This study was conducted to determine how students utilize digital media, including websites, & social media when researching colleges and universities to apply to for admission. It provides marketers insight into the media habits of college students, and is especially beneficial for content marketing agencies and marketing personnel within the The study provides interesting insights for marketers related to how students shop for schools, what people and other factors influence them, what types of devices they use, and more.

1. Content
Marketing
Survey
Student search habit study
Survey conducted by

2. Survey Overview
AUDIENCE
 Sample Size: 876 Respondents
 Age: 18-20
 Education: Last year of high
school to first or second year of
college
 Gender: Random – even split
 Ethnicity: – random
 Geographic: all across the
United States
BREAKDOWN
 45.5% Just completed high
school
 51.1% Male
 48.9% Female
 100% 18-20 years old
PURPOSE:
 To gain insight into the habits of
college age students, in regard
to how they search for colleges
& ultimately arrive at their school
of choice
Study conducted via surveymonkey.com

3. Insights
Top 5 Promotional Factors
 73.9% - Word of mouth
 50.8% - School’s website
 45.6% - Private campus visit
 43.6% - Direct mail
 43.3% Rankings
Significance:
 Website # 2 factor in decision
making process
 Word of mouth #1 (social media
effective here)
Top 5 Website Features
 87.7% - Majors & Minors
 68.9% - Photos of campus
 64.9% - Program descriptions
 60.3% - Residence life
 59.2% - Class descriptions
Significance:
 Important to have solid academically
focused content
 Imagery and campus life important
(visual content)

4. Insights
Site Visit Frequency
 33.3% - 2 to 4 visits
 24.6% - 5 to 10 visits
 21.0% - 0 to 1 visits
 12.9% - 10 to 20% visits
 8.2% - 20 or more times
Significance:
 66.7% visited 5 or more times
 Theory: reputation of school may
have impact on # visits
Quote
“Varied greatly between schools.
For example, I applied to
Dartmouth after only visiting the
website once, but I read every
single page of Deep Spring's
site.”
Significance:
Website content may be of greater
importance for school’s with a less
recognizable brand.

5. Insights
Describe the most important feature you want to see?
 “I want it to look visually appealing. If
the college website doesn't look like they
spent time making it appeal to prospective
students, or the personality of the website
doesn't match my own
personality, it puts the school farther
down on my list.”
 “The pictures of the college should
convince me and also I need day to day
update of the campus news on
their website.”
 “An up to date 'picture' of what student
life is like (classes, social
media, student clubs, etc.)”
 “The website should be professional
looking and easy to navigate, the
most important thing I think should be
ability to easily access information on
classes and majors.”
 “social media conveying the school's
spirit”
 “I would say the most important feature on
the website is making the school seem
welcoming. Have pictures of people
having fun.”
 “Thorough and exciting descriptions
of academic programs and courses”

6. Insights
Top 5 Characteristics (of school)
 52.7% - Academic reputation
 51.8% - Financial aid/scholarship
 51.4% - Academic programs
 51.1% - Cost/tuition
 42.4% - Proximity to home
Significance:
These are the most important topics and
will typically be the first / most frequently
visited pages
Devices used
 61.7% - Laptop PC
 49.6% - Desktop PC
 35% - Smartphone
 26.2% - Laptop Mac
 16.6% - iPad
Significance:
 PC is still more prevalent than Mac for
laptops
 Mobile devices are increasing
significantly as search tools, so
optimize site for mobile

7. Insights
Top 5 Personal Influences
 84.4% - Parents
 71.0% - Friends
 34.4% - High school guidance
counselor
 33.0% - High school teachers
 29.8% - Siblings
Significance:
Important not to lose site of these
influencers when designing university
marketing strategy
56.4% Used Social Media For Search
 87.2% - Facebook
 28.7% - Twitter
 21.1% - University run blogs
 18.2% - Google+
Honorable Mention:
 Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube
 All visual mediums

8. Insights
Top 4 Decision Impact
 77.0% - Facebook
 19.1% - Twitter
 15.8% - University run blogs
 15.4% - Google+
Honorable Mention:
 Pinterest, Tumblr, YouTube
 Again…all visuals
Top 5 Social Media Activities
 76.0% - “Likes” Facebook
 45.4% - “Comment” Facebook
 18.2% - “Share” Facebook
 15.1% - “Retweet” Twitter
 10.4% - “Photos” Instagram
Significance:
 Hmmm? Any recurring theme stand
out?
 There are those visuals appearing
again with Instagram

9. Insights
 “I found the College of William and Mary's
blog helpful and friendly at a time
when I was stressed about my college
search, and this ultimately played a
role in my deciding to apply to the
college.”
 “Their twitter account tweeted about
an award that the university received for
excellence in a particular field.”
 “Seeing how quickly one of my colleges
made a Freshmen group for
accepted students was lovely and
made me feel excited about that
university.”
 “UVA's Facebook page and blog
helped me know that their Early Action
decisions would be coming out early, and I
was accepted.”
 “An experience I can think of was when I
contacted an admission contact
person on Facebook and we spoke
online for sometime on how to apply for
Berea college.”
 “Looking at the Facebook problem
solving page, seeing how students
work together to reduce confusion on
campus and class scheduling.”
 “Social media sites allowed to me get in
contact with other students my
age who were already enrolled at the
college or thinking about it.”
Quotes About Social Media