Expand your Student Recruitment With These Social Media Networks

Social Networks for Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit

Presented by: Higher Education Marketing

1.  Why Should Your School Be Targeting ‘Niche’ Social Networks?

2.  Joining the Conversation with Potential Recruits on Tumblr

3.  Pinterest: A Versatile Student Recruitment Alternative

4.  Reddit: Tailor-Made for Higher Education Content Marketing

Overview

1. Why Should Your School Be Targeting ‘Niche’ Social Networks?

Source: HEM – 3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit

Social media habits and user demographics are constantly changing.

� As the presence of older users on the leading social media sites grows, millennials and teenagers are increasingly migrating towards smaller ‘niche’ sites.

Usage of Facebook among 18-24 year olds is expected to decline in 2016, while usage among 25-34 year olds remains static.

- Adweek

Some emerging social media sides catering for younger demographics have specific rules on: �  Tone

�  Types of Content

�  Brand participation in their online communities

Let’s explore three of the most exciting emerging social media networks and the unique opportunities they present for student recruitment!


1. Why Should Your School Be Targeting ‘Niche’ Social Networks?

Tumblr ‘Fast Facts’ for recruiters- �  A microblogging site that allows users to present short-form blogs in an

easy-to-read dashboard interface.

�  555 million monthly visitors as of January 2016 �  Extremely popular among 13-25 year olds

�  Users spend an average of 14 minutes on the site per visit, 1.5 minutes longer than the average Facebook user!

�  Mass Editor feature makes scheduling and updating posts easy

�  Tumblr posts create ‘dofollow’ links to benefit SEO

2. Joining the Conversation with Potential Recruits on Tumblr




� Publish long, text heavy posts

�  Leave generic comments e.g. ‘great post!’

� Take too long between new posts

� Take it too seriously

Tumblr users are very active, and have unique a sensibility, so managing your school’s presence on the site can be challenging and time consuming.

� Favour short posts

�  Include visual content

� Update regularly

� Comment on other users’ posts

� Use a casual tone

Tumblr Do’s- Tumblr Don'ts-

Schools can use Tumblr for- �  Repurposing old content: Try taking videos of college events and cutting

small segments to make GIFs

�  Showcasing snippets and quotes from longer articles on your website with links to the full post

�  Microblogs for departments like student support services �  Running competitions and offers to engage potential recruits



Example- Michigan State University’s admissions office uses a Tumblr blog to answer applicants' questions and share unique images from their students and faculty.



Engaging regularly and showing your school’s unique personality is the key to connecting with Tumblr users!

Why can Pinterest be important to your online student recruitment? �  Organize images, videos, and quotes into ‘virtual pin-boards’ using the

site’s extremely intuitive layout

�  The fourth most popular social networking site with 250 million estimated unique monthly visitors (eBizMBA Guide)

�  Three times the traffic of Instagram

�  The top traffic driver among social platforms- 4 times more traffic than Facebook, and more than Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter combined!

�  Search activity on the site has grown 81% annually

�  Builds a stored link for every post, which creates an inbound link to your site or even specific landing pages

3. Pinterest: A Versatile Student Recruitment Alternative


You can engage prospective students on Pinterest by- �  Creating boards specifically for your blog posts, with relevant keywords

in your brand description and alt text for images, and links to your website

�  Creating and managing unique boards on different subjects, such as student care services, various faculties, and sporting events

�  Put your school on the map using ‘Place Pins,’ which allow users to pin posts to specific locations

�  Showcasing visual content such as infographics and eye-catching images



Example:

� The University of Alberta’s Go Abroad Office manages a number of Pinterest boards promoting its services.


Students can access a range of information on: •  Study and work opportunities in

different countries •  Travel and city guides •  Maps •  Fun facts on wildlife, food, local

amenities and more!


Reddit at a glance for student recruitment professionals- �  Around 231.6 million unique visitors per month �  Allows users to submit content relating to any topic, divided into relevant

categories known as ‘subreddits’

�  Possibly the most efficient viral engine in the world, with constant updates to every page throughout the day

�  Marketers estimate each upvote to be worth as many as 2-5 unique visitors

�  30% of users are aged between 18-24, 25% aged 25-34

�  50% of Reddit users have at least some college education

�  Creates ‘dofollow’ links for every post

4. Reddit: Tailor-Made for Higher Education Content Marketing




� Use ‘clickbait’ titles

� Ask directly for ‘upvotes’

� Post old, out of date content

� Submit overly promotional posts

� Only post your school’s own content

Student recruitment on Reddit can be challenging. Users have total control, and have been known to ban brands for ‘spamming.’ School’s looking to promote themselves need to be seen to make a valuable contribution to the community.

� Promote long-form intellectual content

� Submit current, topical posts, such as articles about research

� Promote other users content alongside your own

Reddit Do’s- Reddit Don’ts-

You can reach a highly desirable demographic of potential recruits with- �  Informative articles promoting your school’s research and academic

achievements

�  Topical content that relates to recent newsworthy events

�  Asking faculty members to host ‘Ask Me Anything’ sessions (AMAs), a popular Q&A format on the site



Example:

� Baylor University’s Subreddit strikes a good balance between the college’s own promotional content and other posts that will be of interest to students.


Posts which attract upvotes and comments earn what Reddit calls ‘karma.’ Your karma totals are available to users, showing them that you have a record of producing interesting content!
