Did you know that public relations and marketers in the academic sector encounter many of the same obstacles as their corporate counterparts?
Not only do schools (private and public) need to deal with things like encouraging recruiting and PR disasters, but they also need to establish a strong brand, maintain their online image, and communicate with their community.
95% of them, according to a recent survey by MarketingSherpa, are using social media, where news spreads at a dizzying rate.
If the news is good, then speed is a plus. However, rumours spread even more rapidly than facts do, and it only takes one false tweet to make your school’s name trend in a bad way.
This is why it is crucial for educational institutions to have robust social media policies.
With the start of a new school year comes a flurry of activity as students, parents, journalists, deans, professors, and academics publish and distribute material about their institutions, programmes, courses, and more.
A definition of social listening.
Let’s be sure we’re all starting with the same assumption.
What this means for businesses and other groups is:
Find timely and relevant social and classic internet discussions about them
Keep an eye on the competition and compare results.
Find emerging styles before they gain widespread acceptance.
Learn more about their target market by conducting research.
Find local leaders and engage with them.
You can’t give individual attention to everyone of your students.
However, your team members likely will. Entrepreneurial social media educator Ai Addyson-Zhang recently spoke at a conference for higher education faculty on how they may utilise social media to build stronger relationships with their students.
Every business, including educational institutions, needs influencer marketing to improve their online reputation.
The exposure of your school’s branded material might be improved with the aid of influencers who are active in the educational area.
This is why you should give your interactions with influencers a high priority.
I was curious about who was talking about Harvard Business School online, so I did a Mention search.
I discovered an MBA student that has a sizable fan base and high levels of interaction with his or her educational material creation:
Keep in touch with former students
Most certainly, your alumni base is larger than your current student body. They, too, participate in social media and can lend a hand in boosting your institution’s online standing.
However, if my school were to engage with me on social media, I would be more attentive, and I may even attend events to network and give advise to kids.
Handle Public Relations Scenarios
Managing a public relations issue is yet another compelling case for instituting a social listening programme.
It’s not always possible to avert a disaster, no matter how hard you try.
There are just too many variables over which you have no say. However, your institution may prepare as much as possible to deal with them.
In the case of a public relations crisis at your institution, it is important to be prepared for the worst. Okay, so there’s a scandal at your school, or so the rumours go.
Actively listen to head off a disaster.
Monitor your social media accounts for any suspicious behaviour. It might be an influx of positive or negative comments all at once.
A little issue has the potential to escalate into a severe one.
There is no smoke without fire, and this is how most emergencies begin.
The ILSC Education Group is one such organisation. By monitoring online conversations, they can quickly respond to any criticisms that are made about their brand.
A *pulse alert is an instant message from Mention. The software will warn you anytime one of your alerts has an unexpected spike in mentions.
Raise your institution’s profile in the community.
Finally, social listening aids universities in enhancing their general standing.
utilise listening to spot important trends outside of the education sector, and then utilise that information to inspire material that will help your school’s reputation flourish.
The term “newsjacking” describes this technique.
Keep in mind that timing is everything when it comes to newsjacking. When something becomes popular, your voice will get lost in the crowd.