1. Colleges & Universities
A Case Study in
Social Customer Service
November 2011
Prepared by
VisualAllianceMedia.com
813.943.6053
© Visual Alliance Media. All Rights Reserved.

2. student success
is about holistically enriching the
student experience through
empowerment, support
and
connecting
students with the resources
needed to ensure success

4. with so many
divisions, departments,
policies, events & activities,
it’s critical that your institution
finds ways to
engage & communicate
with your students…
in ways they have come to expect

5. facebook
as a social
customer service
platform
digital
helpdesk

7. since college students visit facebook
6 times per day
on average and spend roughly
100 minutes per day
on the social network*…
…it just
makes sense
*According to OnlinePhD, http://onlinephd.org/facebook-university/, 10/14/11

8. today’s college students want
instant gratification
in our
always-
connected “Findings show college
students feel helpless without
world technology – checking their
devices at least every 10
minutes and foregoing face
time for Facebook.”*
*According to a study from CourseSmart, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/01/idUS141122+01-Jun-2011+PRN20110601, 6/1/11

9. responses to most student inquiries are
general,non-confidential
and can be found on your institution’s website
but…

10. students don’t want
to search for
information
one student’s recommendation
for the social customer service
platform at the University of
South Florida (see case study):

11. engaging students on facebook not only
fosters community,
it contributes to their
“Active Facebook academic
users are more
likely to stay in
college.”*
success
*According to OnlinePhD, http://onlinephd.org/facebook-university/, 10/14/11

12. prospective students will take note of
your institution’s facebook
presence &
responsiveness,
in addition to what other
students are saying "Students will make a judgment
about the university if it is not
current and responsive online.”
~Nora Barnes, Director of the Center
for Marketing Research.*
*http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/20/tech/social-media/universities-social-media/index.html , 10/20/2011

13. embracing social customer service
removes barriers,
fosters
positive interaction
and promotes
student
success
Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

14. Case Study:
USF InformaBull Facebook Page
The Student Success Council at the University
of South Florida, working through the Division
of Student Affairs, was interested in creating
a “Student Concierge” to enable
students to find University–related information
in one centralized location

15. Program Goals
eliminate the shuffling of students among departments
leverage existing customer service resources
educate students about available University resources
foster open and constructive interaction & engagement
analyze metrics regularly and adjust approach as appropriate

16. “As the Student Success Council sought to improve USF
students’ experience on campus, we realized a real-time
service to provide students with fast and accurate
answers to their USF questions would be very helpful.
Facebook was a natural fit to making this work – it is
accessible to virtually everyone, has the features we
needed, and there is no learning curve because students
already use the site extensively.”*
~Assistant Vice President and Dean for Students, University of
South Florida, Kevin Banks
*“Digitizing the Help Desk” by Jenna Withrow, http://news.usf.edu/article/templates/?a=3753&z=123Have, 9/23/11

17. Initial Outcomes
all stated goals met
over 1,700 students
connected with the
page in the first
thirty days
in the first thirty days,
the page garnered
over 2,300 monthly
active users and
over 32,000 post
views

18. Visual Alliance Media is a leading
interactive marketing agency
specializing in
social media marketing
Please call for a free, no obligation evaluation of your strategy and
how social customer service could be added as a component of your
approach to student success. !
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