If you were offered a tool to learn what individuals are saying about your college, would you take it? This is exactly what’s in front of you with social media, which is often referred to as the new “word of mouth” or “many-to-many” communications.
It may sound overwhelming, but social media gives anyone with a computer, tablet or handheld device control of his or her message and brand. Colleges will find it difficult to influence messages about their brands unless they engage in the online conversation.
With message monitoring, you can use third-party conversation to your advantage, especially to diffuse potentially negative situations. One bad Tweet or Facebook post can cost you students, legislative advocates, alumni support or foundation donors and can have a ripple effect, so you want to know about it. Like public relations or customer service experts may tell you, negative situations can often be turned into positive opportunities.
Follow the NCMPR blogUnfortunately, there seems to be a lack of commitment to social media by many two-year colleges, as if social media is frivolous or may eventually fade away. A informal survey of attendees at the 2011 American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) convention in April shows that 26 percent of their colleges are using social media very often, while 67 percent said they are using it somewhat and 36 percent indicated they are “not at all active” in social media. Most alarming is that only 18 percent believed their colleges are doing a better job at social media than the competition. This is definitely a lost opportunity considering these new media are not only here to stay, but they are expected and sought out by much of our demographic.
The surveys were drawn from attendees of a social media session I presented with Barb Dreger, director of college marketing at Fox Valley Technical College (FVTC) in Wisconsin. In the session, Dreger shared a case study on this topic and stressed social media efforts require commitment to a strategy. In 2007, FVTC began using YouTube as its first social media outlet, and it sought social media best practices and training before developing a strategy. Only after Dreger and her team developed a comfort level using social media did they craft a strategy.
“We follow an integrated marketing approach to develop consistency in message and brand,” Dreger told AACC convention attendees. “We quickly learned that our social media plan needed to center around our website. Specifically, the main goals are to drive traffic to the website and enable the sharing of content by others.”
Controlling the message
On the website, the college can control the experience and expose visitors to other content, Dreger said. Google Analytics (free versions of the tool are available) allows a college measure website traffic and gauge what content visitors seek to help, as well as to use that information to develop, refine or expand content. Higher traffic enhances search engine optimization (SEO), which improves performance on search engines such as Google and Yahoo.
“We utilize a content-marketing approach at our college. We create content and share it in many channels because our audiences are niched and there is no one place to reach them,” Dreger said. “The local print newspaper used to be the way to reach everyone, but not anymore.”
FVTC uses Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs with RSS feeds to connect audiences to the website. It also features a president’s blog, through which FVTC President Susan May interacts with members of the community, occasionally turning detractors into promoters.
The content distribution through social media channels reinforces the brand personality for the college and encourages individuals to embrace the brand and become brand champions. Share buttons help expose their friends to the content, creating the “long tail” unique to social marketing. The college also promotes a “share hub,” a one-stop portal to all the college’s social media connections.
FVTC is seeing significant increases in its website traffic as a result of its social media strategy. It provides a larger forum and two-way interaction with customers and encourages grassroots brand advocates. Its success would not have occurred without the college’s commitment and strategic decision to be part of the online dialogue, which happens with or without the college. More two-year colleges need to embrace the “word of mouth” opportunity to leverage social media to help disperse college messages and promote college brands.
Schwarm is executive director of the Wisconsin Technical College System Statewide Marketing Consortium. He is also president of the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations, which is affiliated with AACC.