours, $80)
- Compilation of email addresses using internal & external sources
2. Email Template (1 hour, $20)
- Sent to companies with links to a Tech Brief
3. Tech Brief (4 hours, $80)
- Posted on websites, both ours & external
- Nonconfidential technology description
- Use SEO best practices
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Company Lists – Resources
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Student interns search business databases to find
relevant companies
We maintain an internal contacts database
Full-text searchable by company names, keywords,
positions, etc.
“Constant gardening” is key!
• We include a section to note contacts’
specific fields of interest
Database tips & tricks:
• Jigsaw & mailtester.com can help confirm
email addresses
Email Templates
Description and Objectives
Key Lessons
Brief, non-confidential overview of the invention
Needs to make a quick and lasting impression
• May be the only impression a company gets of
• Do not disclose anything that would enable someone
an invention
knowledgeable in the field to practice the invention
• Just a sentence or two to distill the technology & pique
Show target how the invention can help a
interest
company and / or its products, e.g.
• Must align with corporate strategy
• Improve R&D efficiency / effectiveness
• Save time
Needs to be compelling to a diverse audience
• Decrease costs
• Initial reader may lack technical background
• Come up with a memorable “tweet”
Purely non-confidential information
• Enable auto-forward of replies to specific licensing
officer through centralized email inbox
Using Email Marketing for Faculty Outreach
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Scheduled email blasts :
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Recently Issued Patent Notices: Congratulatory e-mail to all named inventors who are active
employees, sent to relevant faculty weekly
Publications: E-mail to authors of publications, with a reminder to file an invention report, sent to
relevant faculty, monthly
Initial Commercial Assessment: Sent to all named potential inventors on the invention
disclosure form one week after invention report submission
New Faculty & Research Staff Welcome: A welcome/introductory e-mail to all new faculty and
research staff who have been hired within the preceding four-month term.
Grant Proposals and Awards: An email to faculty who have submitted or been awarded a grant
proposal, sent to relevant faculty monthly
Effort to improve internal branding
Metrics tracked: Opens, bounces, responses
Technology Briefs: Posted on our website
• Must be:
•Scientifically accurate
•Detailed enough to elicit interest
•Consistent with patent claims; don’t oversell!
• We implement search engine optimization
• May be published in PR newsletter or on blog
• One-page flyer can be shared with companies
• Outline of sections:
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Headings
Descriptions
Inventor bio
Applications & Advantages
Patent Information
Publication Information
Write your Story: Ask “The Big Questions”
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What’s the technology? What does it do?
How does it do that?
How can we prove it does that?
Why would a licensee want it?
What are some similar products or technologies?
What makes it better or different from these?
How would you describe it to someone who doesn’t
know what it is ?
– What do I get if I license it?
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION: What is it?
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The process of making a webpage easily consumable for both humans and search engine
robots.
The SEO elements will draw potential customers to the technology page when they
search online (Google) for terms relevant to the technology.
The well-written content and information on the technology page will grab their interest
and hopefully compel them to license the technology.
SEO is not magic!
*Tell a great story*, then worry about optimization.
Source: SEOmoz: The Beginners’ Guide to SEO
SEO Mechanics
Before You Start
Optimizing:
Search the internet as you would for
the technology you’re describing.
• Choose non-specific identifiers
(i.e. NOT a proprietary name)
• Continue searching until your
search yields pages that very
closely resemble your topic
• Google highlights matching words
This gives hints on how to best
describe your technology so it
can be found by others ON THE
WEB.
Where to use Keywords:
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Title, URL, Browser Tab
Headings
Early in the content (preferably in the first sentence)
Links
Bulleted lists
Image file names, "Alt text“ labels, and captions
Attachment file names
• Remember: Humans are your primary audience!.
• SEO can draw a potential customer to the page. But only clear,
understandable writing about the technology’s value will keep them
reading and lead to a license!
Leveraging Social Media
Select Platforms
Track Metrics
• Interactions per number of
fans/followers by month or week
• Clicks to website via social
media platforms
• Integrating other resources:
Follow, Like,
Engage
Lessons Learned
– Digital marketing is only a tool
– Use technology to drive services with greater
efficiency
– Social media tools can help but don’t overly rely
on them
– Track and analyze your metrics, use them to
inform how you direct your efforts
– Keep learning, trying new platforms and engaging
with new audiences
Not everything has to be digital
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Other aspects of marketing just as important in the mix and just as important to track
– Leads from Inventors
– Research sponsorships
– Mailing via USPS to industries not familiar with University TTOs
– Events
– Printed materials
– Plus, too many email blasts can lead to TTO messages turning into spam
QUESTIONS?
Utilize the public chat
at the bottom left of your screen to submit your
question. The panel will address them in the
order they are received.
Thank You!
Thank you!
• Any questions about the content of this talk?
Reach out to us:
Cara Michaliszyn
Marketing Manager
University of New Mexico-STC
cmichaliszyn@stc.unm.edu
Teresa Fazio, PhD
Portfolio Analyst
Columbia Technology Ventures
taf2102@columbia.edu
Margaret Elliott, MPH
Marketing & Communications Manager
Columbia Technology Ventures
me2304@columbia.edu