The document discusses the rise of social networking sites and how they are changing communication patterns, especially among teens and young adults. It notes that social networking sites allow users to create profiles and connect with other users. The document then provides some statistics on social networking site usage. It concludes by suggesting some specific social media marketing strategies that institutions can use to engage prospective students in an authentic way through participation and relationship building rather than traditional control of messaging.

1. Putting the in

3. What is Web 2.0 Web 2.0 is linking people… … people sharing, trading and collaborating… 2007 Digital Ethnography, Kansas State University

4. where a user can create a profile… and build a personal network that… A social networking site is an online place… connects him or her to other users.

5. 55% of teens use social networking sites

6. 9 out of 10 teens use Social Networking sites to keep in touch with those they see frequently

7. Club Penguin, ages 7 - 12 MySpace, ages 12 - 17 Facebook ages 18 - 25 Linkedin ages 26 and up

8. Digg

9. Flickr

10. Traineo

11. Last.fm

12. 2 nd most visited Website in the world!

13. 3M to 10.5M users in one year USA Today, March 9, 2006

14. Twitter – platform for mobile updates

15. Some institutions have begun to participate in the community!

18. Now give me some specific marketing strategies!

19. Communication patterns are changing e-mail Texting IMing FACEing Blogging

20. You can no longer control the message

21. You must change your strategy… … to one of participation

22. A social networking marketing strategy will help you… Reach new audiences and draw them to your Web site Keep existing visitors coming back to your site with regularity Connect with your prospective students with authenticity Engage prospective students with your institution in an active and real way Build relationships

23. Leverage blogs Create an admission office blog and have counselors update it with daily experiences Interviews, file review, tours, events Highlight faculty blogs on important topics Develop a culture of blogging at the institution; find interesting and positive blogs to highlight on recruitment pages How can we use blogs to reach other audiences? Counselors Parents

24. Use social media Post photos to flickr Make photo groups and encourage participation by students, alumni, and staff Hold a contest to make the best tour video Evaluate on authenticity Target and syndicate all content

25. Engage in social networking Encourage admission counselors to create “professional” profiles on MySpace and/or Facebook Develop guidelines of course Pull site content onto Facebook pages

26. Start small Set goals Target one new feature per recruitment cycle Don’t forget to reduce efforts in more costly and time consuming marketing efforts

27. Control Fabricate Deceive

28. Facilitate Guide Filter