Amplifying the Student Decision
May 1st is here, which marks the national deposit deadline for US colleges and universities. As admissions offices are anxiously awaiting to hear how their Class of 2017 is shaping up, we decided to try an experiment to see if students would share their admissions decision from the Schools App.
Social Media and Student Trends – Where are they headed?
Did you know you have thousands of secret admirers? They are your prospective students and they are stalking you and anyone who goes to your college to see whether or not it is a good fit. While the digital college search is “old news” for some, many admissions and marketing offices are still trying to [...]
Introducing the Get Engaged Program
Community Colleges play an important role in the higher education landscape. While most people think of the traditional residential 4-year college experience, today more than 10 million students (approximately 40 percent of all undergraduates) are enrolled in community colleges in the U.S. You may remember back in 2011 when we partnered with the League of Innovation [...]
How Important are Friendships in Creating Successful Student Outcomes?
Happiness, health, and wealth are all contagious, at least that’s what Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler claim in Connected – The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives. One of my favorite facts from this book is that people 3-degrees removed from us (most of whom we do not know) [...]
Introducing the 2012 Social Admissions Report
Observe any fifteen to twenty-one year old for more than a few minutes and you’ll undoubtedly see them “connected” via their phone, texting, tweeting or Facebooking with their friends. While it’s no news that social media is here and here to stay, the jury is still out whether students use social media to research colleges [...]
3 Reasons Social Media is Right for Community Colleges
According to research from Dartmouth’s Center for Marketing Research, Social Media has moved beyond the experimentation stage in higher ed and is now being used at almost 100% of institutions to engage students. While you’ve probably attended webinars, read blog posts, or seen conference presentations on the topic, very little of the content is focused on community colleges. [...]
Social Media CAN Increase Student Engagement, But Is It?
Earlier this week, Eric Stoller proclaimed that “Social Media Increases Student Engagement” on Inside Higher Ed . He went on to describe how we have adopted all these new tools, but questions whether these tools are actually providing revolutionary results. “Social Media are only as good as we make them. The tools themselves do not build houses nor do they [...]
For Higher Ed Marketers, Klout Should Not Count
For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you may have heard my disgust at the social media metric known as “Klout”. To be fair, I have nothing against Klout or the folks working there, but I do have a problem with institutions using it as a benchmark for social media success. Fortunately there are [...]
Are Liberal Arts Colleges and Students More or Less Social? (New Research)
The Liberal Arts. According to Wikipedia, the “liberal arts are those subjects that in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts.” While some may say the liberal arts needs an upgrade for the 21st century (I’m looking at you Michael Staton) others would argue in this time of hyper-digital-social-mobile-media-extravenganza there [...]
Right Message, Right Medium, Right Now – Introducing “Announcements”
“With so many communication technologies available today, how can university administrators keep up?” This was a question asked yesterday by Katherine Mangan from the Chronicle. We were talking about how institutions can manage the unprecedented changes resulting from new social, mobile and digital technologies. While research is mixed on which medium is most effective to reach admitted and current [...]
What’s the Best Way to Improve Yield for Admissions?
Universities spend considerable time and resources to get students interested in their institution every year. With each stage in the admissions cycle, comes a new opportunity for administrators to connect with potential students and help them make the right choice for their future. Last week at the New England Association for Admissions Counselors, Jessica Winthrop-Oney and [...]
What’s Happening With Schools App on Facebook? [INFOGRAPHIC]
![What’s Happening With Schools App on Facebook? [INFOGRAPHIC]](http://blog.inigral.com/wp-content/uploads/schools_app_info-150x150.png)
A few months back we presented an infographic titled What’s Happening With Facebook in College Admissions to the higher ed community, which was one of our most popular posts of all time. After the word got out, some folks asked to see an infographic about our own Schools App on Facebook. We dove into our app [...]
Managing Pages on the Go? There’s an App for that
In preparation for their IPO Facebook has been releasing a variety of updates and changes to boost the market’s confidence in their offering and product direction. One of the biggest concerns about Facebook’s future surounds their ability to engage and monetize on mobile platforms. As a user, I’m not particularly fond of Facebook’s iPhone experience and I definitely [...]
What Prospective Students Think About Your College Facebook Page
Last month I had the opportunity to hear from a variety of higher ed heavy hitters at the CASE Social Media and Community conference in Chicago. Although the presentation topics were varied, my biggest takeaway was that institutions love their Facebook Page like their first born child. The School-wide Facebook page was often described as “our [...]
Facebook Announces Groups for Schools – Good, Bad, or ‘Meh’ for Higher Ed?
Facebook has released their newest feature – “Groups for Schools” – this week in an effort to increase their reach into university communities. While a handful of universities have already launched this year, the expansion of these “group networks” has rightfully caused a stir within the Higher Ed community. We’ve been in touch with Facebook’s product [...]
Tumblr for Arts Schools Admissions – Tips from University of the Arts
Before I dive into the post I have to say my biggest pet peeves in marketing are: 1. Marketers try to join every social network under the sun and 2. Marketers disregard their unique brand and business situation when evaluating which platforms “make sense” to participate in. Although Tumblr has been around for a few years it [...]
5 Hidden Costs of “Free” Social Media Marketing
social media is a bit more like a free puppy rather than getting a free lunch.
Admissions Web Marketing at University of Nebraska
It’s always great to see colleges doing great online marketing. Whether you have followed Emerson’s acceptance hashtag (#ec2016) to welcome admitted students on Twitter, or the University of Iowa’s “I got accepted into IU” Facebook celebratory post, it’s always inspiring to see fellow marketers “walking the talk” and engaging with students in interesting ways. The other day I [...]
How Will Facebook’s New Page Changes Affect Higher Ed?
According to Ad Age, Facebook will bring Timeline to Brand Pages by the end of this month. These changes will mimic the profile change announced at the F8 conference and although Facebook won’t comment on specific details, a spokesperson confirmed they plan on making Pages more consistent with Timeline by the end of February.
How High-School Students Use Mobile in Their College Search
Earlier this week Noel-Levitz released their series of e-expectation reports this one titlted “Mobile Browsing Behaviors and Expectations of College-Bound High School Students.” I thought I’d give a summary and some personal commentary on their key findings in regards to mobile/social behaviors. Mobile Browsing Behaviors Only 4% of high-school students report using a tablet device such [...]
Is Social Isolation a Problem on Today’s Campus?
If you’ve seen any of our presentations, we often quote the statistic “3 out of the top 5 reasons students drop out are social in nature” from the ACT 2004 study on What Works in Student Retention. Although statistics like these are important, they lack the personal story that affects students every year. Yesterday, I was shocked [...]
Mobile Resources in Higher Ed – From 101 to 2012
It seems like Mobile is the new marketing buzzword this year in Higher Ed. While social isn’t going away (and is nowhere close to being over), Higher Ed has rightfully begun perking up at new ideas to engage with today’s “Sobile” student. (hats off to Corie Martin for coining the Mobile + Social = “Sobile”) [...]
