Oct. 11, 2022

Video QR Codes: Sticky Notes for the TikTok Generation

Video QR Codes: Sticky Notes for the TikTok Generation

QR codes have made a furious comeback in business circuits over the last couple of years.

The folks at spokenote saw a unique opportunity for marketers: embed QR codes with personalized videos for a targeted audience.

We spoke with spokenote’s CEO, John Weschler, and CMO, Mike Harmon, about the potential for personalized QR code videos in the higher ed space.

In an age of short form content, can the humble QR code maintain its renewed momentum?

Join us as we discuss:

- How the pandemic revived QR code applications (5:15)

- Practical applications of video QR codes in higher ed (14:02)

- Spokenote’s roadmap for enhancing the custom video experience (21:41)

Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:

- spokenote

- john@spokenote.com

- mike@spokenote.com

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website or search for The Higher Edge in your favorite podcast player.

The Higher Ed Marketer podcast is brought to you by Caylor Solutions, an Education Marketing, and Branding Agency.

    

 

Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.919 --> 00:00:07.280 You're listening to the Higher Ed Marketer, a podcast geared towards marketing professionals in 2 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:12.480 higher education. This show will tackle all sorts of questions related to student recruitment, 3 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:16.359 donor relations, marketing trends, new technologies, and so much more. 4 00:00:17.079 --> 00:00:21.480 If you're looking for conversations centered around where the industry is going, this podcast 5 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:30.440 is for you. Let's get into the show. Welcome to this week's edition 6 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:35.359 of the Hired Marketer podcast. Today, Bart and I speak with John Westler 7 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:41.799 and Mike Harmon. Both of them are from Spoke Note and with full transparency, 8 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:47.280 Bart has relationships going back to them along ways Mike and John have come 9 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:52.320 together. They have a new product that when Bart described it to me, 10 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:58.000 I was excited. We started brainstorming of how it could be implemented within higher 11 00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:02.799 ed marketing circles and and that's the reason why we are bringing them onto the 12 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:07.280 podcast today. And let me say that if you've listened all the way to 13 00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:11.519 the end, you will have four or five nuggets that you can implement immediately. 14 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:15.040 And I should shut up part because I'm so excited. Please take it 15 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:19.000 over before I talked for thirty minutes. Troy, You're right it's such an 16 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:25.079 exciting episode. I've known John and Mike for probably twenty to twenty five years. 17 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:27.480 Mike worked with me at a previous place that I was an owner at 18 00:01:27.560 --> 00:01:32.879 and uh and and we were doing websites in the late nineties together. He 19 00:01:32.920 --> 00:01:34.799 had done a lot of work at our c A and and launching the r 20 00:01:34.840 --> 00:01:40.799 c A dot com website and had a tremendous work ethic and we hadn't brought 21 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:44.640 on and we did some work with Notre Dame and and Anderson University and others 22 00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:48.079 early on. But Mike and John have kind of come up with this idea 23 00:01:48.120 --> 00:01:52.280 of QR codes and video, and we've had a lot of conversations about video, 24 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:55.599 We've had conversations about personalization. A lot of that comes together in this 25 00:01:55.640 --> 00:02:00.760 episode. It's been featured on My Friday finds of cost effective ideas for under 26 00:02:00.760 --> 00:02:04.159 five dollars that you can implement to make a big impact in your highered marketing. 27 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:07.840 And so let's bring him in. Here's John Wesler and Mike Carmen of 28 00:02:07.919 --> 00:02:14.719 Spokene. John and Mike thank you for joining the podcast today. And before 29 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:20.719 we get into the conversation on how to effectively utilize QR codes and video together 30 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:23.800 to make impressions within higher ed. I would like to know if one of 31 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:29.439 you could share something that you've learned this week that would either be interesting, 32 00:02:29.560 --> 00:02:34.439 unique, or surprising to you. Yeah, thank you both for inviting us 33 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:37.120 to be on the podcast. It's great to be here and to be with 34 00:02:37.159 --> 00:02:39.800 you all today. The thing that I learned most recently, I was at 35 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:45.639 a an event up in Madison, Wisconsin on the university campus and it was 36 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:50.360 a pitch review from a an accelerator. They're called Generator and one of their 37 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:54.280 portfolio companies is involved in producing a new form of grain called Karnsa and it 38 00:02:54.400 --> 00:03:00.120 is this intermediate wheat grasp product that has a lot of tributes that people are 39 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:05.560 getting excited about as a as a perennial grain. So here in the Heartland, 40 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:08.639 those sorts of things are important to us and I was I was happy 41 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:13.280 to learn about it. We also learned something today, so thank you. 42 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:19.280 We're excited to have you and that both of you have a product called Spoke 43 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:23.479 note I guess that's the company and you'll explain the product. But what intrigued 44 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:30.000 Barton I is how you're able to combine video and QR codes and make the 45 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:36.479 experiences for your customer, enabling them to better connect, better make first, 46 00:03:36.599 --> 00:03:40.759 second, and third impressions with the people with whom they're sending correspondence to. 47 00:03:42.199 --> 00:03:46.159 Before we get into the nuts and bolts, John, if you would tell 48 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:52.520 everyone about spoke note and a little bit how it combines video and QR codes 49 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:58.000 together for excellent customer experience. Thank you, Troy. What we do is 50 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:00.759 spokenote is we give you the ability to add video to anything. The way 51 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:05.039 it works is you scan our code, you record or upload a video, 52 00:04:05.159 --> 00:04:09.800 and then wherever you put that sticker or the code, your video plays. 