Justin Shaw

Chief Higher Education Consultant (Communications Management) and UK Development Director ExpertFile

  • London

Specialist in higher education, communications, reputation and marketing of academic experts

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Biography

Justin Shaw is a former journalist and head of public relations working mainly in the education sector. After graduating from the University of Leeds with a degree in Public Media and English, he worked for several UK newspapers as a crime reporter, chief news correspondent and news editor. He joined the University of Hertfordshire to head up their news and media operation and subsequently launched a public relations practice specialising in education. He is an authority on universities and how they promote themselves and on how universities communicate internally and externally. He runs his own global consultancy for higher education (Communications Management) as well as leading ExpertFile's UK and Ireland business development operation. He regularly speaks at conferences on issues of reputation, marketing and branding - including three sessions at the CASE Europe Conference 2019. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (awarded in 2012 for services to the education sector) and won the UK Reporter of the Year Award for new journalists in 1988.

Spotlight

4 min

Expertise Marketing and Content Marketing - Is There a Difference?

We often get asked the question about how Content Marketing compares to Expertise Marketing. It’s ironic that still to this day many of our academic clients don’t refer to what they do as “content marketing.” But corporate customers are well acquainted with the importance of developing content to build reputation, relationships and revenue. Adding to the confusion are all the names that are bantered about by marketing departments and agencies There’s inbound marketing popularized by companies such as Hubspot. And there are more bespoke “Thought Leadership” programs that are often developed by outside agencies such as Weber Shandwick and Edelman. While there are a lot of common elements to these programs there are some important differences that we focus on when developing and launching Expertise Marketing programs with our institutional and corporate clients. Here’s a deeper dive to help you better understand the value of Expertise Marketing. Introducing Expertise Marketing Expertise marketing is the practice of making the knowledge and skills of your human resources more visible to your partners and audiences. It draws attention to the value that your people can bring as brand ambassadors and strategically leverages the work your experts are doing to tell a more personal story. In many cases, expertise marketing can also be used to showcase your strengths in research and innovation. Creating a stronger digital presence, expertise marketing more effectively uses your channels to connect with audiences such as media, customers, partners and donors. It builds a sense of trust with your customers and above all else, it helps establish your reputation as an industry leader. ex•per•tise mar•ket•ing 1. The practice of collectively promoting an organization’s experts as brand ambassadors to demonstrate their skills or knowledge. 2. Best practices to publish and connect The Value of Expertise Marketing Reputation Positions research, client work, thought leadership perspectives and achievements in the context of relevant topics that are in the news. Market Awareness Expertise marketing makes it easier for key audiences to find expert content and people in search engines and on the organization’s website. Audience Engagement Provides more intuitive search features for visible content which can be expanded to include assets such as video, social, and publications to drive richer conversations with audiences. Metrics on performance in areas related to expert development, content contribution and audience engagement page views and inquiries can be tracked. Demand Generation Increased number of direct leads/ inquiries from audiences such as: Customers/Students Industry Partners Alumni Donors Media New Employee Recruits Conference Organizers Talent Better engage stakeholders, researchers & subject-matter experts in the development and distribution of content while improving recruitment and retention of talent. Internal Collaboration Better coordinate the knowledge and resources across internal communications teams and other departments as they engage experts. Provide a faster, more efficient way to generate content for breaking news and events. Content Contribution Increase the size of the organization’s digital footprint by aggregating more content and distributing it contextually to multiple websites and third-party databases. Efficiency Help employees get their jobs done faster and more efficiently. Enable them to find information faster, speed up internal processes and foster collaboration among people in multiple locations. Leverage Current and Future Infrastructure Properly integrated, new technology investments should integrate seamlessly to leverage existing/proposed infrastructure such as content management systems (such as WordPress™) and marketing automation systems (such as Hubspot) How is Expertise Marketing Different from Content Marketing? A More Human Approach: People buy from people. That’s why content that is more personalized and attributed to specific experts who are well-identified as expert sources is far more trusted than most company-sponsored content. A More Collaborative Process that Engages Employees: A more structured “win-win” model empowers experts to contribute their knowledge. Expertise marketing is a proven way to build culture and celebrate diversity which assists with talent retention and recruitment. An Efficient Way to Create More Content to Boost SEO & Website Traffic: Engaging your experts creates a larger hub of “owned” content that is proven to boost PageRank in search engines and site traffic. Expert content is used by organizations to enhance their “About Us” page, staff/faculty/physician directories, newsroom pages, research pages and speakers bureaus. Optimized Content Formats Better Connect with Audiences: A variety of short format, long format and visual content formats (such as expert profiles, blogs, Q&A and videos) are designed to engage specific audiences at various stages of the customer journey. Improved Calls to Action & Analytics Boost Demand Generation & Leads/Inquiries: Experts become more approachable as “lead magnets” that generate measurable inbound opportunities, avoiding common issues of lost customer leads due to poor processes and workflow. You might be surprised at how much value expertise marketing can bring to your organisation. The chances are, that the time you are currently spending on ineffective content marketing strategies will be greatly reduced with a redefined focus on expertise marketing. By putting the focus back on the skills and relevance of your experts, as people, you're not only making them more visible but also establishing your brand reputation which will simultaneously generate more leads and increase efficiency.

