How Community Colleges Are Using Social Media: 2013 Case Study

How Community Colleges Are Using Social Media to Build Relationships & Drive Engagement

Leigh-Anne Mauk Lawrence October 22, 2013

Hagerstown CC Quick Facts o Founded in Maryland in 1946

o 100+ Programs of study

o Annual credit population of 6,7000

o Annual non-credit population of 9,500

o Special emphasis on STEM programming, health care, business, and lifelong learning

www.hagerstowncc.edu

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Why a Community College Study? Past Studies Had a Narrow Focus Focused primarily on four-year schools

Focused on how social media can be incorporated into the curriculum or used as a learning tool

Have not addressed how social media can be used to build relationships or foster community discussion (or be used as a PR tool)

Community colleges are wondering what’s next How do we maximize our social media effectiveness?

How do we continue to build relationships and increase engagement?

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Survey Design & Methodology Voluntary, opt-in survey administered through SurveyMonkey.com

in Nov. 2012

Survey questions were drawn from existing higher ed social media research and the researcher’s own experience as a social media administrator at a community college

Study participants were selected from the NCMPR member directory

Survey sent to PR/marketing/communications directors at 574 community colleges and technical schools across the nation

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Population Sample

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188 schools from 44 states responded for a response rate of 33%

42% were rural

33% were city-based

25% were city-adjacent (within 25 miles of a major city)

Majority offered between 50-100 programs of study and had between 5,000-10,000 credit students

Population Data by School

98% use social media

Who, What, How, and Why

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Major Findings: What are schools using?

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Facebook Twitter YouTube Google+ Foursquare LinkedIn Flickr Pinterest Other

78% have been using social media for 3 years or more

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Major Findings: Why are they using it?

Top Seven Reasons Colleges Use Social Media

Sharing News & Events #1

Increasing Student Engagement #2

General Marketing/College Promotion #3

Community/Relationship Building #4

Promoting Student Support Services #5

Recruiting Prospective Students #6

Connecting with Alumni and/or Potential Donors #7

Not just for students anymore: 82% use social media to communicate and share information with community members and the public

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Major Findings: How are schools using it?

Posting Frequency

Time of year plays a key factor in determining a posting schedule (i.e., if classes are in session) as well as the target audience and the popularity of a particular platform with that audience

50% post content daily

35% post more than twice a day to certain platforms

10% post on a weekly basis

Content type

Varies by platform type

Majority of schools agree that different platforms appeal to different audiences

That same 95% agree that content should be tailored to fit the intended audience and platform through which content is being shared

Top Contender: Facebook All 184 schools using social

media have at least one Facebook page

70% of those schools have several different Facebook pages for different campuses, departments, or programs

91% said that Facebook is their most popular social media platform

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Top Contender: Facebook

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Top Contender #2: Twitter

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Top Contender #2: Twitter

Schools Not Using Social Media Of the 188 respondents, only four were not yet using social media

All plan to use social media—namely Facebook—in the future and anticipate social media playing an important role in their colleges’ communications plans

“One billion Facebook users can’t be wrong.”

-Survey Respondent

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Challenges Before & After Implementation

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Initial Social Media Concerns Insufficient resources to properly manage social media

(e.g., staffing, funding, etc.)

Concern about inappropriate posts by students

Privacy concerns (e.g., FERPA violations)

Concern about how to develop guidelines, policies, procedures, and strategies for social media usage and implementation

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Initial Barriers Encountered Resistance by administration

Lack of buy-in by staff and faculty

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o 45% did not encounter any barriers when implementing social media at their institutions o Of those that did encounter resistance initially, schools have now found that “all embrace [social media.]”

However…

Challenges Faced After Implementation

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Other

Primary concerns: How to manage newly established social media accounts and/or how to ensure that all staff and faculty were on the same page in regard to usage and administration

What Goes in a Social Media Policy?