53 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:14.800 So we are the utility for the creation and sharing of ad hoc video at 54 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:15.720 the end of the day, and we do it right now with these little 55 00:04:15.720 --> 00:04:19.399 stickers. That's pretty exciting. And I know that when I first saw it 56 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:24.040 on LinkedIn and I recognized you guys as behind it, I knew that it 57 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:26.639 was going to be pretty exciting because I know some of the back story of 58 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:29.199 you guys, and we might get into that, we might not, but 59 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:31.040 I think that one of the one of the cool things that I just want 60 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:34.079 to kind of tease out with both of you is the idea that, you 61 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:38.600 know, I think that two thousand nineteen, I was still kind of telling 62 00:04:38.600 --> 00:04:41.000 people, hey, you ought to you ought to do some things with QR 63 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:44.439 codes, and and and I was seeing my kids use them at school and 64 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:46.279 and do some things with that. And I kept getting people like, well, 65 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:49.600 isn't that so two thousand ten? I mean, that's kind of come 66 00:04:49.639 --> 00:04:53.279 and gone, what's the deal? Who cares? And then we had the 67 00:04:53.279 --> 00:04:56.279 pandemic, and all of a sudden, every restaurant in the world's using them. 68 00:04:56.279 --> 00:04:59.240 So tell me a little bit about the backstory of of QR codes and 69 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:02.519 and that research. It's funny that you mentioned that, Bart, because you 70 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:05.920 know, I have often called, or since the pandemic, really called the 71 00:05:06.040 --> 00:05:11.279 QR code the comeback technology of the pandemic. Right it was. It was 72 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:15.560 it was on its way to just a slow and steady decline, and all 73 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:21.360 of a sudden, we needed a mechanism for contactless sharing of information, links 74 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:27.560 to websites, menus, et cetera. And uh, you know, surprisingly, 75 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:30.519 the QR code has not really been around that long in terms of technology 76 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:35.079 per se. I think it was a mid nineties, uh invention of a 77 00:05:35.079 --> 00:05:41.000 company in the automotive industry, and it was a way to locate, uh 78 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:45.600 something or get a quick link out to another piece of data. And so 79 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:47.279 you know, it kind of run its course, and I think when you 80 00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:50.839 look at where we were over the last couple of years with menus, you 81 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:54.759 know, then we started getting into some special offers and ways to kind of 82 00:05:54.759 --> 00:06:00.120 connect with consumers. We're all now pretty comfortable pulling our camera out, you 83 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:03.079 know, our smartphone and scanning a code, and so you know, that 84 00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:09.720 is unquestionably one of the drivers I think of the adoption of SPOKENOE. When 85 00:06:09.720 --> 00:06:15.199 you look at the ability to scan our code and without an app a download 86 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:19.480 or registration record or link a video to that sticker, that's a truly unique 87 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:25.879 value proposition, And the comfort of the general public with the QR code is 88 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:30.959 really that big driver. It's always had this unique ability to kind of bridge 89 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:35.920 physical space and digital space. But I do think that that awareness of the 90 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:40.879 and the availability of the scanning technology on the phone. You used to have 91 00:06:40.959 --> 00:06:44.360 to have you just have to load a QR reader onto your phone, and 92 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:46.560 now it's just embedded within most of the cameras, at least in the new 93 00:06:46.600 --> 00:06:51.920 models. So you know, it's It is kind of that comeback technology because 94 00:06:53.040 --> 00:06:57.199 of the awareness of it, the availability of it, and people starting to 95 00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:01.560 see these interesting and important connections between physical and digital space. You think about 96 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:05.160 it too. You know, my wife and I watch a Hulu episode every 97 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:09.160 evening. They all have QR codes now, and you know, you're supposed 98 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.199 to be sitting there you either you know, use your row code remote and 99 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:14.759 click on it, or you can scan it. I know the big Super 100 00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:16.800 Bowl ad this year with with the QR code, and you know, a 101 00:07:16.839 --> 00:07:20.639 lot of things have come back, and so I mean basically we've got this 102 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:26.600 perfect opportunity that's come up. So tell us about you know, with this 103 00:07:27.079 --> 00:07:30.319 you know, technology comeback, with the change, with the importance of personalization, 104 00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:36.279 with video, tell us a bit about how Spoken got started. Yeah, 105 