Justin ShawPeter Evans

4 min

A Big Week in the Measurement of Expertise: How the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) Results Will Impact Universities

How should we measure faculty expertise? This week the UK provides its answer to this question via its highly significant and formal (government-directed) assessment of academic research which grades academic teams on a scale of 1to 4for their ability to deliver, share and create impact globally outstanding research. This process is known as the REF (the Research Excellence Framework) and the results will be publicly released this Thursday (12th May) with universities themselves finding out how they’ve performed in advance today (Monday 9th May). The process was last carried out 8 years ago and has been delayed by a year due to the pandemic. Why is the Research Excellence Framework (REF) Significant? The Research Excellence Framework steers the level of UK public funds allocated via research councils that will be invested in research for each academic department (or so-called “Unit of Assessment”) for the next few years. It is also a way of comparing performance against other universities that are offering similar research expertise, and of strengthening (or weakening) global research reputations. During the next three days, UK universities will be digging into the detail of their REF gradings and the accompanying feedback. There will be some very nervous university leaders and research heads delving into why this peer-assessed review of their research has not gone as well as they expected and why their percentages in each of the four grade areas have dropped or even been given the “unclassified” career-damaging stamp. How are the REF Scores for Universities Determined? The measurement process is based on three aspects: Quality of outputs (such as: publications, performances, and exhibitions), Impact beyond academia The environment that supports research The preparation, participation, and assessment process takes a massive amount of time, attention and energy. Last time (2014) there were 1,911 submissions to review. Research teams, designated REF leaders and senior staff will have spent long hours across many months preparing their submissions and making sure they are presenting hard evidence and the best case possible to meet the above criteria at the highest possible level. There are 34 subject areas that are covered in the latest REF and three tiers of expert panels (some with about 20 or more senior academics, international subject leaders, and research users) will have reviewed each submission and compared notes to come to decisions. How do these Key Categories within the REF Contribute to the Rating for a University? The Research Excellence Framework is actually an intensive and highly important approach to expert assessment. These are the key factors and their definitions (with the assigned weighting of each of the criteria in steering final grades): Outputs (60%): the quality of submitted research outputs in terms of their ‘originality, significance and rigour’, with reference to international research quality standards. This element will carry a weighting of 60 per cent in the overall outcome awarded to each submission. Impact (25%): the ‘reach and significance’ of impacts on the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life that were underpinned by excellent research conducted in the submitted unit. This element carries a weighting of 25 per cent. Environment (15%): the research environment in terms of its ‘vitality and sustainability’, including the approach to enabling impact from its research, and its contribution to the vitality and sustainability of the wider discipline or research base. This element accounts for 15 per cent. Taking a Closer Look at the Categories Are We Focusing Enough on Research Impact? In 2014 a formal review was carried out in order to improve and evolve the REF process which made a number of recommendations. Most notably the weighting for “impact” was increased by five percent, with “outputs” being reduced by the same percentage. This is certainly a recognition that the external contribution difference that research makes is more important but is it enough? Should there be greater emphasis on the return on investment from a beneficiaries and user experience perspective? Many argue that academic research should retain a strong element of ‘”blue sky” experimentation where outright evidence of impact may take several years (even decades) and so can’t demonstrate such immediate value. A particularly notable benefit of the timing of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect of this in REF deadlines has allowed the extended assessment period for ‘proof of impact’ from 1 August 2013 to 31 December 2020. This is an extension from the previous end date of 31 July 2020. The extension has been put in place to enable case studies affected by, or focusing on the response to, COVID-19 to be assessed in REF 2021. Going back to the original question: how should we measure faculty expertise? It will be interesting to monitor the views and responses of university leaders and faculty members at the end of this week as to whether they feel that standing back from it all this UK-centric method of measurement is the best that can be done, a neat compromise or isn’t really what we really need. For more information on the Research Excellence Framework visit www.ref.ac.uk/ Justin Shaw Justin is UK and Ireland Development Director for ExpertFile and Chief Higher Education Consultant at Communications Management. An authority on University strategy and communications, he has worked in and with leadership teams at UK universities for over 30 years. In his role he has advised universities on how to promote their expertise and on communications strategies related to the REF.

