Social media is the buzzword of the marketing industry; it’s the essential solution to all marketing problems. It is cheap, quick and almost saturated in certain age groups.
However, social marketing is more than just setting up a Facebook account. It involves the science and art of communicating your message through this online environment. Your social authority is key to your ability to influence the opinions of potential students, current students, alumni, and others in this online community. Effective social media marketing campaigns are dependent on trust that the market places in your messenger.
It should not be surprising. This trust process is what we use as admissions professionals when we visit high school, talk to college counselors, and host alumni-sponsored events. These differences can be explained by the type of trusted source and the delivery channel. Social media is delivered via the internet (via a social networking site), and trusted sources are students and peers rather than adults.
This playbook will show colleges how to leverage their existing resources in order to create a social media marketing strategy. We’ll also provide guidance on the “dos” and “don’ts” to ensure that your message gets across while also strengthening your brand’s identity.
Why do you care?
Why should college admissions officers be concerned about social media? Because prospects care, a lot!
A recent EDUCAUSE study[1] found that social media usage has reached near saturation with 95 percent of college students aged 18-19 using social media sites on a regular basis. Facebook is still the most popular social media site with over 80 percent of 18-24-year-olds visiting it multiple times per day. These students use social media in almost every aspect of their lives. Today’s students use social media to stay connected with one another and the rest of the world. It is where students focus their attention and where they look for information about colleges.
These trends are having an impact on college admissions as high school students are more likely to use social media instead of a college website when searching for schools. College searches today are conducted on websites such as collegeprowler.com and Facebook, with enhancements like Campus Buddy. Mash-up websites with titles such as “Ten ways social media can be used to choose a college”[2] have replaced the college section in the local bookstore.
A recent survey by Noel Levitz[3] found that 74% of high school seniors who are planning to go to college said they believe colleges should be present on social media. These students revealed that 81 percent of them rely on online information about colleges to help them in their college search.
College marketers are failing to adapt to this shift in social media content despite their obvious success. This study revealed that only 26 per cent of four-year private institutions used social media in their marketing efforts.
Marketing must reach its target audience in order to make a difference. You must meet your prospects in person to be heard. Because it is their turf, social media is the future and foundation of college marketing and recruitment. Your ultimate goal is to get your messages noticed by the market and then passed on by trusted sources. Your message should go viral. “Going viral” is when an image, video, or link spreads quickly through a population. This can be done by being shared frequently with many people. Social media makes it easy to share.
Let’s now look at some background.
3 Parts Of Social Media
Since the inception of the Internet, people have relied on online communities for trusted peer-based information. It all started with dial-up systems in the 1970s. Remember “moderators?”? It evolved into web-based communities that included “collaborative filtering”, websites in the 1980s and 1990s. While the technology and tools available to facilitate online conversations has changed, the fundamental process remains the same. Its effectiveness and ability shape opinion are still due to the credibility of those who serve as online key opinions leaders (KOLs).
Now, fast forward to today.
Online communities have grown to be a vibrant ecosystem with millions and billions of followers, blogs, and tweets. Facebook has more than 700 million users. More than half of these people log in every day. This has transformed an Internet niche that was once dominated by obscure hobbyists into a marketing dream: a large audience of consumers that can easily be reached at very low costs and in almost real-time.
Social media is an online conversation that involves a group of people who have a common interest. It is managed by a “reputable source”. Remember that a “reputable source” on Facebook could be a college freshman of 17 years old! Admissions officers need to understand the three components of social media in order to capitalize on this bustling world.
These three components, besides the expertise of teenagers, determine whether a social media outlet can impact the market or influence the opinions of its users.
More than Just Facebook
While Facebook is the most widely used social media site, it doesn’t mean that all social media marketing efforts should be centered there. However, admissions offices should have a Facebook page. Your Facebook page is where prospects go after are already interested in your services (probably once they have applied). Students will most likely become daily visitors once they are accepted.
A Facebook page is not designed to be used as a recruiting tool. It’s best used once admission offers have been sent.
This playbook, however is more focused on social media marketing as a way to build your brand identity and your prospect pool. We’ll be focusing on high school juniors just beginning to think about college. Facebook is great for keeping friends – but how can you find new ones.
