Students everywhere are raising their hands, clamoring for colleges’ attention. But are you reaching them in a way that effectively sells your school? As your admissions team works to shape the best freshman class possible, it’s paramount to have a comprehensive social media plan in place. This Sprout Social syllabus will help you make the grade. Explore These Themes: -How to set up your admissions team for social success. -Social strategies for bringing qualified prospects into your funnel. -Creative content ideas that will resonate with your target audience. -Proven methods of leveraging social media to drive applications.

1. 4 Steps for Using Social to
Recruit College Students
A Guide for Higher Education Marketing
and Admissions Professionals

2. Structure your admissions team for social media success.
Build a steady following of eligible prospective students.
Create and share content that nurtures interest.
Facilitate a social media friendly application process.
4 STEPS FOR USING SOCIAL TO RECRUIT COLLEGE STUDENTS
01
Two-thirds of high school students say that social media
conversations influence their decision on where to enroll in
college.1
So if you’re not actively fostering communication and
joining the conversation, you’re missing out.
Whether your university is big or small, private or public, liberal
arts focused or research driven, it’s critical to attract the attention
of college-bound students, who will be doling out—on
average—more than $100,000 when all is said and done.2
The investment on your end is high as well. As a division of the
university that is beholden to some very clear targets, you
understand it pays to think like a business—one that needs new
customers every single semester. Like any smart business, a
clearly defined social media strategy is essential to your efforts.
Introduction
This guide offers four steps to help you find the right students and
nurture them throughout the entire college admissions process:
1
http://www.uversity.com/downloads/presentations/2014-Social-Admissions-Report-Webinar.pdf
2
https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/misc/trends/
2014-trends-college-pricing-report-final.pdf
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3. 02
01
Structure Your Admissions
Team for Social Media Success
Is your university’s communications team doing the lion’s share of social
posting? That’s a good start for general awareness building and
continued engagement from a broad perspective, but you’ll likely
discover language that isn’t speaking directly to prospective students.
The solution: Build your admissions team a social presence of its own
across platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram; even Pinterest).
Bottom line
Segmenting school profiles by audiences
and planned social communication activities is key.
Don’t sell yourself short either by thinking that only the biggest
universities need a designated social media presence for their
admissions staff. In fact, according to Sprout Social’s Discovery Smart
Search feature, more than 900 Twitter handles around the US are geared
toward “college admissions.”
Once you’ve picked the right platforms and created accounts for the
admissions team, make sure everyone understands the objectives. Get
your staff set up with access to your pages and social management tool,
and train them thoroughly. Sprout offers front-end training and ongoing
webinars to make things easier. Then, encourage active participation.
Many universities build social metrics into their admissions staff’s
performance evaluations. Sprout’s Reports tool provides neatly
consolidated data to help.
4 STEPS FOR USING SOCIAL TO RECRUIT COLLEGE STUDENTS

4. 4 STEPS FOR USING SOCIAL TO RECRUIT COLLEGE STUDENTS
03
02
Now that you have built a social environment
where prospective students can engage and
you have thought through how your team will
interact with them, it’s time to build a
community of strong leads. Here’s how:
Discover who is reaching out to your school.
Find out who is already reaching out to your
school on social media by doing some quick
searches for your name—bonus points if those
students are already reaching out to the school’s
main channels with questions on the application
process. Moving forward, you can have the team
running your university’s main brand channels
refer prospective students to your new admissions
handles. Sprout’s Tasks feature makes this
process easy.
Monitor social media for school mentions.
People discussing you on social won’t always tag
you in their posts. That’s why it’s a good idea to
monitor for when your school isn’t mentioned
directly on your page. For example, your
admissions team could also monitor for phrases
such as “applying to NYU,” “Northwestern
admissions” or “UCLA acceptance rates.” These
would be interested people with whom your team
should foster relationships. Keyword monitoring in
Sprout makes this process efficient.
Monitor social for “brand adjacent” and
education category phrases.
How about prospective students who are
undecided about even attending college? With
intent to act, these are important relationships to
build. The prospects may not mention your school
by name (or even any school by name), but they’re
talking around the category. Try monitoring social
media for keywords such as “best colleges,” “best
schools applications,” “great universities to attend”
and other brand adjacent phrases that are typical
of people starting the college selection process.
Build a Steady
Following of Eligible
Prospective Students