Justin Shaw

7 min

Expect More from Your Experts: How a “Faculty Audit” can help Universities more strategically engage their faculty members

With an estimated 1.5-million faculty in the US and a near 50,000 growth in UK-based academics in the last decade (to 225,000), universities and colleges have a whole range of interests and expertise on offer. In fact, despite rumours to the contrary, academia is a large and growing global ‘industry’. If you’re responsible for external relations, communications, marketing, civic engagement, knowledge exchange or any other aspect of external engagement or “connectedness” in a university or college then the ability to choose which faculty experts you selectively promote and publicise can be a very tough assignment. I’ve had first-hand experience with this. I was once in that very position trying to keep up with the opportunities and the expectations afforded by 800 academics at just the one mid-sized UK institution where I worked. With the benefit of that firsthand experience and having since worked with more than 100 higher education institutions in the UK, Europe and North America, here are a few observations and also a few tips on how to organize your expertise: Approach #1: The Focus on Expertise Clusters An approach taken by some universities nowadays is to promote their expertise as a group of “grand challenges” or “beacons of excellence” drawing together as many areas of research expertise under (usually) three or four headings. While identifying “token clusters” of expertise for focus and prioritisation may seem logical, this approach doesn’t really work. It may help with internal politics but it fails to generate enough precision to be relevant to various communities such as the media and industry. Approach #2: Selectively Promoting Key Experts One trap that universities can also fall into is to focus on a small group of academics who appear to be more suitable to promote. The reasoning for this approach is often driven by the need to have a manageable number for internal communications/press office staff to work with. The easy route to take is to just work with academics who are more keen to work with comms staff in promoting their work and who are already at ease in speaking to the media. Selection of experts on these factors, while important, isn’t the optimal way to build up the profile for the institution with key audiences. First off, this approach often doesn’t yield the diversity that audiences such as journalists and potential student and faculty recruits want to see represented. This approach will also miss the mark if it just plays to popular disciplines or hot topics. Being more inclusive to promote a wider range of disciplines and specialized topics is better value all round. Approach #3: The Faculty “Expertise Audit” I’ve seen institutions make many mistakes in positioning their faculty as experts, given it’s a proven way to differentiate brand, build profile and reputation. That’s why I’ve started to work with several universities on what I refer to as a “faculty expertise audit”. This brings a more structured process that helps prioritize key areas of research expertise and identify specialist experts. The audit also looks at the resources and overall capacity that universities have available to support an “expertise marketing” program that optimizes all these elements to significantly boost performance. Start with The Business Case for Expertise At the heart of this more structured, targeted audit approach is ensuring you are generating “return-on-investment” and “value-for-effort.” A good starting point is to ask: Where is the budget coming from? Where is current and expected demand for your programs? When starting this assessment, you have to think longer than a year out. Instead, look very hard and in detail at the next three to five years (the typical cycle of research investment and university strategies) and identify which expertise is most likely to solve the problems and consequential explorations that governments, industry, benefactors/donors, and funding agencies will want to support. I’m not saying that research areas without such sizable levels of predicted investment should be ignored far from it but we are in a competitive climate and universities now have to secure ‘orders’ (for applied and contracted expertise) that will ensure institutional sustainability and success. In turn, that success will allow investment in other areas that are socially vital but financially a weaker bet as regarded by funding sources. Having proven where research funding is most available, pressing and externally directed, then the audit is designed to identify and match the institution’s research talent to these requirements. These audits involve shortlisting, enlisting and then coaching the appropriate academic experts. The best results come from one-to-one sessions with academics which create buy-in and yield a more detailed marketing plan to leverage your experts. While more inclusive, this is an efficient process designed to create a “shared roadmap” for where the university and the academic both want to take their expertise. A large part of this roadmap then covers off other important activities such as creating a more discoverable and engaging online presence with enriched academic profiles