Social media is starting to become an increasingly big platform for advertising to prospective and current college students. With Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, campuses all around the country are using social media as a form of student recruitment.
In recent years social media has become a part of millennium’s daily lives. Many young people share their entire lives on social media through photos, posts and shares.
“I use social media constantly on my phone,” sophomore Annie Gorski said. “So when it came for me to start looking for colleges junior year in high school, I looked up the ones people recommended to me on Facebook and went from there.”
A 2015 report from the National Center for Educational Statistics found that in the United States, postsecondary enrollment dipped every year between 2010 and 2014 – from 21 million in 2010 to 20.2 million in 2014.
Although that is the fate for a majority of schools, Cabrini University is surpassing that statistic as of 2016 by recruiting its biggest class in 10 years. Advertising on social media is very important for colleges because that is the first thing prospective students might see from that school.
“I manage the admissions Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat,” assistant director of admissions Lauren Savage said. “It is always important to showcase the programs and students at Cabrini. Since social media is so relevant today, it is the quickest platform to reach our students.”
Running professional and consistent social media accounts gives a campus an image. Photos, posts and ads tell prospective student about what the school is like on a casual medium that they are most familiar with.
“It’s important for the admissions office to have social media accounts because that’s where the students are,” associate director of transfer admissions John Solewin said. “They are on Facebook, on Snapchat, on Twitter. Having these accounts gives us another voice to the students. It also allows the students to find out more about Cabrini, beyond our website.”
With around 100 colleges within 50 miles of Philadelphia recruiting is as competitive as ever in this area. Prospective students like to see creative media from colleges so that they will be interested in knowing more.
“The hardest part is trying to come up with content that is both relevant to students but still acting as the professional voice of the institution,” Savage said. “The easiest part is the variety of content we can choose from – Cabrini programs and its students sell themselves!”
Being connected to a college via social media makes prospective students feel comfortable before stepping on campus. They can easily see posts by the college and are more likely to remember that school.
“Lauren along with our social media intern Maddy do a great job organizing and keeping up with our social media accounts. They are constantly doing research on what other schools are posting and asking the staff and the ambassadors for new ideas,” Solewin said. “My favorite weekly post is showcase Saturday. It’s where we highlight a current student on the social media accounts.”