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To Policy or Not to Policy? 40% have established official policies to guide social media usage at their

institutions 32% are working on drafting a social media policy 28% did not have an official, board-approved policy, but had created

guidelines

85% felt that having social media policies and/or guidelines greatly benefited the institution

A Brand New Policy?

Many school chose not to create a separate social media policy, but instead

expanded existing policies on online communications, computer usage, or other electronic media policies

Polices governed both students and employees

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Common factors among schools

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1. One department oversaw institutional social media usage

Only 11% had another department overseeing social media usage and in the majority of those cases, social media was managed in collaboration with the PR/marketing office

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Common factors among schools

2. Content was not censored - Students were free to post their opinions as long as those comments were not “inappropriate”

Examples of inappropriate content included:

• “Hate speech” • Profanity or vulgarity • Name-calling or threatening language • Harassment of any kind (e.g., sexual, religious, racial, etc.) • Content that violated state or federal laws including copyrights • Partisan political activity • Selling of goods or services for personal or financial gain • Confidential information about the college, its staff, or its students

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Common factors among schools

3. Social media administrators were required to adhere to specific guidelines

Examples of guidelines/requirements included:

• Training in social media etiquette

• Posting content a certain number of times per week

• Responding to student questions and complaints

• Integrating multimedia into their postings (e.g., photos, videos, etc.)

• Taking classes/workshops on how to write for social media

• Creating a social media plan for the institution prior to implementation

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Engagement & Relationship-Building Using Social Media

Engaging Students is Key “We want [our students] to feel connected to the college and to each other. We have to keep content coming on a regular basis to do that. And we keep trying new things.”

-Survey Respondent

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71% feel that social media could have a positive effect on student engagement and 58% believe that it can have a positive effect on student outcomes 64% believe that social media can positively impact student retention

How Do You Build an Online Community?

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Most Rewarding & Beneficial Social Media Practices

Posting content on a regular basis #1

Allowing students to post comments and answering

student questions in a timely manner

#2

Having one dedicated staff member oversee all college

social media accounts (i.e., a social media specialist or

similar position)

#3

Posting college delays or closings and inclement

weather announcements

#4

Highlighting positive human interest stories about

faculty, staff, and other students

#5

Effective social media management + Regular posting of fresh, multimedia-driven content = Engagement

Top 3 Ways Schools Are Engaging Students By asking questions and seeking student opinions and feedback on

campus initiatives and improvements

By allowing students to post directly on college social media accounts (complaints and questions)

By sharing stories and photos/videos that students care about (e.g., student life, faculty and student success stories, etc.)

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Going Beyond Campus: Community Engagement Schools are using social media to connect with alumni, potential

donors, community leaders, prospective students, and the media

Facebook and Twitter remain the most popular platforms for communicating with non-students, although LinkedIn is growing in popularity

Engagement by non-students mostly consists of shares and retweets, but that is expected to change as schools continue to integrate social media into their communications plans

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What’s Next on the Social Horizon?

Schools will need to pick and choose what platforms will suit their intended audience(s) best and develop plans on how to use those platforms effectively

As funding allows, more schools will begin hiring dedicated social media managers to help guide institutional social media usage

Colleges will need to provide training for faculty and staff administrators

Colleges will need to start offering training for students on how to use social media professionally and how to monitor their online reputation

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Predictions based on the 2012 study

Final Takeaways – Advice from the Trenches

Choose your gatekeeper

Find the keymaster

Establish a social media policy

Look before you leap and don’t be greedy

Avoid “shiny object syndrome”

Hold faculty and staff accountable

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Final Takeaways – Advice from the Trenches Establish your voice

Know your audience

Post content regularly

Catch their eye

Go beyond the text message

Get students involved Answer student questions

Be open-minded and willing to learn

Questions?

Leigh-Anne Mauk Lawrence

[email protected]

@writenowsocial www.linkedin.com/in/leighannelawrence

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