that perform far better than the traditional “faculty directory.” Keeping online academic profiles fresh, content-rich, jargon-free, and compelling makes the job of expert ‘mining’ so much easier. Developing a sustained program of content with an organized lead generation process is also necessary. These extra steps are where many universities miss the mark. The result is a significant loss of inbound opportunities for research grants, consulting revenues, academic collaborations as well as local and global media coverage. I recently spoke with a Vice Chancellor of a prominent UK University who admitted that they as an institution deserved a failing grade when it came to promoting their faculty research achievements, saying that he “doubted any of their academics would be happy with the way their work was being promoted online.” This is an important aspect of the faculty audit. As a consultative process, it is non-threatening and we’re listening to staff and academics. That not only enriches the information the University has to promote its brand better, it also helps to enlist the support of the academic community who see that the university cares and that it is getting their input to put together a plan – both for the university and for individual academics. The academic is happy (they understand the value for them personally and for their institution); the University is happy (it is able to focus and prioritise its expertise in an evidence-based manner), and Communications and press office staff are happy (they have so more to work with in connecting the work of the University to a variety of local and global communities). The Benefits of A Faculty Audit Having completed many of these, I’ve seen very clearly, the results of a well run Faculty Audit process that without exception yield an excellent return on investment. Here are just some of the benefits to consider: Greater Insights: Gain a deeper understanding of the hidden strengths and opportunities within your academic ranks. Better Planning: A detailed report from a Faculty Audit enables a more strategic approach to planning where faculty research and expertise can support various programs within the University such as industry engagement, media coverage and recruitment. Building Trust: When conducted by a third-party, a Faculty Audit is seen as more credible and less prone to perceptions of internal bias. More Engaged Faculty: Increased collaboration with faculty is gained through a more consultative process that builds “shared awareness” and enables more proactive support of their research. Increased Capacity: Producing more proactive content with faculty yields better results in terms of media coverage, research engagements, etc. Demonstrate Diversity: A better understanding of expertise that goes beyond the “usual suspects” to engaging a more diverse set of faculty to promote the University. News Coverage: Positioning your faculty and their research in a more relevant way aligns with the interests of the outside world and what's on the mind of outsiders. Less Stress: A more proactive, well structured plan helps everyone to synchronise activities better versus scrambling too much to meet deadlines in the “here and now.” Is a Faculty Audit Right for Your Institution? Here are some key considerations when evaluating the value of a Faculty Audit for your institution. You are ideally suited to undertake a faculty expertise audit if: You have a stretched workload where there's little capacity for proactive comms. You're tending to turn to the same academics for expert commentary in the media or elsewhere. You tend to get complaints (or mild mutterings) about not supporting academics enough. You don't have time to get to know the range of academic experts in your institution especially new arrivals or eager early career academics. You've adopted an 'inside out approach' rather than one that engages with the interests of the outside world and what's on the mind of outsiders. There's weak management of expectations with the academic community and a need for clarity and shared pathways for publicity. You're operating too much in the here and now and don't have the time to plan for future events, milestones and opportunities. You want to be more strategic in your comms and engagement and make a real difference via attracting interest, income and investment. You don't have an integrated approach to comms (where content can be repurposed and recycled). You want more global reach and presence and can exploit digital tools to enable this. Additional Resources Academic Experts and the Media (PDF) This report, based on detailed interviews with some of the most media-experienced academics across the UK and United States draws on their experiences to identify lessons they can share in encouraging other academics to follow in their path. Download the UK Report Here Download the US Report Here The Complete Guide to Expertise Marketing for Higher Education (PDF) Expertise Marketing is the next evolution of content marketing. Build value by mobilizing the hidden people, knowledge and content you already have at your fingertips. This win-win solution not only gives audiences better quality content, but it also lets higher ed organizations show off their smarts. Download Your Copy Click Here for Additional Resources