4 Steps to Making New Friends
Think like a high school junior to make new friends on social networks. Students today are more actively seeking information. Remember, today’s students:
- To stay connected with friends, use their social media networks
- Search engines can be used to locate relevant blogs, mashups, and other useful websites
- Visit college websites. You can also find college content on social media sites like YouTube, Facebook and YouTube.
- You want the inside scoop? Get it now!
The second step is to conduct some research.
Before you attempt to enter into any social media friendship or conversation, take a look at the buzz surrounding your institution. It can be time-consuming and tedious, but it is worth it. This will give you a lot of insight into how your school is perceived and portrayed. As you progress through the process, you will likely come across misperceptions or falsehoods.
Third, use social media analytics tools like HubSpot and Radian6 to monitor and adjust your messaging to market changes. Monitoring is not free. However, this monitoring can help you determine what is working and what isn’t.
Finally, and only after you have understood the basics, proceed to step four: engage in the discussions and start disseminating your content in ways that make sense for your young, connected audience.
Colleges have two options: send content directly to the school. This means that content is produced by staff or official offices of the school. Or, indirectly. In this case, content comes from people who are familiar with your campus but not in an official capacity. Indirect senders of content include former students, current students, and fans. Both direct and indirect content are valuable and can be used in combination. Your designated “Social Media Ninja” should monitor and guide (if not completely control) both types of content. Your Social Media Ninja will monitor the content and any responses from your followers. In a future playbook, we’ll discuss this role more.
Some Reminders
Different social media platforms work for different people. Consider the content you want to make available, and the best places to put it. A YouTube channel can be a great way for students to share videos of special events or offer a virtual campus tour. Students-generated videos are a great way to get a casual look at campus life. They can also be more effective than professional marketing pieces, provided they are carefully selected and vetted. Depending on the content, these videos could go viral and reach millions of potential customers.
You can also use Twitter, blogging, and Facebook to communicate your message. They offer a variety of ways to share information and influence the perceptions of different constituencies. Encourage students to take part in the discussion and create Facebook pages that are relevant to your school. But make sure you are involved and keep an eye on the content. You can update potential students about approaching deadlines, remind them of important dates and engage in conversation about timely topics. Blogs provide insight from the perspective of a student or counselor about the admission process and can be used to create a space for students to exchange thoughts on admission-related topics such as writing essays, test scores, or things to do at campus.
These are some important rules to remember as you engage in these conversations.
Social Media Do’s
- Be authentic. Your blogs and posts should be authentic and truthful. While authenticity builds credibility slowly over time, shameless promotion can quickly destroy it.
- Be responsive. Follow up on comments with clarifications and additional content. Don’t take criticism lightly; you must listen to it.
- Join the larger conversation. You don’t have to market everything. You can engage prospects with relevant topics, and give them useful information about financial aid resources, test strategies, and personal essay writing. Don’t try to recruit them, but help them navigate the admissions process.
- Build your brand. Be consistent. Be mindful of your image. What are your strengths? What makes your college different? Your messaging should be consistent. Online identity can take over a life of it’s own. You want to keep your messaging consistent across channels and accurately represent campus culture.
- Leverage your human resources. As we’ve said, social media is an online conversation between people who share a common interest. The more people you include, the more lively and engaging the conversation will become. Administrators, admissions officers, faculty, staff and parents as well as alumni, friends, and students all have roles to play.
Social Media Doesn’t
- Do not be a one way bullhorn. Don’t make the conversation a one-way broadcast and lose all engagement.
- Do not translate your viewbook into a series of blog posts . It’s not about you, it’s about having conversations with your audience on topics that matter to them.
- Be polite If you don’t ask the right questions or discuss the topic, your audience may be easily offended.
- Don’t neglect your content. Stasis content is worse than none at all. The content cycle for admissions offices has been multi-year. We hire a marketing consultant every couple of years to “update” our material. This approach is no longer effective. Social media is an open conversation. Your content should reflect current events and interests.
- Do not allow graffiti. Social media channels are open communication platforms by nature. It is likely that someone will post offensive content or make a sexist comment. It is best to delete it immediately. Even if it wasn’t you who posted it, you are the owner of your outlet. It’s not about censorship. The goal is to show that you are in control and to pay attention to your followers.
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