The ROI on Higher Education’s Use of Social Media

In post-recession American, the organizational focus on the bottom line and the return on investment has becoming increasingly focused on in an organization’s strategy. Even within the realm of higher education, where we are not necessarily as profit focused as private business enterprises, return on investment is still an important metric of success. According to a recent article featured on Inside Higher Education, college administrators are more confident than ever that social media outlets are useful to achieving institutional goals and that their own institutions have been more successful than ever. However, the exact metrics for measuring this success remain a challenge.

I recommend taking a look at the 2012 Topline report on Social Media & Advancement Research, a study that focuses on how institutions (mainly colleges and universities) use social media related activities. In summation of the report’s key findings, about 96% of respondents agreed that “social media have great potential for achieving important goals in my unit.” An additional 90% responded that their unit’s social media efforts are at least “somewhat successful.” And a promising 86% reported they disagreed that it is “too soon to say whether social media will be useful at all in our line of work.”

For a social media enthusiast like myself, the Topline survey results are a great sign of success – however, understanding the exact “outcomes” of social media efforts and campaigns are a bit more elusive. To give an example, as the Inside Higher Ed article mentioned, most administrators looked to at criteria such as “the number of ‘active’ friends, likes, members, people who post, or number of comments” as metrics for evaluating their social media success. While these metrics are important, they are also a bit crude, in the sense that they represent the most basic of social media activities. This raises the question as to if it is more important to count the number of likes, or focus on the level of influence wielded by those who like your posts.

The quintessential quality over quantity debate.

My opinion is that both matter for different reasons – and even if most of your “likers” are not highly influential, you never know who could find your social media profile through many degrees of separation. However, I do think it is important for higher education institutions to encourage the use of social media in an intelligent and mindful way – and I am not quite sure if a “follow” or a “like” is truly a genuine interaction.

As I also mentioned in a recent post – we are still learning about social media’s best practices and will be for the foreseeable future. If the Topline report results were not enough, for anyone who may need a reminder about the power we posses at our fingertips and laptops screens when we use social media for both personal and professional purposes, I recommend this inspiring video clip.

 

Related articles

• Free Tools to Measure Social Media Results (jenningssocialmedia.com)
• Succeeding At Social Media ROI Measurement (benchmarkemail.com)

Why We Will Always Be Learning About Social Media

We will always be learning about social media.

This is something I was thinking of in reflection to a previous post about the Bureau of Labor Statistics job categories finally being revamped to include social media related positions. Social media is extremely unique as a communications medium – it can almost be considered to be its own living and breathing entity that is perpetually growing and changing on its own. Unlike telephone, email, text message, or even the dreaded fax machine, the platforms used for social media engagement keep growing and changing as the internet and our technology that supports it (example: mobile platforms) continues to do so. Even in my role working in an office of a higher education institution, I find that there are people who are very well versed in social media platforms and then those who are just trying to reach for a basic understanding. There is a huge spectrum of individual variance when it comes to comfort level with social media.

Even in my role within university career services and career counseling, we constantly expand our social media usage. In this past year alone, our office has joined Facebook and Twitter, in the hopes of better connecting to students and alumni who are active on social media. We have also recently installed flat-screen tv panels into the waiting areas of the office, so students can continue to be engaged with useful career development material even while waiting for their appointment or campus interview. The screens are programmed weekly to include content for career-related panels and workshops held in our office or on campus that week. We also use the screens to feature “alumni spotlights” showcasing brief bios and the careers of university alumns, and “fast facts” for quick tips related to resumes, cover letters, interviewing, job searching, and basically all steps of career development through freshman year to graduation day.

We have made great gains in 2013 with these recent developments in the social media usage of my particular office, but by no means are we about to rest on our laurels. As social media and technology continues to change, we will continue to change our strategy to best harness the power and resources it offers. To acknowledge that we will always be learning about social media is not to admit a lack of knowledge or ameturization, but shows a level of professionalism and commitment to excellence in that we are constantly reevaluating best practices in light of future technological developments. I truly believe this mindset is essential to those working within higher education – we need to keep up with our trend setting students!

 

Crowdfunding Higher Education with Nakoo

Crowdfunding is arguably one of the most important technological developments we have seen this decade. For some background information on crowdfunding for those who are maybe less familiar with it, check out this informational video:

While crowdfunding has typically focused on small business and entrepreneurial developments, it actually has many creative uses and funding higher eduction is one of them! I’m very inspired by the efforts of Nazia Mintz-Habib, and her organization Nakoo, which is beginning to spin the wheels in motion for revolutionizing the way we fund education. Nakoo is a Kiva meets Kickstarter effort. Kiva is a non-profit organization which allows people to loan money to aspiring business starters and entrepreneurs in underdeveloped or impoverished countries, and Kickstarter is the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects. However, unlike Kiva, the money donated through Nakoo is not a loan – Nakoo is an online platform which brings students in need of tuition support together with contributors or companies who can fund them. In case you were wondering, Nakoo also means “tallest tree” in the Mayan language.

Prospective students can put together a profile on Nakoo’s website, including information such as the school they attend, the amount of funding they need, and any other relevant personal information. So far, Nakoo has only launched 1 month ago, and is featuring 4 students on its Alpha version while looking for feedback from users.

I’m very excited to follow the growth and development of Nakoo, and think crowdfunding is a very creative and tech-savy way for raising the needed funds to attend college. However, part of me also fears that resources such as Nakoo and their success could take away from the bigger picture and the larger conversation that needs to be had, such as the fact that higher education is quickly becoming more of a necessity, but also less and less affordable for many. I hope that this technological outsourcing to crowdfunding platforms does not take away from the urgency of creating better institutional support and institutional funding or an overhaul of the federal financial aid system that has increasingly become compromised of high interest loans.

While we can only wait and see what the future may hold for making higher education more accessible and affordable, Nakoo is definitely an organization to keep on your radar!

Related articles

• With The Rise Of Crowdfunding In Higher Education, Donating To Your Alma Mater Could Be Cool Again (fastcoexist.com)
• Crowdfunding: Savvy strategy or waste of time? (bizjournals.com)