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:40.600 it's uh, it's an interesting story. A friend of mine had a 106 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:45.319 brother that was serving overseas in the military, and and he used to send 107 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:49.199 care packages to his brother, and and my friend wanted the ability to somehow 108 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:54.160 get a video in that box. And he had always had this desire to 109 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:57.439 be able to show his brother what was going on at home, or share 110 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:01.079 a story, or make some kind of connection that would be meaningful. And 111 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:05.240 so he really came up with this idea six or seven years ago, and 112 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:09.519 he was thinking, I wish I could get a QR code but then link 113 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:11.279 it to a video so that when he got the box on the other side, 114 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:15.399 he could open it and scan it and and I could share a story 115 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:18.759 with him. And for years he sat on that idea. And if if 116 00:08:18.759 --> 00:08:24.839 you rewind the clock from today back to kind of spring of of twenty one, 117 00:08:24.519 --> 00:08:28.199 he and I were at coffee and we're talking about life and where we 118 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:33.440 are and startups and just in general. And my buddy said, you know, 119 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:37.600 I've had this one idea and I've always wanted somebody just to run with 120 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:39.399 it because I'm never gonna do it. I don't know how to do it. 121 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.480 And he explained this concept for the code and the video, and I 122 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:46.759 thought, first of all, I'm really surprised that doesn't exist. Let me 123 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:50.679 look into it and and and I got back to him over the weekend and 124 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:54.360 I said, surprisingly, there's nothing out there. I cannot find anything that 125 00:08:54.440 --> 00:09:01.519 does what you're saying. Do you want me to invent one? And seriously, 126 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:05.399 over the weekend, I used some some components and a little bit of 127 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:09.279 hacking, and and that's kind of what I do. I'm kind of like 128 00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:13.879 the mcdiver of some early tech where I can rubber band and a and a 129 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:18.559 piece of bailing wire and and some bubblegum and make something happen. And so 130 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:26.519 I built a demonstration example of scanning a code on an independent little sticker that 131 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:30.159 you could then link to a video, and and I proved how this would 132 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:33.159 work. And I started showing that to people, including my buddy, and 133 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:37.799 everybody was just amazed with it and like, this is really a cool idea. 134 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:41.440 And so we socialized it a little bit further, and my buddy and 135 00:09:41.480 --> 00:09:45.840 I made a handshake deal and we said, all right, I'm if you 136 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:48.759 want me to all do this. I'm not in the business of taking anyone's 137 00:09:48.799 --> 00:09:50.440 idea, but if you want me to take this and run with it, 138 00:09:50.519 --> 00:09:54.240 I will, and actually made him a part of the team. So he's 139 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:58.759 he consults with us a little bit, and he's a shareholder in the enterprise. 140 00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:01.480 But that is how it got started. And it's further proof that every 141 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:05.080 one of us have great ideas for businesses, right, all of us. 142 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:11.919 But it really boils down to somebody taking an action and and I'm the one 143 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:16.120 that took the kind of the impetus to move forward and kind of start this 144 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:20.200 thing. And then we've attracted an amazing team, including Mike and others, 145 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:22.200 and you know, we're now building a company a year and a half year. 146 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:26.279 A year and a half later. I remember when Bart first came to 147 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:33.360 me with spoke Note, and our initial conversation was how it really gets people's 148 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:39.480 attention, and then immediately went to what types of applications this could have within 149 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:45.279 higher ED because one of the challenges that high ED marketers have is getting gen 150 00:10:45.480 --> 00:10:48.840 Z's attention. So Mike would like to know, either from experience or from 151 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:54.840 ideas that you have, of how spoken Note can be be implemented within the 152 00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:03.799 higher ED marketing space. I am unbelievably excited about the all sorts of applications 153 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:11.279 of Spokenoe within the higher ED UM experience. UM. There are a few 154 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:16.080 stories that I can share, UM. You know one right now, we 155 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:22.159 have a campus in uh in Indiana using the product as part of the admissions 156 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:30.320 process, and they're using student ambassadors UM to record a message to an incoming 157 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:33.720 student to give them some tips or you know, help build up build a 158 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:37.879 bridge as they make this important transition in their life. UM, I've seen 159 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:43.480 spokenoes. There was a hilarious example the other day. One of our customers, 160 00:11:43.799 --> 00:11:48.480 UM, he's a parent and his daughter. He