Asking Smarter Questions » Education Industry

How Leveraging Big Data Can Help Educational Institutions

Steve Parker, Jr. (@sparkerjr) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 17:28:53 +0000

Marketing an educational institution comes with its own set of unique challenges. We will focus on three of the most prevalent goals of higher education institutions: 1) garner more fundraising dollars or government grants, 2) appeal to a larger (and/or more accomplished) student population, 3) attract a more distinguished faculty. Because of these distinct and different audiences, institutions can benefit highly from digital marketing and data enrichment. And though it is a school, it is important to remember that it is still a business that needs to see a return on investment just like any other.

Campaign Optimization

Money is in the forefront of every business’ mind, and higher education is no different. Garnering donations from the institution’s network is of the utmost importance if the school wishes to grow their endowment and succeed. But how can they decide on where to spend the most money? By looking at the previous year’s donations, schools can infer what demographics, locations and donor status (alumnae, parent, corporate, etc.) should be targeted. Reviewing this information can save money by removing marketing dollars from initiatives that were not lucrative last year and placing more emphasis on an emerging trend.

For example, if young alumni donations have been steadily decreasing for the last three years and the institution wants to ascertain why. Previously, young alumni dollars were going to the general fund, yet young alumni attendance at on-campus fundraising events were highest when there were football games. Therefore, creating a program that encourages young alumni to donate to the sports department, or offering football tickets to young alumni who donate to the general fund, could be a smart way to improve fundraising.

Clearer Communication

Leveraging big data can help you communicate with your prospective donors and families more clearly about your institution. The majority of donors–whether they are paying tuition or donating a building–want to know where their hard-earned dollars are going. Therefore, starting a campaign that keeps the community up to date on the school’s current projects and programs is a great idea. These campaigns can also reinforce brand building, as it exhibits a thriving and successful network.

Creating Competition

Competition is stronger than it has ever been with more students going to college, getting postgraduate degrees, and applying to more schools than ever before. Analyzing data about current trends in education is imperative to staying competitive in the industry. Additionally, accessing data about other school populations and from where its students matriculate can be a good indicator of where to begin. Deepening the knowledge about the current student population can also create opportunities for diversifying and appealing to different groups of individuals, thus creating new recruiting initiatives for both students and faculty.

Staffing + HR Efficiency

By examining student population trends, as well as the designation of donor funds and potential programs, schools can decide when to increase/decrease staff and when to award tenure. Hiring more effective educators can be the answer to sparking student interest in a unpopular program, as well as donor dollars. Optimizing staff is not always about downsizing, either. Often times, data can uncover special interests of a department or individual. Expanding a prolific research program can sometimes make more sense than recruiting more students or increasing class size, and employees will be happier and more productive if they feel they are being utilized in the best way.

Big data should go beyond marketing. These are just a few ways big data can be leveraged to help institutions enact operational change and change the way they do business.

How Does Digital Attribution Work?

Online Recruiting: HR + Staffing Optimization

Where the Money Goes: Budget Allocation Tips

7 Ways to Use Facebook Marketing in Higher Education

Steve Parker, Jr. (@sparkerjr) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 19:07:49 +0000

Current and prospective college students spend a great deal of time on Facebook, so it only makes sense to use it as a platform for marketing in higher education. Universities appear to agree – in a study performed by UMass at Dartmouth, 98% of universities reported having some kind of marketing presence on Facebook. But although “everybody’s doing it,” the use of Facebook marketing in higher education varies greatly by school. That is – every school has their own way of leveraging the social giant, creating a personal edge that is unique to their school. Below are seven examples of using Facebook marketing in higher education.

1. Virtual Tours

Using Facebook marketing, universities can easily take prospective students on a full tour of the campus – right from their homes. For students who cannot make it to your campus for a walking tour due to schedule conflicts, financial strains, etc., you can still show them all your university has to offer through virtual tours on your Facebook page.

2. Show Your School Pride

A great way for students to form tighter bonds with the university and with each other is through a shared identity stemming from school pride. And what better place to showcase that school pride than Facebook? For example, Butler’s mascot, Blue II, has his own Facebook page where he gets students amped for upcoming games, keeps them informed of game times and viewing party details.

3. Get Your Swag On

Everyone likes free stuff. University of Kansas uses their page to link to digital and printable school pride memorabilia, such as screensavers, backgrounds and e-cards.

4. Rally the Alumni

A great way for alumni to stay in touch with each other and receive updates regarding university news is through Facebook alumni groups. Some schools have a main alumni group, as well as several smaller groups for local chapters.

5. Skip the Interdepartmental Memos

Some schools, such as Syracuse University, have several different Facebook pages for individual departments. That way, content on each page is specialized for that department while still allowing the various departments to share content across pages.

