Social media: Connecting institutes with students

In a decade renowned for ushering prominent changes in technology, the advent of social media changed the face of communication. It began as a concept of fun but essentially became an indispensable part of our lives. Recognising its importance, industries understood the business value that social media brought with its popularity, and thus embraced the idea with open arms. It transcends the field of education as well. The domain quickly adapted to the nuances of social media, with the aim to grow substantially. Here’s how social media is helping education today:

The devotion to education amongst parents in India is extremely pious. They give paramount importance in delivering the best possible education to their child from well-renowned institutions. This is reflected in the increasing numbers of admissions taking place every year across all forms of academia. As a result, institutes have realised the importance of standing out amongst the crowd for brand image and recruitment purposes. Hence, they have resorted to social media strategies for year long engagement with their audience. By leveraging their social media channels such as highlighting their courses and student culture frequently, colleges can create meaningful connections with their prospective students.

Furthermore, educational institutes use social media strategies to accomplish their objectives across user engagement, educational marketing, social listening and research, and lead generation. Let’s begin with user engagement.

The engagement of users on any social media channel depends on how they perceive the posted content. The quantitative way of identifying that perception is through likes, comments, and shares, which provide real-time feedback on the performance of the content. The more engaging the content, the higher the numbers. Therefore, institutes can keep live seminars on Facebook, provide minute-by-minute event updates on their Twitter, post about their culture and campus on Instagram, or answer the ‘why’ through detailed microblogging and posting on third-party portals. Such engaging content generates interest about the institute and positively builds its overall image.

Moreover, institutes leverage their user engagement for educational marketing purposes by catering to a large audience for raising awareness about their brand, their courses, and how they could be the perfect fit for students. One way of creating that level of awareness is through links inserted across social media posts, which consists of UTM parameters. These parameters help in mapping the journey of the user upon clicking the link. Moreover, the information provided in these posts will make it easy for parents and students to learn more about the institute and gain insight about their campus life. Or, they can upload appealing photos about their campus or the landmarks near them, which will entice students to join them.

Moreover, social media helps institutes to connect with their current and prospective students, while also reconnect with their alumni. It can be through creating polls, conversational posts, or posts that resonate with the current themes, trends, and hashtags. It also creates a feeling of relatability, where students can identify their personality with the institute’s, which in turn helps in lead nurturing.

Influence decisions

Thanks to the internet, students have the luxury to find a plethora of information about their course. From reading about the industry-centred curriculum to the colleges that offer it, students are more informed in their decision making.

In order to influence their decisions, colleges can post relevant information on their blog section or on third-party portals. From talking about their course structure to offering fantastic placement opportunities, colleges can give detailed information about their USPs and post these blogs on their social media. By reading this information, colleges can fill students with confidence that their immediate academic future lies with them.

The popularity of social media isn’t going down anytime soon, and the same goes for the importance of education. By combining the two, institutes can adapt to the fast-changing environment of social media and become a prominent force in the education industry.

(The author is Managing Director, SRV Media)