How Long Will Your School Have to Wait to Integrate Social Media?

Recently, there has been some discussion amongst school owners referring to social media as a “scam” or a “fad”.  The general belief is that there are no measurable outcomes concerning the use of student marketing and the potential growth of their business.  The general consensus of the group is that they will be unable to successfully integrate it into your school’s overall marketing plan to create the most effective marketing outcomes.

There is a new article written by eMarketer titled, “Is Social Media Marketing Integration Years Away?” Apparently, according to research from SmartBrief conducted by Summus, schools may have to wait a long time to start ‘mixing their mixes’.

eMarketer found that in the June 2010 survey, a few companies did have a fully integrated strategy, but it wasn’t until these companies had been working in social media for at least two years that even a quarter of respondents had fully integrated their social media programs into their business model.

However, like companies, most schools currently using social media have nowhere near this level of experience. According to the survey, only 5.4% of companies have been doing social media marketing for more than three years, and another 7.5% have been doing it for two to three years. Nearly half of companies (47.6%) have less than a year of experience.  So, it seems that the percentage of companies NOT integrating social media is greater than those who do, and same goes for schools.

A report made by InsideFacebook.com in 2010 states that, 29% of US Facebook users are between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four, 23% between twenty-six and thirty-four, 18% between thirty-five and forty-four, and 13% between forty-five and fifty-four.  According to Mashable, 76% of these users under the age of twenty-five check Facebook after waking and before sleeping.  These are the average ages of higher education students returning to career schools and so, it makes sense that Facebook is a great target audience for your marketing efforts.

The point of companies and schools having to wait longer to see their social media efforts become integrated comes from SmartBrief.  In its report, SmartBrief suggests that its sample was self-selected and likely to be more familiar than average with social media, more interested and engaged with the channel, and also more proficient.  On the other hand, with appropriate guidance and proactively engaging in your schools’ social media efforts, integration may be closer than you think.  The problem with social media isn’t proving ROI; the problem is being properly educated.

With social media rapidly growing, integrating social media is the key to turning prospects into students. With internal and external benefits such as;

It is no wonder companies and schools are taking advantage and optimizing their social media presence.

-Elizabeth