6. Reach Out to Prospective Students

Facebook marketing is a great way for higher education institutions to communicate with prospective students in the social and engaging manner they’ve grown up with. Create customized tabs with information specific to future students. There’s even an app available that lets universities create a closed Facebook community of admitted students only. That way, students can join the Facebook community and interact with other students without actually having to friend them. The University of Texas at Tyler, who invites admitted students to join their app, found that students who use the app are actually five times more likely to enroll than those who don’t.

7. Incorporate Facebook Places

Through Facebook Places, students can check in at various locations around campus, which then show up in their news feed. To encourage students to use this feature, the University of Kentucky placed giant, wooden markers that looked like the Facebook Places icon around the campus. The hope was that students would be more likely to check in at these places, which could then be seen in news feeds by their friends who are still in high school and starting to think of where they’d like to go to college.

Social Media in Higher Education: The Top 10 U.S. Colleges

Image Source: stock.xchng

Social Media in Higher Education: The Top 10 U.S. Colleges

Jeff Adelson-Yan (@jeffadelsonyan) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:00:33 +0000

When U.S. News released its list of top ranking schools in the country for 2012, Mashable decided one important factor was left out of the rankings: how socially connected is each school? So they examined the top 10 schools and analyzed their social media presences for factors such as Facebook pages, YouTube channels, Twitter feeds incorporating campus life and follower count. Take a look below at how each college stacks up when it comes to social media in higher education.

Williams College
U.S. News college ranking: 1
Main Twitter account: @williamscollege
Twitter followers: 2,675
Other Twitter accounts: @EphSports
Main Facebook page: williamscollege
Facebook fans: 6,523
YouTube channel: williamscollege
YouTube videos/subscribers: 193/ 267

Amherst College
U.S. News college ranking: 2
Main Twitter account: @Amherst College
Twitter followers: 2,104
Other Twitter accounts: @wamhamherst, @AmherstBaseball, @theateranddance, @CollegianStaff, @AmherstSports
Main Facebook page: amherstcollege
Facebook fans: 4,800
YouTube channel: AmherstCollege
YouTube videos/subscribers: 132/ 242

Swarthmore College
U.S. News college ranking: 3
Main Twitter account: @swarthmore
Twitter followers: 1,069
Other Twitter accounts: @swatgazette, @swarthmorestuco, @SwatAthletics
Main Facebook page: Swarthmore-College
Facebook fans: 3,030
YouTube channel: SwarthmoreCollegePA
YouTube videos/subscribers: 153/ 103

Pomona College
U.S. News college ranking: 4
Main Twitter account: @pomonacollege
Twitter followers: 1,564
Other Twitter accounts: @PomonaArtMuseum, @PomonaCDO
Main Facebook page: pomonacollege
Facebook fans: 4,136
YouTube channel: PomonaCollege
YouTube videos/subscribers: 71/ 55

Middlebury College
U.S. News college ranking: 5
Main Twitter account: @Middlebury
Twitter followers: 2,789
Other Twitter accounts: @middblog, @middcampus, @MiddAthletics, @middartmuseum
Main Facebook page: middleburycollege
Facebook fans: 7,859
YouTube channel: middcommunications
YouTube videos/subscribers: 78/ 782

Bowdoin College
U.S. News college ranking: 6 (tied)
Main Twitter account: @bowdoincollege
Twitter followers: 1,092
Other Twitter accounts: @bowdoinnews, @bowdoinorient, @GoUBears, @BowdoinMuseum, @BowdoinCstore
Main Facebook page: Bowdoin
Facebook fans: 7,558
YouTube channel: Bowdoin1794
YouTube videos/subscribers: 57/ 52

Carleton College
U.S. News college ranking: 6 (tied)
Main Twitter account: @CarletonCollege
Twitter followers: 1,581
Other Twitter accounts: @CarletonNews, @CarletonKnights, @TheWellnessCntr, @BamcoCarleton, @CC_theCave
Main Facebook page: CarletonCollege
Facebook fans: 5,846
YouTube channel: carletoncollege
YouTube videos/subscribers: 19/ 37

Wellesley College
U.S. News college ranking: 6 (tied)
Main Twitter account: @WellesleyNews
Twitter followers: 1,900
Other Twitter accounts: @Wellesleymag, @WellesleyBlue, @MyCWS
Main Facebook page: WellesleyCollege
Facebook fans: 7,528
YouTube channel: WellesleyCollegeTV
YouTube videos/subscribers: 25/ 56

Claremont McKenna College
U.S. News college ranking: 9
Main Twitter account: n/a
Other Twitter accounts: @cmcforum, @CMCnews
Main Facebook page: ClaremontMcKennaCollege
Facebook fans: 1,928
YouTube channel: claremontmckenna
YouTube videos/subscribers: 22/ 55

Haverford College
U.S. News college ranking: 10
Main Twitter account: @haverfordedu
Twitter followers: 641
Other Twitter accounts: @AskHaverford, @FordsSports, @haverfordhhc, @hcblacksquirrel
Main Facebook page: haverfordcollege
Facebook fans: 578
YouTube channel: haverfordcollege
YouTube videos/subscribers: 44/ 25

Image Source: Flickr