Let’s get social

Let’s get social. I mean, we need to have a relationship with you so come on over and let’s talk. If you are a high school junior or senior, then I want to be your friend. I would like to show you all of the incredibly unique benefits that Wittenberg University has to offer. I can tell you, we are not The Ohio State University nor are we Miami University. We are an intimate, private Lutheran-affiliated college located in the heart of the Midwest. If you are looking for a college that provides a meaningful liberal arts education, where you will know your professor personally and will have dinner in his home, where your acquaintances become your friends, who become your family, then “Witt” is the place for you.

The above is an attempt to start a conversation with a millennial who may or may not be interested in what Wittenberg University has to offer. But as many of you know, social media is a critical tool in the higher education recruitment process and it is all about the relationship. We can’t speak “at” our prospective students. They grew up with computers, email, and a digital, interactive world that we Gen Xers are still trying to navigate. Technology can be a blessing for communications specialists and college recruiters, however, it must be used appropriately. It cannot be a one-way conversation. No one likes one-way dialogue anyway. It must be a two-way, participatory, symmetrical conversation, according to a variety of social media experts.1

This level of engagement within social media can create much more than social bonding but can promote “complex contagions” that will impact the beliefs and eventually the behaviors of its users.2 One expert from a 2016 study, suggests that the following be considered in order to initiate successful social media engagement: Listen, focus, be patient, share, trendsetters, discuss, respond, be available.3 These are essential to building relationships with our online audience.  There is an inherent power within social media that must also be understood. According to social media expert Jeremy Lipschultz, there are three key components that make up this power: trust, influence and engagement.4 Through sincere, genuine and honest dialogue, we build trust with our audience of prospective students, who are trying to navigate the complex and, oftentimes, overwhelming college search process.

Society has come to rely almost solely on computer-mediated communication (CMC). Millennials do not want to speak to you on the phone and they will barely respond by email but they will text you and Snapchat with you all day long.  According to Moloney (2018), Instagram has over one billion active users per month.5 With this level of volume, many higher education institutions are becoming even more clever with their utilization of social media to attract new students.  One example is the University of Rhode Island who utilizes the popular Instagram Carousel ad feature, as seen below. This feature allows the use of a variety of images or videos that can be scrolled within a single ad.

Courtesy of Higher Education Marketing

As luring as the ads with the colorful imagery may be, the prospective student will still require another level of engagement. When we engage in two-way communication, we are beginning to build a relationship with that individual long before they step foot on our campus. Higher Education institutions, especially smaller colleges, will need to invest in resources that support increased levels of social media management and engagement in order for those relationships to exist.

Students will most likely meet their roommate for the first time via Facebook or Instagram and search out their professors using one of the many Rate My Professors websites. Millennials are becoming more and more savvy when it comes to using social media in their college search and preparation activities. We, as higher education professionals, must do our part to keep up.

Sources:

1,3Allagui, I. & Breslow, H. (2016). Social media for public relations: Lessons from four effective cases. Public Relations Review, (42)1, 20-30.

2,4Lipschultz, J.H. (2017). Social Media Communication: Concepts, Practices, Data, Law & Ethics. Routledge: New York. (2nd Ed.), 1-34.

5Moloney, C. (2018, July 11). Using Instagram Ads for Higher Education: A How-to for Schools. Higher Education Marketing. Retrieved from: https://www.feedspot.com/infiniterss.php?q=site:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.higher-education-marketing.com%2Ffeed