was outside of his 161 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:52.840 daughter's dorm rooms and he posted a spokenoe on the door, UM, insisting 162 00:11:52.879 --> 00:11:58.519 that there be no boys in the room. UM, which we'll share it. 163 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:00.960 We can share that or pop that in a think if anybody wants to 164 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.960 see it. But it was it was really clever. But you know, 165 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:07.000 on the flip side, you could also use those for folks to make introductions 166 00:12:07.039 --> 00:12:11.159 about themselves, you know. And and what I have UM seen and experienced 167 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:18.639 QR codes are gen z catinet. They are very very curious about what's behind 168 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:22.360 that, what's the prize behind that code, and they engage with it. 169 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:28.759 And when they get something on the other side that is personalized at them, 170 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:33.440 regardless of what type of impact you're trying to make, whether it's an expression 171 00:12:33.559 --> 00:12:39.639 or an instruction or whatever, there is absolutely that um, that magic moment, 172 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:46.080 and and they're ready to engage. Ring Digital is a digital marketing firm 173 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:50.080 that specializes in boosting lifting yield for higher education. They start with a list 174 00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:56.039 of your interested students and send specialized messages directly into the devices inside their homes, 175 00:12:56.679 --> 00:13:03.120 nurturing them through the entire stan's funnel. If you're looking to better maximize 176 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:07.679 your top of funnel list or increase you're accepted to deposit yield rings, cutting 177 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:13.360 edge technology makes digital marketing transparent and accurate. Not only can they put you 178 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:18.080 in front of your exact audience, but they also demonstrate who is responding. 179 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:22.120 In the end, they can prove a real rate of return on your AD 180 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:31.000 spend. Go to Ring That Digital and check out their case studies. I 181 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:33.799 think that's really cool and and I think that you both know. I think 182 00:13:33.799 --> 00:13:37.039 I've actually introduced you guys to Ethan Butte from bom Bomb, and we had 183 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:39.480 him on the show, you know last year talking about you know, the 184 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:46.559 humanization of of of communication and how you know, personalized videos and kind of 185 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:50.759 what you're just saying, they're the idea that there's something behind this QR code 186 00:13:50.759 --> 00:13:54.480 and if it's personalized for me, wow, all the better and and how 187 00:13:54.519 --> 00:13:58.759 exciting that is. And it makes me think about just as as the use 188 00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:01.559 of video and higher AD I'm seeing a lot more schools kind of leaning toward 189 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:07.639 that video email delivery with with bom bomb, or they might be doing it 190 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:09.399 on their own. I know that there's a president at West Texas A and 191 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:15.480 M Inside Higher Education had an article about him sent out third three thousand videos 192 00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:18.279 congratulating the acceptance of their students, and so, you know, I think 193 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:22.600 about the way higher it is starting to use video, but then also to 194 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:24.919 recognize the fact that, you know, being able to use QR codes and 195 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:28.480 then personalize it. You know, I imagine just like an admissions counselor being 196 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:33.080 able to send out a quick, you know, birthday card and you know, 197 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:35.279 do something with a with a spoke note on that card just to kind 198 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:39.440 of get it out the door and and communicate in a personal way that it's 199 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:41.919 different than you know, maybe three other schools are sending out the same birthday 200 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:46.440 card, but this one had his personal video from the person. I just 201 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:50.279 think that's really an incredible way to go with that. And I'm guessing you 202 00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:54.519 guys are seeing those kind of applications and even more with some of your customers 203 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:58.120 and the folks you're talking to. One one thing, Bart, You're right, 204 00:14:58.200 --> 00:15:05.279 one thing we did see that I thought was really an amozing application high 205 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:09.960 school here in Indiana that was using our spoke note stickers to recognize and honor 206 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:16.799 their student of the month. And each teacher in the high school sent a 207 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:20.679 postcard home recognizing the student of the month. And and the thing that was 208 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:24.840 different about it is that, you know, our daughter has been student of 209 00:15:24.879 --> 00:15:28.279 the month before, and it's a great honor and it's it's really cool to 210 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:33.039 see. But when that happened, we we got a letter from the school 211 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:37.240 on their letter head that was signed by the principle amazing honor, right, 212 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:39.639 and that stayed on the fridge for you know, probably a few weeks, 213 00:15:39.639 --> 00:15:45.080 maybe a month. We celebrated it as it should be. But what I 214 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:50.399 saw these other students received with a personalized video from their teacher was a a 215 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:56.360 very heartfelt message about why that student was the student of the month and how 216 00:15:56.440 --> 00:16:02.320 their compassion for others or they're in ventiveness or their creativity, and they're looking 217 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:07.200 right in the camera, and I was putting myself in the in this chair 218 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:11.679 of the recipient parent and thinking how cool must that be to hear that heartfelt? 