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4 Keys to Putting Your Higher Eduation Social Media Strategy into Action

P L A Y B O O K # 6

T A L E S O F T H E V I R T U A L E N R O L L M E N T C O O R D I N A T O R

A Social Media Primer for College Recruitment

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T A L E S O F T H E V I R T U A L E N R O L L M E N T C O O R D I N A T O R P L A Y B O O K # 6

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How do you move forward from here? What’s the next step in the plan? How do you build a sustainable, long-term social media strategy?

Our recent playbook, “10 Social Media Do’s and Don’ts for Higher Education Enrollment Success,” was an introduction to social media for college admission officers. In that publication, we talked about the rapid growth of social media as a marketing and recruitment tool. We also outlined a few dos and don’ts for the basic principles for success.

This topic has generated an enormous amount of interest and you wanted more.

So, in this playbook we’ll take a deeper look at what it takes to build a successful social media strategy. But first, a little background.

What is Social Media? Stripped of its hype, social media describes a full range of electronically mediated interactions that occur between people and tend to focus on a common interest or topic. Here at Admissions Lab, we focus on the transition from high school to college — from a high school student’s first attempts to learn about a university to the moment he or she arrives on campus for their freshmen year.

But simply creating electronic content about a common interest is no guarantee that anyone will pay attention. To exert influence and cultivate a receptive, sustainable audience, you must be believed and trusted. The more “followers” or “friends” you are able to recruit into this audience, the more chances you have to build an effective relationship on social media networks.

To build a comprehensive social media strategy, you need to address the four fundamental components of social media: channel, reach, credibility and sustainability.

So you’ve set up a fantastic Facebook page and you’re also tweeting and blogging and posting all over the place like the little social media machine that you are. Great job! You’re using the tools!

So now what?

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1 Parker, Lenhart, and Moore. (August 2011) The Digital Revolution and Higher Education. Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project 2010 tracking surveys Internet. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/College-presidents/Summary.aspx

Channel Reach

Credibility

Sustainability

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1 Channel“Channel” describes the particular form of communication you’re using, be it a tweet, blog entry, a Facebook post, a

YouTube video or a text message. Different channels are more or less appropriate for different types of communication. A YouTube video, for example, might show a unique side of student life and could be used to engage prospects and encourage them to schedule a campus visit. A blog post, on the other hand, might describe exciting new research opportunities for undergraduates and connect them with a faculty member or upperclassman while a tweet might be used to remind prospects of an important deadline or an upcoming event.

Some channels, such as texting, are passive; the message is delivered without the need for any action on the recipient’s part. Others, such as blogs and videos, tend to encourage or require action from the recipient; the students must seek out and view the content. The line between active and passive channels can quickly get blurred when prospects subscribe to your content by “friending” and “following” you. In this case, your content automatically becomes part of a personal page where it can be viewed at the prospect’s leisure. Whether active or passive, carefully matching your message to your channel will be a key component of your social media strategy and critical to maximizing your “reach.”

A good way to start managing your channel is to draw up a list of your available communication types and messages and match them to each other. Remember that messages can go out through multiple channels. As new message opportunities present themselves, they can be added to your growing channel matrix.

2 Reach“Reach” refers to both the intended — and the actual — audience viewing your content. Who are you reaching out to?

How many of them are out there? What actions must be taken in order to receive and respond to your message?

Reach is partially channel driven. For example, that video showing the “unique side of student life” can be hosted on your college’s YouTube channel and have a potentially unlimited audience. On the other hand, a tweet is most likely going to be seen only by your followers, those who

have already opted in for your content. Often your followers will be high school students who have applied for admission or have already been admitted.

But the potential size of the audience is only one aspect of reach. What’s more important is the actual number of prospects that actively engage with the communication. The best video in the world will be of little value if no one watches it! Extending reach is an exercise in relationship building. You’ll slowly engage prospects, one person at a time, by introducing them to your content channels and moving the marker toward passive acceptance by gathering friends and followers.

Remember that each communication channel has an intrinsic reach, but what really matters is the number of channels on which you can effectively engage a specific individual. Ultimately, your reach is a measure of how many prospects you are engaging, on how many channels and

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Twitter

Facebook

Youtube

Mobile

SMS Text

Blog

Email

Phone

ChannelsMessaging







how frequently. But there is an exception. Viral posts or videos are a little like winning the marketing lottery; your reach can grow exponentially as each person (and each person’s followers) become a new channel. But don’t bank on the lottery. Having something go viral is rare, especially for a college.

You should always monitor your reach, from both the channel and prospect perspective. Each channel should have one or more reach-related metrics — followers for Facebook, re-tweets for Twitter, email opens and click-throughs, YouTube views, blog visits and so on. Monitoring your social media traffic as new campaigns

and messages go out lets you see what is resonating with your prospects. Using online aggregator tools such as Hubspot and Radian 6 can help you monitor a large number of channels simultaneously and very efficiently.

3 CredibilityProspective students are bombarded daily by information, much of it coming through social media channels. Some

content gets filtered out altogether, other information gets a cursory glance, and only a tiny bit — even when it is actually read — garners much attention or focus. It’s like being in a crowded room with

many voices speaking at once; very little of the ongoing conversations actually get their attention.

