Posted: May 29, 2009 at 9:41 am | Filed under: Social Recruiting, Twitter
Twitter is growing by leaps and bounds, and many colleges have jumped on the trend. But should you? Twitter is a great tool, just make sure you don’t get caught in the hype and unrealistic expectations.
To Tweet:
- Reach a Fast-Growing Market
As a greater number of high school students begin tweeting, Twitter will become an increasingly effective tool for making and maintaining connections.
- Maintain Connections
Twitter is built around the idea of “followers”. By following your tweets, students interested in your school can maintain a connection over a long period of time.
- Promote Things Fast
The speed with which Twitter can disseminate your latest news or announcement is one of its greatest strengths. Your information goes out, instantly, for your followers to read.
- Build Your Brand
With a stylish twitter background, your tweets can fit right in with your school’s brand image.
Not To Tweet:
- Can Take A Lot of Time
Although it doesn’t cost anything to join, it will take a significant time commitment in order to see returns. Posting your latest news and events is fine, but finding and connecting with other people takes persistent effort.
- Is It Just a Fad?
Some new reports say that over half of people who start twitter accounts end up quitting in the first month (mostly due to the time commitment issue). While Twitter’s not likely to see a drop off in activity any time soon, continue to monitor your account and make sure you are receiving returns on the time you invest.
Posted: May 29, 2009 at 9:27 am | Filed under: Facebook, Social Recruiting
More and more colleges are creating branded Facebook Pages for their school. As many have already found out, when you want to go beyond the basics it is not the easiest platform to work with. Additional features for youru page require additional “applications”. Below, we’ve found five great ways for colleges and universities to make their FB page stand out from the rest.
- Static FBML
Normally, custom HTML code is difficult to add, but with the Static FBML app you can render FBML (Facebook Markup Language) or HTML in a customizable box. This gives you the freedom to add pictures, videos, and any other stylized content. Facebook created this app, so it’s entirely reliable.
- Flash Player
The Flash Player app allows you to add a box that plays any kind of Flash video. Many, if not all, of college and university virtual tours are Flash-based so this is a perfect solution.
- Posted Items Pro
Posted Items Pro enables you to embed multiple YouTube, Yahoo, and Google videos. It’s a great way to beef-up your media section.
- Facebook Notes
This application will automatically pull in the RSS feed from your blog plus share with your entire network when you’ve added something new!
- Twitter App
Assuming you have a Twitter account, this app will automatically stream your tweets into your Facebook status. This automation will help keep your profile info fresh.
Posted: March 22, 2009 at 10:02 pm | Filed under: Social Recruiting
Are you using one of your best resources to enhance your recruitment efforts? Current students can offer insight, advice and a valuable connection to prospective students. And the best part, these tips will enhance your recruitment efforts while costing you absolutely nothing - or close to it!
Benefits of Student to Student Recruitment:
- High school students love to get the perspective of a student who actually lives on campus and goes to class every day.
- It is easier for high school student to relate to college students
- High school students trust the advice they get from current students. Let’s face it, you work for the college and they know it. They want the input from someone who is not on the payroll.
- If your current students develop a relationship with prospects, those students will already feel like they have a friend on campus - a major benefit!
Student to Student Recruitment Ideas:
- BLOG-BLOG-BLOG! You must get your students blogging. Over half of all colleges currently run student blogs, and if you are not one of them, I encourage you to start as soon as possible. Pick a couple of enthusiastic, invovled students and ask them to write about their life at college. Put the blogs on your website for prospective students to read. You’ll be amazed by the impact they have.
- Have your current students participate in social networks. You know that your student admissions workers are spending a lot of time on popular social networking sites, so why not have them spread the word about your school? Ask them to set up Facebook pages or Twitter accounts to increase the exposure for your school.
- Ask a couple of your student admissions office workers to chat in live time with prospective students. High school students often feel more comfortable talking with a current student. They’ll have the opportunity to ask important questions that can really sway their decision to choose your school.
- Have students follow up with prospective students after visits to campus. One major missed opportunity that I found while in my college search was the follow-up after the campus tour. Many colleges use students to give these tours, but as soon as the prospective student leaves there is no further contact with the tour guide. Have your guide set up a twitter account or student blog to stay in touch with the students who visited. That connection can prove to be very important as decision time draws near.
These small adjustments to your recruitment strategy can go a long way. After students have a list of top schools, they will make their final decision based on the personal connections they make throughout the college search. So use your best resource - your current students. If they love their school, they’ll be happy to help you recruit!
For more information or ideas on how to use students in your college recruitment send me a message. I would be happy to help! Have a VirtualCollegeFairs account? Add your student blogs and more to your booth!
Posted: March 22, 2009 at 10:01 pm | Filed under: Admissions 2.0, Social Recruiting
It wasn’t long ago that the typical college-bound student filtered through dozens of mailings, attended college fairs, and walked many campus tours on his or her way to finding the perfect college. Today, attempting to reach techno-savvy teens, admissions offices have adopted many new recruiting efforts, including live chat sessions, campus videos, virtual walking tours, online college fairs and, even more recently, student blogs.
Students find the features that provide the a genuine look at campus life to be extremely helpful in making their decision. Prospective students can get an inside-look at what to expect when they attend by reading the blogs of current college students over the course of several months. This creates a feeling of connectedness that can begin before an application is submitted and extend through the decision to enroll.
That length of time is what makes student blogs such a strong recruitment tool. A video, website, or even a campus tour is likely to connect only one or two times, but a blog, with new content provided on a regular basis by current students, can grow connections throughout the admissions process. So, consider adding student blogs to your admissions website, or make sure the blogs you have are being utilized to their full potential.
