Are University Admissions Facebook Pages Worth the Effort? [NEW DATA]
![Are University Admissions Facebook Pages Worth the Effort? [NEW DATA]](http://blog.inigral.com/wp-content/uploads/Tired-Guy-150x150.jpg)
While just about every university has their own institution-wide Facebook page, other departments are also attempting to join the fun by creating their own presence. Since we work with Admissions and Marketing offices, we researched a sample of 70 universities to see if they were utilizing a Facebook Page specifically for the Admissions office. We found approximately [...]
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) [...]
5 Social Media Campaign Ideas from Public Universities
For schools operating in the current marketing environment where Facebook is “in” and paper brochures are “out”, creative ways to not only approach students, but also create buzz and engagement are popping up. This article focuses on public universities and the widely used attempt to get students more engaged with the school’s social media presence: [...]
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 [...]
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 Introduces New Preferred Marketing Developer Program
Facebook has announced they’ve merged two of their programs, the Preferred Developer Consultant (PDC) program and the Marketing API (MAP) program. The two have now become one – the Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD) program. Since joining the PDC program in 2010, Inigral has had access to Facebook’s leadership and engineering teams with some knowledge of [...]
How Are You Welcoming the Class of 2016?
There’s nothing new about colleges and college students creating Class of 20XX Pages and Groups before school start. These groups offer an engaging medium for students to meet one another and discuss life before they arrive on campus. While this is a best practice for institutions looking to build community and improve yield, rarely do [...]
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 [...]
7 Ideas to Improve your New Facebook Timeline Page
When March 30th arrives, Facebook Pages will change forever. Well, knowing Facebook’s track record, things will probably change again. But, at the end of the month, Pages will have the new Timeline design. While some schools have taken the leap of faith, a few schools are still hanging on to their current pages. While you do have [...]
Facebook is a Serial “Feature Killer.”
We need to stay committed to the EdTech ecosystem, and shouldn’t let ourselves get lost in the hype of the next great iteration of Pinterest or whatever other consumer technology is raising eyebrows.
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.
5 Downsides to Facebook Pages and Groups
Since joining Inigral last summer, I’ve had the opportunity to talk with dozens of schools on how they prefer to engage with students on Facebook. Although there are many success stories, some folks in higher ed have expressed major complaints with Facebook’s current functionality. The general attitude towards them is still mostly positive, but some recent statistics [...]
Tufts University Social Admissions Tips
Last week I had the opportunity to conduct a design interview with Daniel Grayson from Tufts university. Tufts has received national coverage in the past for their innovative use of social media in their admissions process. USA Today named Tufts as one of 20 colleges making best use of social media and in 2010 the New York Times covered how [...]
Using Social Networking to Increase Student Retention
Selected Research on Social Networking from Emily Dalton Smith (Director of Student Engagement at ASU Online), and Michael Staton (CEO and Co-Founder of Inigral, Inc.). This was derived from a poster presentation that ASU and Inigral presented at Educause 2009.
10 Things to Ask Before Creating Another Facebook Page for Your University
Do you ever search for your school name on Facebook and get surprised at the number of search results that come back? I’m always amazed at the number of pages different universities have. From a Facebook Page for the Class of 2016 parents to a page for “parking and transportation offices” (who would like that?), [...]
Is Facebook Spam Ruining your School’s Page or Group?
Recently (as you may or may not have seen) the Facebook news feeds have become filled with pornographic images, dead animals, and other disturbing images. Although phishing spam (links that entice you with catchy headlines and photos) are nothing new, the rate at which they are increasing has been making headlines this week.
The Missing Link – Social Networks and Enrollment Modeling
Last week I attended the 21st annual ACCRAO SEM conference in San Diego, where I had the chance to mingle with the university administrators and higher education thought leaders who are part of the emerging field of enrollment management. My main goal was to learn more about predictive enrollment modeling, but I also had a colorful [...]
3 Social Media Lessons from San Jacinto Community College
“We live in a real-time world and social media takes real effort from real people.” Earlier this week I had the privilege of speaking with two real people on the San Jacinto marketing team, who recently launched our product, the Schools App, last month at their college. Alyssa Webb is the Social Media Coordinator and Amanda [...]
Facebook Developer Conference Three Key Takeaways
For the first time ever (last month) Facebook had 500 million users in one day. 1. Facebook is launching a redesigned profile called Timeline. The marketing is around “All your stories. All your apps. Express who you are.” The original profile focused on basic stats, but it was really only the first five minutes of [...]
Intentional Purgatory – the new place for Marketing and Communications
Marketers, you are now in “Intentional Purgatory.” I call it this because you’re now in a box just made for you – a box that people “intend” to get around to looking at, but most likely never will in any way that will command their attention for your message.
