Social Networking for Admissions

272 million manage a profile on a social network

394 million people watch video clips online

346 million read blogs/weblogs

Private colleges especially are preparing for lower than normal matriculation rates by accepting more applicants, expanding wait lists and bolstering efforts to woo admitted students

To secure their futures, schools are courting applicants with a previously unseen intensity:

In some cases, students appreciate schools' efforts. Kurt Roscoe of Ridgefield, Conn., went in February to a new type of reception on Becker's campus, for admits interested in majoring in computer-game design. The event helped persuade him to enroll. "Students majoring in game design were there, and they explained that students in game design are rather tight-knit and stick together," Roscoe says. "That made me feel a lot better, because usually ... you have to worry about bullying or getting looked down on because of your (game-design) major. I didn't really feel that I'd have that problem at Becker."

A 2008 UMass-Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research study states that colleges and universities are adopting social media tactics faster than Fortune 500 companies. More than 700 institutional Facebook pages were launched by December 2007 shortly after the site opened its doors to corporations and nonprofits.

the review of eduStyle’s Gallery of Social Sites reveals a strong similarity among Facebook school pages. They typically include the kinds of photography and images available from campus marketing sources, don’t necessarily make the best use of outside applications and other robust Facebook features, and sometimes have startlingly few friends.

Because of its relationship-building power, social networking could become a brave new tool to help achieve a number of significant goals for a higher ed institution, in particular: • Expanding admissions inquiry pools • Tracking prospective students as they move through the recruiting funnel • Improving yield and conversion rates • Bringing alumni back home and integrating them into recruiting and fundraising document.writeln(AAMB6); • Expanding potential donor pools, particularly for annual funds • Broadcasting your brand through “viral word of mouse” • Expanding the reach and constancy of institutional identity

a 32 percent increase in the use of social networking applications between 2007 and 2008

Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, a professor of marketing and director of the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

conducted with approximately 500 admissions offices at four-year accredited institutions in the United States.

survey of 536 colleges in the fall of 2008 found that 41 percent of admissions offices kept blogs and 61 percent maintained social-networking profiles.

The NACAC report raises some concerns about colleges’ use of social media, primarily that they don’t sufficiently promote, evaluate, or keep dynamic various online ventures

Only 15% last year said they did not use social media, down from 39% the previous year.

The number of colleges using social networking sites and or putting video on their blogs more than doubled from 2007 to 2008.

Social media isn’t the solution to the upcoming decreasing number of college applications. It’s not the solution for attracting the higher quality students. What it can be, is a strong spoke in your marketing wheel, but don’t try to convince your administration that it is a replacement for the things in your marketing mix you’re hearing prospective students are no longer interested in (viewbooks, CDs, etc.).

The only addition I’d throw into the fray is that schools could gain huge benefit by leveraging tools like Facebook to allow students to pull personalized content to their profiles. A current challenge with Facebook pages for schools is that students still have to access the institutional site to get specific information relative to their interests (outside of asking questions via facebook of course). An ability to deliver this to students in Facebook, empowers the student to get an even greater percentage of relevant content in a place they prefer.

It is a concept we’ve wrapped our heads around for a while. As a CRM provider for higher ed, that offers students a personal portal on a client site, we saw that we were able to personalize content to students, but one challenge with portals is getting students to return over an over. Sadly, you will lose some once the novelty runs its course. So, we’ve created a Facebook app that clients can put on their Facebook page. Students add it, and tell what their interests are. This adds the student to the institution’s CRM, and we can then push personalized content (events, academic information, key dates, etc) to the student; via email, our portal, and/or through Facebook.