What students focus on is determined by a combination of familiarity, noteworthiness and recognition. A voice we recognize, the name of a familiar friend or maybe the face of a well-known celebrity all have the ability to catch our eyes and ears. Within social media we call this ability to draw attention “credibility.” Once you have the means to communicate your message and an audience on the other end to receive it, the effectiveness of your messaging and its influence will be determined by credibility.

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College Students and Their Gadgets

2 Smith, Rainie, and Zickuhr. (July 2011) College students and technology. Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project 2010 tracking sur-veys Internet. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/College-students-and-technology/Report.aspx

Percentage of all adults in each group who own different devices

Cell phone

Desktop computer

Laptop computer

iPod or mp3 player

Game console

eBook reader

Tablet computer

All Adults

82%

60

52

45

41

5

4

Non-students,

18-24

89%

58

64

69

64

4

4

Under-grads

96%

59

88

84

58

9

5

Grad students

99%

73

93

86

49

7

5

Community College

94%

67

70

72

61

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Who sends the message is even more important than the content itself. A friend who participated in an overnight visit at your college and then posts pictures and talks about the experience on a personal Facebook page will have much more of an impact on someone than a similar testimonial posted anonymously on your admissions office Facebook page. Likewise, a video created by students showing unique aspects of campus will be more credible than a slick professional video produced by the admissions office.

College-age students have always paid more attention to their peers than to authority figures. This is one of several good reasons why most college admission “road-runners” are usually in their early 20s. Social media provides a new set of tools that allow us to leverage these peer relationships, typically by incorporating current students and recent graduates into our social media strategy. Another is to re-tweet and point to peer-based content in your official channels. But there is still a place for credible authority-based messages, which means your dean, president and prominent alums may have a role to play. But remember: Authority-based

messaging is best reserved for serving up factual content that complements the peer-based contacts that influence opinions and perceptions.

The channel matrix can be expanded to add source credibility to help insure that all messages (particularly factual ones) are being communicated with maximum credibility. But the most credible opinion-shaping sources will always be those independent voices that pick up your message and pass it on!

4 Sustainability–Find a Social Media NinjaNow that you understand the parts of a successful social media strategy, you need to implement

and sustain your message.

Managing the different channels, extending reach and maintaining

credibility, while keeping content current, consistent and controlled, is no small task. It is not something a single person can, or should, do alone.

A wide range of individuals need to be involved and coordinated, including administrative staff, parents, boosters, and students — past, present and future. To make it work, you’ll need someone working behind the scenes to make sure that everything is operating smoothly — you’ll need a Social Media Ninja (SMN).

The SMN is responsible for monitoring the message and the content, both direct and indirect, as well as any reactions and/or questions from your followers. Often, the SMN will be active on all of your channels and may be a major source of your online content.

But the primary responsibility of the SMN is to own the process and maintain awareness of how your message is being perceived, what is being said in response, and what new opportunities exist for additional activity. Online tools and software aids are an important facilitator for implementing,

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Who sends the message is even more important than the content itself.

of college presidents report that they use Facebook weekly or more often;

32% of college presidents say they use Twitter at least occasionally.

18%







A sustainable social media strategy must be current, consistent and controlled. Outdated content can be worse than no content at all. Your social media strategy must leverage many channels simultaneously, with careful attention paid to the match between content and channel.

Relationships must be fostered and built over time to extend your reach. The goal should be to have contact with each prospect on multiple channels and to facilitate the exchange by having them become followers and friends.

Your messaging needs to be coordinated across channels, with each contribution uniquely suited to that particular channel. All messages must reinforce a manageable set of common themes and project a consistent image.

The content needs to look — and actually be — spontaneous. But it must also be managed and kept “on message.” Information that is misleading, incorrect or distracting should be moved, changed or updated. Graffiti (including rude or vulgar comments) needs to be deleted immediately.

Your social media strategy must involve many people and be managed by someone who is both an expert in social media and your institution.

Summary

monitoring and managing your social media strategy, but a human needs to oversee everything — a person with a feel for life on your campus and a full-time commitment to the process. Beware of outsourcing this role to external “experts”;

they may be able to help structure an initial strategy — getting everything lined up and organized — but are not committed enough or credible enough to assume ongoing ownership. That needs to be handled by someone who is more than just an expert

on social media; it must be someone who is also an expert on your institution and can serve as a credible representative via social media interactions.

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A Microsoft Higher Education Partner, Admissions Lab is the leading higher education provider of software-as-a-service programs, serving more than 70 client institutions. Ad-missions Lab, a division of 422 Group, is made up of former higher education admissions officers who bring more than 150 years of experience in the admissions world, helping the company create problem-solving programs specifically designed for that sector. www.AdmissionsLab.com

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Enrollment Manager provides the essential tools and services needed to support an effective social media strategy. From the ability to post content to Facebook, share content via email and monitor the effectiveness of your social media presence, Enrollment Manager’s toolset helps you leverage social networking channels to make friends — and keep them.

In addition, your dedicated Virtual Enrollment Coordinator™ can help you post and monitor social media content, provide “best practices” recommendations related to social media integration and use Enrollment Manager Web Intelligence tools to help you evaluate the health of your overall Web presence and automate interaction with Web visitors based on page views, session length and/or referral source (e.g., Facebook, search engine, Etc.).

How Enrollment Manager Can Help

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