Students today have grown up using social technologies. For them, social media usage is a core life skill and not just a hobby. Drawing from a blend of academic research and real-world campaigns, Jeff Berg, Peterson's Senior Social Strategist, will discuss how social media can play a key role throughout the graduate school selection and application process. In this session, you will learn: -Why social media is particularly effective with prospective students -Where social media fits into the overall branding of a graduate program -Five tactics that you can act on now to aid your social strategy

1. More Than Just Fans:
Five Steps to Creating Vibrant Social Communities That Cater to Graduate Students

2. Jeff Berg
Senior Social Strategist
Peterson’s Interactive
With more than six years of
experience, Jeff uses his social media
expertise to help schools streamline
engagement methodologies and create
meaningful, personal dialogues with
current and future students.
Jeff graduated from University of
Southern California with a degree in
Print Journalism.
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3. Agenda
• The World of Social Media
• Social Media and Graduate
Recruitment
• Five Steps to Better Graduate
Communities
– Don’t Hide
– Have Human Conversations
– Show, Don’t Tell
– Spotlight Student and Staff
Success
– Measure Everything
• Q&A
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4. What Exactly Are We Talking About?

5. What is Social Media?
• Social media has changed how
human beings communicate,
organize, and spend time online:
– 75% of all adult internet
users.
– More than 20% of all time
spent online.
• Comparisons of most well-
known social media:
– If Twitter were a book it
would be equivalent to 1,500
complete works of
Shakespeare each day.
– If YouTube were a movie it
would take over 400 years to
watch.
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6. The World of Social Media
1,966,514,816
2,000,000,000
1,800,000,000
1,600,000,000
1,400,000,000 Oceania
1,200,000,000 Latin America
1,000,000,000 620,223,963
North America
800,000,000
600,000,000 Middle East
400,000,000 Europe
200,000,000 Asia
-
Africa
Total Internet Facebook Users
Users
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7. • Wikipedia • Social bookmarking
• Consumer opinions and • Online niche communities
reviews • Social biographies
• Internet mash-ups • Social news
• Blogs • Livecasting
• Message boards • Audio sharing
• Online gaming • Virtual worlds
• Photo sharing websites • Information aggregators
• Interactive fiction • Collaboration tools
• Instant messaging • Event organization tools
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8. Social Media and Graduate Recruitment

9. Student Usage
• Prospective students today…
• Grew up with Internet technology
• Nearly three-quarters use social
media
• 18 percent use Twitter
• 67 percent own an MP3 player
• 81 percent access the Internet
wirelessly
• 70 percent believe colleges should
have a presence on social
networks
• 51 percent want to be contacted
directly through a social network
“Scrolling Toward Enrollment,” Noel-Levitz, 2009
Pew Internet & American Life Project, 2010
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10. Graduate School Selection Process
• Decision-Making Process
– Model follows a highly involved,
complex buying behavior
(Nicholls et al., 1995)
– Multiple information sources
consulted
– Emphasis on personal sources
• The Decision
– Typically, 3 to 5 “mega-
criteria” used for selection
(Heslop and Nadeau 2010)
– No one factor is most
important for everyone
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11. Decision-Making Factors in Graduate
School Selection
• Top-level categories exist in the decision-
making process
– Academic
• Functional areas of study
• Leadership and decision-making
skills
• Professor reputation
• Student/faculty interaction
– Professional
• School relationships with the
business community
• Networking and contacts
– Financial & Community
• Tuition, ROI, financial assistance,
grants
• Geographic benefits
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12. Social Media for Recruitment
• At the most basic level,
provides a feel for school life
through an online community
• 3 to 5 times more successful
than standard marketing
targeting
• Peers are more influential in
college choice than
advertising
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13. Five Steps to Better Graduate
Communities
Step 1: Don’t Hide

14. Practice Ambient Findability
The adventure is getting into graduate school
and finishing it.
(not finding your social media presence)
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15. UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
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16. Stanford Graduate School of Business
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17. Five Steps to Better Graduate
Communities
Step 2: Have Human Conversations

18. Have Human Conversations
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19. Have Human Conversations
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20. Five Steps to Better Graduate
Communities
Step 3: Show, Don’t Tell

21. Show, Don’t Tell
Social media isn’t just a
megaphone
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22. For Academic Factors
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23. For Community Involvement
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24. Five Steps to Better Graduate
Communities
Step 4: Spotlight Student and Staff
Success

25. Spotlight Your Success
The best advocates for any school are your existing
students and faculty.
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26. iTunes U
• Podcast and video
content
– Dean’s speaker
series
– Conferences
– Commencements
– Interviews
– Guest lectures
– Advice to
prospective
students
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27. University of Chicago—TweetChicago
• Launched October 2008
• On Dec. 10, 2009, totally replaced “A Day in the Life” blog
• Now 15 authors featuring both students and faculty
• Content ranges from the mundane to relevant to the legal community
• Results
– Rankings (U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings)
• • 2008: Rank 6
Launched October 2008
• On Dec. 10, Rank 6 totally replaced “A Day in the Life” blog
• 2009: 2009,
• 2010: Rank 5
• Now 15 authors featuring both students and faculty
• Content ranges from the mundane to relevant to the legal
community
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28. Five Steps to Better Graduate
Communities
Step 5: Measure It All

29. Keep Things In Perspective
How do we
measure human
conversations in a
gift economy?
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30. Look at the Evolution
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31. Social Media Tracking and Metrics
Go beyond basic measurements like fans, followers, and comments
• Independent tracking
– Text analytics
– Sentiment analysis
– Link tracking and
behavioral information
– Activity, engagement, and
reach
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32. Summary
Step One: Don’t Hide
Step Two: Have Human Conversations
Step Three: Show, Don’t Tell
Step Four: Spotlight Students and Staff
Step Five: Measure It All
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33. Questions?
Contact:
Jeff Berg
Senior Social Strategist
Peterson’s Interactive
E-mail: jeff.berg@petersons.com
Phone: 201.477.7687
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