219 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:17.720 Uh, Like we had one French teacher that that did the the entire 220 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:21.759 thing in French and I was like, I don't know what she's saying, 221 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:26.919 but it's really cool and she really means it. And so the point there, 222 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:29.759 I think it's long form way of saying that, you know, if 223 00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:32.159 a picture is worth a thousand words, I don't know what a video is 224 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:36.200 worth, but it there's some real heartfelt connection that can be made. And 225 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:40.679 there it transcends the written word or you know, a tax or an email 226 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:44.159 to be able to say something in video to someone and and that to me 227 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:48.080 is really powerful. It reminds me of the of the past that I think, 228 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:49.000 you know, as a gen x er, you know, and I 229 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:52.759 think that you know, we all have different experiences, but I still have 230 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:56.600 a few either notes or letters of you know, of significance to me in 231 00:16:56.639 --> 00:17:00.639 my life, whether it was a high school teacher wrote me a note or 232 00:17:00.039 --> 00:17:04.640 you know, someone else. This is kind of the currency of this generation. 233 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:07.839 I mean, it's it's that same, that same idea. I mean, 234 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:12.079 they don't get mail, they don't get letters, nobody sends letters anymore. 235 00:17:12.119 --> 00:17:15.160 It's all electronic. But this is a way to kind of have that 236 00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:18.240 same momento, to be able to kind of stick, you know, keep 237 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:22.319 keeping their keepstake box to build on what you just said, Bart, I 238 00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:26.519 mean it also helps, you know, folks who are competing for students to 239 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:30.160 get outside of the main stream, to get outside of that flow and have 240 00:17:30.440 --> 00:17:34.160 a differentiated moment um. You know that that is outside of that. But 241 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:38.920 with respect to video, um, you know, we have to recognize and 242 00:17:40.240 --> 00:17:42.119 that that this is the way of life, This is the way content is 243 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:48.599 both created and consumed, especially for this generation. And so you know, 244 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:52.680 having a platform that does that, that hits them with the type of content 245 00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:59.000 that they're most likely to enjoy, but getting it into a different stream of 246 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:04.279 communication has the opportunity to have that breakthrough moment where you're you're just trying to 247 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:11.319 get someone's attention. And ultimately, as I've been thinking about and building Spokenotes 248 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:15.519 brand, you know, what we really do is we solve the problem of 249 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:19.200 attention. It's the currency of this generation. I mean, you think about 250 00:18:19.240 --> 00:18:22.559 TikTok. More people go to TikTok than they do to Google, which just 251 00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:26.400 blows my mind and I can't get over that. But that that tells you 252 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:33.599 how important video is. And I saw a Pew Research UM study that came 253 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:37.519 out last week about higher ed and they were talking about the students and the 254 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:41.160 social media channels that they use, and they obviously were tracking TikTok and Instagram, 255 00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:45.359 you know, sixty. But the outlier that they didn't talk about was 256 00:18:47.440 --> 00:18:51.519 YouTube. I think people don't think about YouTube being a social media channel. 257 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:53.440 They don't think about it. They just think it's it's like the utility, 258 00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:57.759 it's like water. And I think that that right there, that of gen 259 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:00.759 z s use YouTube. That's the way they learn, that's the way they 260 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:04.079 go and research, the way they do different things. As we think about 261 00:19:04.079 --> 00:19:07.799 that, tell me a little bit about what does this roadmap look like. 262 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:10.279 I mean, we talked a little bit about Okay, you admissions counselor is 263 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:12.880 gonna put a sticker on a birthday card, or maybe the the the advancement 264 00:19:12.920 --> 00:19:18.039 officer is going to drop something with a major donor. Uh, there's a 265 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:21.359 lot of applications in that. But when we start looking at it from a 266 00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:25.240 you know, when I'm talking about an institution that has you know, ten 267 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:29.000 fifty students, you know, maybe even a lot more than that, as 268 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:33.559 far as you know applicants and accepted students, how does that start to scale 269 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:37.799 for for you guys? As you start looking at the roadmap for spokenote. 