IN THE MARCH 2007 ISSUE OF University Business, some observations about social networking websites were noted. Members of sites such as Facebook and MySpace are wary of the encroachment of business into their online spaces. Not being able to control content and invitation- only membership realities create challenges for institutions in using these online tools. Here are some guidelines for delving into the world of social networking:
Apportion marketing dollars correctly.
Dick Damrow, a colleague at Stamats, mentions the 70:20:10 resource allocation rule: 70 percent of marketing dollars should go to the programs and media that you know work; another 20 percent should go to new ideas to be tested; and the final 10 percent should be allocated to new emerging media. This formula makes sense. In no instance would I underfund what works to substantially invest in what may not. Bob Robertson-Boyd, web content coordinator at Capital University (Ohio), predicts that at least some "10 percent" strategies will be in the 70 percent area in future years.
Develop your own social network.
Perhaps the best way to deal with the invitation only barrier to social networking is to develop your own social network for prospective students, current students, parents, and even alumni. As the owner of the network, you are the one doing the inviting.
At this point your motivation for social networking has changed from marketing (generating exposure) to community building. Steve Jones, a communications professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, says it's important to think about the reason for using a social network. Is it to market the institution? Is it to maintain contact with students, or alumni? Is it for use in classes, student organizations, residence halls, etc.? Finally, are you prepared to handle various issues concerning content?
Jones squarely hits the one big caution: You can't over-police your own network. If you do, students and others won't come or won't stay. And here's the rub: You may find yourself hosting a site upon which you are occasionally bashed. This takes a high degree of institutional self-confidence.
The "we will build it" option seems to be the course taken by most institutions. Steven Infanti, director of communications and marketing at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (Pa.), is an advocate of colleges creating their own sites. HU's single sign-on web portal, Jenzabar Internet Campus Solution (JICS), was implemented this fall. Infanti says the "portal better allows new students to situate themselves as part of the HU community." Admitted students can access a portal just for them, and those who then choose HU get access to an enrolled students portal.
Over-police your own network and students won't come or won't stay.
Besides institutional information, notes Infanti, the portals offer community checklists for important dates and future plans, chat tools, and other ways to meet people. The portals take the best of social networking and limit it to the HU community. "We want students to connect with each other, our professors, and our administrators. This is the medium to do so. In the future, we will look at giving parents of admitted students their own portal," he says.
Anne Conaway Peters, director of marketing at Saint Michael's College (Vt.), has a similar take. For many years, a message board on Saint Michael's website has contained specific boards for prospective students, accepted students, and parents. This year, administrators went a step further, implementing a social networking site for accepted students. "We're really viewing this as a yield activity-a chance for accepted students to bond with one another in their own social network," she explains. "Knowing the power of friendships and the strong desire to fit in on the part of our traditional 17- to 18-year-old audience, we're hoping the social bonds they form online will encourage students to choose Saint Michael's." The site is called "KnightSpace," incorporating the college's mascot.
"We thought long and hard about the risk factors before going into this," Conaway Peters adds. "I'm bracing myself for the first time someone posts an inappropriate comment or photo. So far that hasn't happened. Mostly the students have glowed about Saint Michael's. A few have offered critiques as well, and that's OK. In order for KnightSpace to feel authentic, I want to tamper with the content as little as possible so the students really feel that it's 'theirs.' "
