How has Social Media Changed Schools and Businesses?

Many colleges and universities have jumped on the bandwagon of social media. Why not? After all, schools are businesses too. They need more students to survive. A great marketing tool for schools has been to show what they are doing in the community.This is where social media comes into play.

While it is true that many schools and businesses that do not understand the power of social media tend to think of it as a way to “play” online or a form of gossiping on the Internet. On the other hand, social media should be fun, but at the same time, the goal is to bring more business and popularity to the online community.

The best colleges and universities all use social media as a way of marketing to potential students. Let’s face it; if you go to the school’s website, you feel a certain way, like everything is business and school oriented. If the college has a social media page and you head to the site, they may have the same information that they have on their website, but it is more relaxed and seems more personalized. People get to hear from school representatives and they are more likely to have a favorable opinion of the school.

Many schools struggle to keep enrollment up, which is why many colleges and universities offer online programs. Even then enrollment can suffer. When you have a social media page up, it gives the impression to others that they have a direct line to someone at the school. Even though they could simply call the school directly, a social media site can offer even more choices for direct communication. Schools that do use social media regularly and post to it continually have seen an increase in website hits and enrollment inquiries.

You need to remember that you can’t just set up a social media page and then never return to it. The only way for you to see results from the site is to actively participate on the page or at least have someone from your school or company post new information and reply to comments daily. While this might seem like a big investment of time, it truly only takes about 30 minutes when you stay on top of it. Moreover, it helps you to connect to the online community to see the types of people who are interested in your school or business.

Begin building a huge following by accepting invitations from people to either follow you or be your friend on the various sites. It’s impressive for others to go to a business’ social media page and see they have thousands of people who like them or are following them. Lastly, your agenda for online social media is to bring people back to your school or business website, and to get involved in the page you have built so that people feel your business is personable and approachable.

To your social media success!!