270 00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:42.079 It's really exciting for us because, as I mentioned at the beginning of our 271 00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:48.160 discussion, our focus is becoming the utility for the creation and sharing of ad 272 00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:53.359 hoc video. So the infrastructure that we are building is really agnostic as to 273 00:19:53.359 --> 00:19:56.640 where that code goes, whether it's on a sticker, whether it's on a 274 00:19:56.680 --> 00:20:02.680 sticky note, whether it's digit produced and then set somewhere else and printed, 275 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:07.880 or whether it's purely digital asset you know from the outset and always stays that 276 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:14.119 way. And so we are looking at ways to enable organizations to to do 277 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:17.759 this and do it at scale. Uh, some of it I'd file away 278 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:21.799 under trade secrets and some of the special sauce that we're trying to build. 279 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:26.519 But I guess the confidence that I'd like to engender with any listener or someone 280 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:32.160 thinking about spokenote is that it transcends the sticker. It's well beyond just the 281 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:37.319 sticker. That's our first entry point in helping people understand how you create and 282 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:41.480 share video. So our our next product actually that we're launching is a card. 283 00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:45.240 Think of it as a high end stationary item, and so you would 284 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:49.720 have a card with your branding on it your institution, your university, your 285 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:55.839 brand, your club, your team, and and then our code is on 286 00:20:55.920 --> 00:21:00.599 that card printed and it's it's stationary grade, uh, really premium feel that 287 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:06.480 gives you the ability to kind of combine a written note with activation of a 288 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:10.319 video. That's kind of that's the next step in the progression. And we're 289 00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:15.039 actually beginning to launch that now with some of our early customers. And we 290 00:21:15.160 --> 00:21:18.920 kind of launched it earlier than we expected because we do thank you notes to 291 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:22.880 all of our customers and of course they have spoke notes in them and build 292 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:26.599 into them. And our customers would get our stickers and they say the stickers 293 00:21:26.599 --> 00:21:29.720 are awesome, I want to buy more, but how do I get these 294 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:34.680 cards? And so we very quickly are you know, being quite entrepreneurial as 295 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:38.599 a core value of the company. Um, we listened to the marketplace that 296 00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:41.440 we said, you know what, we'll get back to you, and we 297 00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:45.599 got back to those people and they actually bought our cards. And so we're 298 00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:49.559 starting to introduce new products and other products that will use the Spokene engine that 299 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:55.079 will power that creation and sharing a video. And there's a whole lot more 300 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:56.359 to come in that space, so we're spending a lot of time on the 301 00:21:56.440 --> 00:22:00.680 roadmap. I will tell you that I just see it as being a really 302 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:04.559 really powerful UM tool and and there's sort of like that. And one more 303 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:10.960 thing about this that I'm excited about, which is, you know, how 304 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:15.079 often do you get to use a product that the intended recipient will look at 305 00:22:15.079 --> 00:22:18.799 it and be like, well, I want to use that product. You 306 00:22:18.839 --> 00:22:21.920 know, I've got ideas for this. I can make use of this. 307 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:25.960 You know, this is this is aimed really at me. And there's that 308 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:30.359 that personal relevance UM that I think is really special and really rare and and 309 00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:33.920 really something that I'm super excited about, you know, having spoke not as 310 00:22:33.960 --> 00:22:37.759 part of or within higher ed. Yeah, I agree with you on that, 311 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:41.400 Mike, And that's I think that's what got me so excited when I 312 00:22:41.400 --> 00:22:44.880 first saw it. I mean, I all of a sudden my head exploded 313 00:22:44.920 --> 00:22:47.640 with youth case ideas. And I think that the day that I saw it, 314 00:22:47.640 --> 00:22:49.960 I wrote a LinkedIn post with you know, a bunch of ideas, 315 00:22:49.960 --> 00:22:52.200 and I've I've put it in a couple of newsletters, and I know that 316 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:56.480 the three of us had coffee with the with the fourth individual, just who 317 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:00.480 was also in education, and just I think we spent the whole our coming 318 00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:03.519 up with ideas of of how this could really apply to us to hire ED. 319 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:07.279 And so I love the fact that you guys not only are doing something 320 00:23:07.319 --> 00:23:12.000 creative and innovative, but you also are coming with the ideas for how it 321 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:15.640 can work for higher ED and actually making it work. And I appreciate that. 322 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:19.000 So that's been great, Mike and John. Before we move on, 323 00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:23.599 I also want to let you know another reason Bart and I were so excited 324 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:30.400 about spoken Note is that we both realized that gen Z is very used to 325 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:36.440 being communicated to in a customized way, and you're providing college, universities and 326 00:23:36.559 --> 00:23:42.039 really anyone to be able to communicate either one on one to the masses, 327 00:23:42.200 --> 00:23:48.519 but in