Search Marketing Sage

If you are a College or University, integrating social media to the marketing and communication strategy makes sense. With prospective students, current students, alumni, and prospective donors using social media, creating and maintaining social media presences is an easy way to reach your target audience.

Universities recognize the importance of social media. A recent study by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth found 100% of the sampled colleges and universities use some form of social media. The same study in 2007-2008 found 61% of universities were using at least one form of social media. Currently, Facebook is the most common form of social networking, followed closely by YouTube and Twitter. Surprising to me in the Dartmouth study was that only 68% of schools were monitoring their social media efforts. Monitoring social media and engaging with the people who are talking about your school is a great way to build connections.

As with all marketing, good strategies and communication can lead to effective social media campaigns. Knowing why the university is using social media is important to evaluate and learn what worked and what could be improved.