Use of social media in Swiss universities.

1. How is
Swiss
Academia using
Social Media?
Initiative of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI Annex of the Consulate General.
Swiss Knowledge Network with outposts in Boston, Bangalore, San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai and Singapore.
November 11, 2014
Results from our
annual survey

2. 2
Audience Size
Importance of Social Media
Social Media Channels
Strategies, Tools, Policies
Recap

3. 3
Audience Size
Importance of Social Media
Social Media Channels
Strategies, Tools, Policies
Recap

4. 4
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
EPFL
EHL
UZH
HSG
ETH
UNIBE
UNIL
UNILI
UNIGE
UNIBAS
UNINE
USI
ZHdK
ECAL
UNIFR
HEAD
HEVS
HSLU
ZHAW
HEMU
SUPSI
UNILU
HWZ
HESSO
HEIG-VD
HEG
HTW
FHNW
ELS
HSR
FHS
PHZH
HEM
BFH
EIAFR
FFHS
HEPIA
HEDS
PHLU
ECAV
NTB
EESP
HEDSFR
HE-ARC
PHZUG
Facebook | Likes
! Universities keep growing their audience
! EPFL, EHL, UZH and HSG still among the most liked
! ETH established a very strong presence in 6 months
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000

5. 5
Twitter | Followers
! Most followed are still EPFL, ETHZ, and UNIGE, all have
more than 5,000 followers
@EPFL
@EPFL_en
@UNIGEnews
@ETH
@ETH_en
@unil
@uzh_news
@HSGStGallen
@hslu
@unibern
@UniBasel
@USInews
@unifr
@EHLnews
@UniNeuchatel
@ZHAW
@ecal_ch
@UniLuzern
@fhhwz
@FHNW
@HEADGENEV
@HTW
_Chur
@hes_so
@bfh_hesb
@uni_li
@uzh_news_en
@heigvd
@phzuerich
@hessovalais
@zhdk
@EPFLlive
@supsi_ch
@phluzern
@FFHS
@PH_Zug
@UniBasel_en
@PHTGKreuzlin
@PHTGKreuzlin
7,000
6,000
5,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
4,000
8,000

6. 6
Where You Can Find Additional Data
For more numbers and charts, download your report at
socialmediaswitzerland.org/participants

7. 7
Audience Size
Importance of Social Media
Social Media Channels
Strategies, Tools, Policies
Recap

8. 8
Survey results
• We asked communications departments at all Swiss
universities about how they use and manage social media
• 52 emails sent; 20 responses (8 universities/federal
institutes, 12 universities of applied sciences)
• Fourth annual survey (conducted in 2011, 2012, 2013, and
2014)

9. 9
Social Media has come a long way since 2010
21%
42%
62%
56%
58%
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Yes, social media is a priority at our institution
! 2012 was a big year for social media in Switzerland
! More established at this time, but still not a priority for all

10. 10
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2012
2013
2014
Strongly agree
Agree
Disagree somewhat
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Acceptance is rising
“Acceptance for the use of social media at my institution is
very low (among my internal audience)”

11. 11
Everyone has it in their communications strategy
“Social media is an integral part of our communications
strategy”
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2012
2013
2014
Strongly agree
Agree
Agree somewhat
Disagree somewhat
Disagree
Strongly disagree

12. 12
Money is flowing away from traditional channels
Have you shifted budget to social media in 2014?
! 32% say yes
! 28% say no, but they plan to move some budget soon

13. 13
However, for many this is not enough
“I think we should use social media more at our institution”
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2011
2012
2013
2014
Strongly agree
Agree
Agree somewhat
Disagree somewhat
Disagree
Strongly disagree

14. 14
Institutions see the benefits, but there are still barriers
! 58% strongly agree that social media has great potential
for achieving goals at their institution
! But many could still do better, if they wouldn’t face…
…Lack of
resources
(84%)
…Lack of
knowledge
(10%)
…Lack of
support from
supervisor
(26%)
…Concerns
over loss of
content
control
(10%)

15. 15
Audience Size
Importance of Social Media
Social Media Channels
Strategies, Tools, Policies
Recap

16. 16
Which channels are you using?
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Facebook
Tw
itter
LinkedIn
Blog
Podcasts
(iTunes
U
)
Foursquare
YouTube
Flickr
G
oogle+
Xing
Instagram
Pinterest
Yam
m
er
Snapchat
Which type(s) of social media does your institution use?
(choose all that apply)
! Top 4 remain the same (FB, YT, Twitter, LinkedIn)
! Pinterest is up (5% in 2013), and so is Instagram (39% in
2013)

17. 17
What we can expect to see in 2015
How many plan to set
up new channels?
! 26% Instagram
! 16% Blog
! 10% YouTube
! 5% Pinterest
Google+
Snapchat

18. 18
Are Google+ and Pinterest not worth the effort?
Which channels are successful?
! 100% Facebook
! 84% Twitter
! 68% YouTube
! 53% LinkedIn
! 53% Instagram
! 16% Google+
! 5% Pinterest
è 50% think it is challenging to measure the return of
investment of social media

19. 19
Audience Size
Importance of Social Media
Social Media Channels
Strategies, Tools, Policies
Recap

20. 20
What’s new in terms of managing?
! Most (74%) do it all in-house, relay on internal expertise
! Content is mostly planned (63%), not spontaneous
! Everyone has some sort of content strategy (26% even
a formal one)

21. 21
More and more get students to help out
! 68% hire a student or
interns to help out with
social media (vs. 44% in
2013)
! But experts are still
needed, 55% have a
social media manager (vs.
39% in 2013)
! 79% say that “an expert is
essential to the successful
implementation of social
media” (vs. 57% in 2013)

22. 22
Many use tools to manage channels
! 58% Hootsuite
! 47% Tweetdeck
! 42% Radian6
! 10% SocialBro
! 10% Buffer
! 5% Meltwater Buzz Engage
! 5% Crowdbooster

23. 23
Audience Size
Importance of Social Media
Social Media Channels
Strategies, Tools, Policies
Recap

24. 24
① Social Media has found its place and budget, and is an
integral part of communications
② But lack of resources (time & staff) is still challenge no. 1
③ Facebook and Twitter are still dominating, but the options
are expanding with Instagram and Pinterest
④ ROI is still a mystery to half of the respondents
⑤ Institutions have the internal knowledge and don’t relay too
much on outside help
⑥ Content is much more planned and content strategies are
not unusual

25. 25
Thank you!
Let us know if you would like the
full survey results