a unique and very customized way through video via QR code, and 328 00:23:49.039 --> 00:23:56.720 uh, we want we just want to help spread the word. Well, 329 00:23:56.759 --> 00:24:00.640 and we've heard it called actually kind of the Dickey note, uh to the 330 00:24:00.680 --> 00:24:06.680 TikTok generation. You know, so this is the again you get into kind 331 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:11.519 of hey, and oh, by the way, quick message, a really 332 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:17.519 quick serve video message, and it seems very kind of relatable to to that 333 00:24:17.599 --> 00:24:22.240 audience and that generation that you just scan this really quickly, you smile and 334 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:26.720 share and there you go, and they're very very prone to consuming uh this 335 00:24:26.759 --> 00:24:30.960 type of message. Well, we're happy to be able to spread the word 336 00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:33.359 before we move on, Mike, did I interrupt you on a point you 337 00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:38.720 were making? Well, I was just um excited to share that. You 338 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:45.079 know, we we feel very confident that that engagement will take place. And 339 00:24:45.119 --> 00:24:49.079 then you know what you have done by um not only getting the attention, 340 00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:53.400 having the code scanned, having that personalized video experience. You know, there 341 00:24:53.400 --> 00:25:00.839 are then follow on experiences that we're starting to make available based on whatever objective 342 00:25:00.920 --> 00:25:03.279 is that that marketing group is trying to achieve, whether it's a sign up 343 00:25:03.319 --> 00:25:07.880 or an application or um you know, attending an event or something along those 344 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:15.200 lines. So you know you can um it does nest nicely into all sorts 345 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:19.440 of different campaigns inside that prospect funnel. Thank you. Yeah. So that 346 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:25.000 that custom, that custom call to action is a really really big thing that 347 00:25:25.079 --> 00:25:29.440 people have been asking for. So if if I'm on video talking to you 348 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:36.440 about a great program or a special event or donations we're trying to fundraise for 349 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:41.720 a particular organization or even broad university outreach. You can have a call to 350 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:45.839 action at the end of the video, which would be a donate now button. 351 00:25:45.400 --> 00:25:49.319 And that's something that we are seeing getting tremendous traction, and we've had 352 00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:55.400 a lot of interest from from the higher ed world. Thank you, John, 353 00:25:55.640 --> 00:26:00.079 And with that, that was an excellent segue. We love leaving our 354 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:06.400 episodes or closing our episodes by asking the question of our guests, is there 355 00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:12.240 some piece of advice that our listeners can receive that could be implemented right away 356 00:26:12.279 --> 00:26:15.799 that you would give to both of you? And I guess I'll start with 357 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:19.200 John. If there is a piece of advice please let us know, or 358 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:23.480 maybe something we didn't touch on during the episode that you want to make sure 359 00:26:23.519 --> 00:26:30.200 to include. Yeah, I would first of all, I love I love 360 00:26:30.240 --> 00:26:34.240 the idea that give actionable, quick, quick hit opportunities to everyone to learn 361 00:26:34.319 --> 00:26:38.960 something. I learned something here about my new brain. Um. But I 362 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:45.119 would say, you know, in our perpetual research of QR codes and and 363 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.640 you know, looking into just ways you can use them, I actually did 364 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:52.680 uncover, uh, something that I thought I remembered seeing before, but I 365 00:26:52.680 --> 00:26:56.599 still haven't seen it really in widespread use, So I'll throw this one out. 366 00:26:57.079 --> 00:27:03.599 You can actually configure a QR code to enable log on to a WiFi 367 00:27:03.640 --> 00:27:08.680 network. So what that does is eliminates the signs that are everywhere. Typing 368 00:27:08.759 --> 00:27:17.279 in a password that's upper case W, lower case jtilt, the dollar sign, 369 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:19.720 comma, all these like. You know how hard it is. Anytime 370 00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:23.079 you visit someplace and you want to get on the WiFi, you can actually 371 00:27:23.119 --> 00:27:29.279 configure a QR code to do that. And so it's a simple single scan. 372 00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:33.279 It drops the WiFi on your phone and there you don't thank you, 373 00:27:33.640 --> 00:27:38.160 John, That is awesome. And when we have an opportunity to have people 374 00:27:38.359 --> 00:27:41.559 or for you to give people your contact information, I'm sure you will get 375 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:45.640 questions about that, Mike before we go, do you have anything you would 376 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:49.920 like to offer? Yeah, Well, first, thank you both for having 377 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:53.400 us on um This has been a real treat. I'm going to be slightly 378 00:27:53.400 --> 00:28:00.759 more self serving as the person responsible for marketing spokenoe um Bart. You have 379 00:28:00.839 --> 00:28:03.920 a piece of communication that you send out to your audience of low cost things 380 00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:07.559 you can test. Right here are things you can see and try and do. 381 00:28:08.119 --> 00:28:11.720 And I just think that spoke note is a perfect example of that, 382 00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:15.799 right, you can buy start with a pack of ten for ten dollars and 383 00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:18.599 buy him on spoke note dot com. And maybe you can take a student 384 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:23.000 inside your funnel and and send him a personalized note and see what the impact 385 00:28:23.079 --> 00:28:29.000 is. UM. This is eminently testable and triable and doable, and UM 386 00:28:29.039 --> 00:28:33.119 I think that's what makes it UM such a powerful product. Yeah, thank 387 