5. 04
4 STEPS FOR USING SOCIAL TO RECRUIT COLLEGE STUDENTS
03
Create and Share Content
that Nurtures Interest
Every university boasts unique characteristics; make sure you’re
showcasing yours across your social platforms. Use media—images,
infographics, videos and testimonials—to create interesting, useful
content that will aid in the decision-making process.
Do you have a beautiful campus?
Show it off through pictures of storied buildings,
handsome statues and secret study spots that
students will have the joy of experiencing.
Have you been featured in the press?
Share articles about your school and alumni that will
draw applicants into your world.
UWMadison Admissions
@UW_Admissions
#UWFall is a great time to be on campus.
Have you signed up for a visit yet?
admissions.wisc.edu/visitbucky/#future-
badgers
Impressive young alumni getting deserved
recognition in Forbes for their innovative app.
@BCAlumni
forbes.com/pictures/eimi4...
BC Admission
@BC_Admission

6. 3
http://wommapedia.org/#section2
05
4 STEPS FOR USING SOCIAL TO RECRUIT COLLEGE STUDENTS
A recent report from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association shows
that 81 percent of US consumers are influenced by their friend’s social
media recommendations. Take advantage of user-generated content to
shape your story. Retweet and share posts that have a positive message
about your university. If someone posts about being accepted to your
college, why not retweet it for all to see?
Are you known for your sports program?
Highlight recent box scores, pictures of your team in action or tailgating videos.
An unforgettable game! @PackMensBball
wins against No. 2 Duke! #STATEment
#tradition #gopack
NC State Admissions
@applyncstate

7. 04
Facilitate a Social Media
Friendly Application Process
All your social media efforts will be in vain if it isn’t easy to apply. To
ensure prospective students understand what next step to take, include
a link to your admissions website in your social media profile and call
attention to this link frequently around application deadlines.
Furthermore, consider the life cycle of prospective students as they
interact with your school—what information is needed at each stage?
• Inquiry
• Application
• Admission
• Enrollment
On the following pages are some best practices to drive action
throughout the admissions process.
06
4 STEPS FOR USING SOCIAL TO RECRUIT COLLEGE STUDENTS

8. 07
4 STEPS FOR USING SOCIAL TO RECRUIT COLLEGE STUDENTS
Only 10 days left to apply! Don’t forget!
colorado.edu/admissions/und...
#ApplyCUBoulder #CUBoulder
CU Admissions
@mycuboulder
Join us in January to get all your
admissions questions answered!
#OhioStateChat
FutureBuckeyes
@futurebuckeyes
Host live chats.
Set aside regular times to host live Twitter or
Facebook chats with interested students. It’s best to
plan topics and announce themes in advance so that
students come prepared and you are able to guide
the conversation.
Coach the students.
Social media allows prospective students to interact
in real time with admissions representatives. The
experience you create here, like the one you provide
in person, should be welcoming. If students feel
overwhelmed in any way, they may opt out of your
social media all together and, with it, the application
process.
Create a sense of urgency.
Let’s face it, high school students may not have the
most developed time-management skills. Frequent
deadline reminders will encourage them to plan
ahead, manage the process and submit their materials
on time. Consider it a crash course in college itself.
Distribute FAQ documents and resources.
Social media runs 24/7. Your team, however, does not
(though sometimes it might feel that way). Post
documents on your social channels that answer
common questions about the admissions process.
Self-service tools can be more efficient for
prospective students and of great relief to your team.

9. 08
4 STEPS FOR USING SOCIAL TO RECRUIT COLLEGE STUDENTS
The decision on where to attend college is both practical and
emotional. Perhaps the student is interested in one of your
academic programs. Maybe the student’s parents went to your
school. Or it could be that the student has an affinity for your
sports team. The more you highlight these assets while delivering
necessary information around dates and deadlines, the more likely
you are to bring in the right students at the right time.
As students gear up to make that big decision, and you work to
shape the ideal freshmen class, make sure you’re providing an
exceptional social experience—on campus as well as online.
Final Review

10. Sprout Social provides social media engagement, publishing
and analytics tools for leaders in higher education, including
Marquette University, Oklahoma State University, Seneca
College, The Wharton School of Business at University of
Pennsylvania and Yale University. A powerful platform for
communication, Sprout enables colleges and universities to
more effectively manage their channels, collaborate across
teams and offer an exceptional student and alumni experience.
Headquartered in Chicago, Sprout is a Twitter Certified
Product, Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer and
Google+ Pages API Partner.
sproutsocial.com
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