Justin Shaw

Accomplishments

Chartered Institute of Public Relations - Fellowship

Justin is one of only 300 Fellows of the CIPR, the UK industry body for public relations. He was awarded the Fellowship in 2012 for services to the education sector (having worked with 300+ global education clients) and for establishing an annual Education Journalist Awards.

EMAP Reporter of the Year

Justin was awarded the Reporter of the Year Award in 1988 as a trainee reporter in the Hertfordshire Gazette and Express group of newspaper. His investigative features covered a wide range of issues related to national trends affecting the local community. This award was presented by the EMAP Group (one of the largest media owners in the UK).

Education

University of Leeds

BA

Public Media and English

1987

Justi studied journalism as a main part of his degree and won the John Newsome Prize for studies in media in 1987.

Articles

University strategies, how are they created?

University Business

Justin shaw

2017-03-30

Sitting at my desk just now, I’ve just been ‘googling’ what comes up when you search for “universities” and “strategies” ... and I was amazed to see just how many of our universities are launching new long-term strategies this year.

In such a time of turbulence and structural change (post-Brexit impacts, HE Bill with TEF, demographic changes affecting undergraduate applications, demands for school involvement and delivering apprenticeships) it certainly is a period for deep reflection, analysis and for reviewing and refining trajectories.

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What MPs think about universities

Wonkhi

Justin Shaw

2015-03-30

It’s now just a few weeks to go until the General Election – and with this in mind I set out (with the help of Ipsos MORI) to find out just what our current MPs think about the state of our education system and the big policy issues relevant to universities.

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Investing in HE marketing

University Business

Justin Shaw

2014-05-26

Big changes are afoot in UK universities. A growing student population with modern day expectations (not least because they are paying heavily for the experience), a dramatic rise in the number of institutions, and strong demand for a range of university ‘services’ all mean a shift in culture. Universities UK this month reported a 24% increase in output from our universities (now amounting to £73bn a year).

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Event Appearances

Expertise Marketing - How Academics Become Experts

CASE Europe Conference 2019  Birmingham, UK

2019-08-28

Global Practice in Student Communications

CASE Europe Conference 2019  Birmingham, UK

2019-08-28

Coping in Crisis - Crisis Communications Workshop

CASE Europe Conference 2019  Birmingham, UK

2019-08-27

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Answers

How many UK academics work with the media?
Justin Shaw

Approximately 23% of academics have been interviewed by a journalist and 18% have been interviewed on the radio. This equates to about 49,000 out of 220,000 UK academics having some form of media interview opportunities. This is based on analysis from the Welcome Trust. See: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/why-arent-there-more-academic-experts-in-the-media/

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What are the most common ways for academics to engage with the public?
Justin Shaw

Social media, public lectures, writing public articles, talking to policy-makers and working with schools are the most common ways in which academics connect with public audiences.

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What are the organisations that help universities to engage externally?
Justin Shaw

The UK has several organisations helping universities and academic to connect with external usersof their expertise. These include: National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement; National Centre for Universities and Business; Institute of Student Employers; Open Innovation Unit of the Cabinet Office; CASE Europe; the Science Media Centre; the Education Media Centre.See: https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/See: https://www.ncub.co.uk/See: https://ise.org.uk/See: https://openinnovation.blog.gov.uk/See: https://www.case.org/regions/europeSee: https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/See: https://educationmediacentre.org/

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