Social media marketing can boost adults student recruitment results when colleges and universities are willing to allow current and future students to discuss their experiences at the school. It will not work for schools that seek to broadcast only "Lake Wobegon" messages. Examples from University of Phoenix, Davenport University, and St. Leo University are used.

1. Social Media Marketing for Adult Student Recruitment ©Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D. 2009 Aslanian Group Web Marketing to Reach Adult and Graduate Students Chicago, IL June 4-5, 2009

3. The Groundswell at your website… http://info.saintleo.edu/COL/

10. University of Phoenix Build online communities that allow current and future students to… “ interact, keep up with and explore the world of University of Phoenix.”

11. From an obscure home page link… http://www.phoenix.edu/students/online_communities.html

12. Start people at the “Wall”… 8,678 fans on 21 May 2009

13. And follow “Discussions”… After Phoenix BA, where can you go next?

14. Connect to other social media…

15. And accept intrusive competitors…

16. Get personal… @danportnoy has 1,375 followers

17. Phoenix Builds Brand on MySpace… http://www.myspace.com/universityofphoenix

18. Phoenix Builds Brand on YouTube… http://www.phoenix.edu/students/online_communities.html#youtube

19. YouTube videos by academic program…

20. Most popular… “The truth about…” 7,856 viewers… and the truth is good

21. LinkedIn for alumni… 1,926 members

22. Davenport University Facebook… 319 fans Twitter… 951 followers Started on Twitter: 30 Sept 2008 Social Media Coordinator: March, 2009

23. Social media has low visibility… http://www.davenport.edu/

24. Most “Wall” content is from DU…

25. “ Discussions” are limited…

26. Nicely crafted Twitter site… http://twitter.com/DavenportU

27. Sasha Wolf… http://www.socialsasha.com/ ...... http://twitter.com/SashaWolff

28. Twitter… extra notes Very few under 18 use Twitter… Growing fastest with people over 35… Best with multiple accounts per school

30. Setting up is easy… Maybe too easy?

32. To see follower growth… http://twitter.pbworks.com/Universities ... Thanks to Barb Chamberlain http://twitter.com/WSUSpokane

33. Check yourself against competitors… http://twitter.grader.com/..... http://www.twitalyzer.com

34. In the near future… Easier access to online locations… One password open all your doors

35. Easier access to Internet locations… http://openid.net/ ................. http://developers.facebook.com/connect.php

36. The cost of getting started… (From Heather Mansfield at DIOSA Communications, http://www.diosacommunications.com) Create initial sites on FB, MySpace, Twitter, FlickR, YouTube… $2,700 Create sites only on FB, MySpace… $750 Staff time allocation… 25% to 50% at start

37. Keeping up to date…

38. Groundswell blog… http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/

39. Mashable http://mashable.com/

40. Dave Evan’s Blog… http://www.readthis.com/

41. Pew Internet research reports… http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2009/Adults-and-Social-Network-Websites.aspx

42. Shameless self-promotion… http://twitter.com/HighEdMarketing... http://www.bobjohnsonblog.com/

43. Thank You! Bob Johnson, Ph.D. President and Senior Consultant Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC Marshall, MI 49068 248.766.6425 [email_address] Customer Carewords Research for Online Marketing Success: http://www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/customercarewords.html