00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:37.920 you, Mike. While we have everyone's attention, would like to give both 388 00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:41.799 of you the opportunity to share your contact information in case any of our listeners 389 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:48.200 would like to reach out to connect Mike if you would please sure anyone can 390 00:28:48.200 --> 00:28:56.119 reach me at Mike at spokenote dot com. And Troy Bart, thank you 391 00:28:56.200 --> 00:29:00.559 very much for having us on. John Wexler's my name lad seem a spell 392 00:29:00.759 --> 00:29:03.799 W E C H S S and Sam L E. R. And I 393 00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:08.079 am John at spokenote dot com. Thank you both, and it's a pleasure 394 00:29:08.079 --> 00:29:11.519 of having you on. And actually Bart and I were excited because we feel 395 00:29:11.640 --> 00:29:18.599 this is something that is very usable for our hired marketing listeners that they can't 396 00:29:18.599 --> 00:29:22.200 implement right away. Bart, do you have any final thoughts you'd like to 397 00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:26.119 share before we end the episode? Once again, thanks guys for being on. 398 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:29.000 It's been a pleasure and an honor to kind of get reconnected with you 399 00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:30.880 guys. I've I've I've been honored to know you for so long and really 400 00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:33.920 respected what you've done over the years, and so thanks. I guess a 401 00:29:33.920 --> 00:29:37.799 couple of things that I would leave my audience with as we kind of wrap 402 00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:40.720 up the show and think about things. I really liked what Mike said there 403 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:44.000 at the end. Um, you know, go on spokenoe dot com and 404 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:45.839 and grab a grab a pack just so that you can try it out. 405 00:29:45.880 --> 00:29:48.680 I mean, you can even pick the color that's closest to your school colors. 406 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:52.079 I mean, they've got to think about six or seven different colors that 407 00:29:52.079 --> 00:29:55.400 you can choose from, try them out and and kind of get a feel 408 00:29:55.440 --> 00:29:57.160 for it and start to kind of experiment with yourself. I mean that's the 409 00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:00.640 way we all learn is experimenting a little bit. And I think that's, 410 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:03.920 you know, even more the case here. And then I think as you 411 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:07.039 as you do that, you know, provide them some feedback. I mean, 412 00:30:07.160 --> 00:30:08.640 you know, I think that these guys are open to that. I 413 00:30:08.680 --> 00:30:11.839 think that you guys are going to be in the trenches, whether you're an 414 00:30:11.839 --> 00:30:15.519 admissions counselor or whether you're vice president enrollment, when your presidents listening to this. 415 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:18.279 There's a lot of different ways that you can try those out and provide 416 00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:22.680 some feedback. And I think that as you start to do that, get 417 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:26.440 comfortable with with filming yourself and being on on video and being authentic on video. 418 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:29.680 I think that's one of the skills that we can all learn and and 419 00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:32.480 try to do a little bit better. And I think that's something that's gonna 420 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:34.440 give you some practice as you do that. And so a lot of great 421 00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:37.440 comments in this in this episode, you might even want to rewind and listen 422 00:30:37.480 --> 00:30:41.519 to some of them, um, But I think overall, I really want 423 00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:45.599 to encourage everyone to kind of lean into some of these new things. While 424 00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:48.720 you might say, well, it's not that big a deal for me to 425 00:30:48.119 --> 00:30:52.160 you know, click on a QR code and watch a video, it is 426 00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:56.319 for your perspective, students, and so we have to stop thinking like you 427 00:30:56.319 --> 00:30:59.559 know, you're the audience, because you're not. And so I I really 428 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:02.680 appreciate it again you guys being on the show. Um, we're gonna put 429 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:06.680 some notes in the in the podcast show. And then also Mike had referenced 430 00:31:06.680 --> 00:31:10.519 the what I'm calling the Friday Finds. Once a month, I send out 431 00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:14.200 kind of the you know, latest ideas that I'm finding for under five hundred 432 00:31:14.200 --> 00:31:18.079 bucks that could impact your enrollment or your advancement. This was in my inaugural 433 00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:21.559 issue. If you go to digest dot Keiler's dash solutions dot com, you'll 434 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:25.359 find all of my newsletters and you can sign up there. But those are 435 00:31:25.359 --> 00:31:29.039 gonna come out each month and you're gonna discover things like Spokenoe and bomb Bomb 436 00:31:29.079 --> 00:31:30.920 and other things that are gonna cost you that much but can make a big 437 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:33.960 impact in what you're doing. So guys, thanks again, Troy. It's 438 00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:37.799 been a pleasure having you with me as well, and so thanks guys, 439 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:44.319 Thank you all, Thank you. The High Rate Marketer podcast is sponsored by 440 00:31:44.359 --> 00:31:51.039 Kaylor Solutions and Education Marketing and Branding Agency. Thank you everyone for joining this 441 00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:57.160 week's episode. You've been listening to the Higher Ed Marketer. To ensure that 442 00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:00.920 you never miss an episode, subscrib ib to the show in your favorite podcast 443 00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:06.279 player. If you're listening with Apple Podcasts, we'd love for you to leave 444 00:32:06.279 --> 00:32:08.799 a quick rating of the show. Simply tap the number of stars you think 445 00:32:08.839 --> 00:32:12.440 the podcast deserves until next time.