This document discusses using niche social networks like Tumblr, Pinterest, and Reddit for student recruitment. It provides tips for using each platform effectively. Tumblr is popular among teens and allows short, visual posts. Schools can engage students by commenting on others' posts. Pinterest drives significant traffic through organized image boards and can showcase campus life. Reddit reaches a desirable college-aged demographic; schools should contribute intellectual content and promote faculty discussions rather than overt promotions.

1. Social Networks for Student Recruitment: Tumblr,
Pinterest and Reddit
Presented by:
Higher Education Marketing

2. 1. Why Should Your School Be Targeting ‘Niche’ Social
Networks?
2. Joining the Conversation with Potential Recruits on Tumblr
3. Pinterest: A Versatile Student Recruitment Alternative
4. Reddit: Tailor-Made for Higher Education Content Marketing
Overview

3. 1. Why Should Your School Be Targeting
‘Niche’ Social Networks?
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit
Social media habits and user demographics are constantly
changing.
„ As the presence of older users on the leading social media sites
grows, millennials and teenagers are increasingly migrating towards
smaller ‘niche’ sites.
Usage of Facebook among 18-24 year olds is expected to decline
in 2016, while usage among 25-34 year olds remains static.
- Adweek

4. Some emerging social media sides catering for younger
demographics have specific rules on:
„ Tone
„ Types of Content
„ Brand participation in their online communities
Let’s explore three of the most exciting emerging social media
networks and the unique opportunities they present for student
recruitment!
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit
1. Why Should Your School Be Targeting
‘Niche’ Social Networks?

5. Tumblr ‘Fast Facts’ for recruiters-
„ A microblogging site that allows users to present short-form blogs in an
easy-to-read dashboard interface.
„ 555 million monthly visitors as of January 2016
„ Extremely popular among 13-25 year olds
„ Users spend an average of 14 minutes on the site per visit, 1.5 minutes
longer than the average Facebook user!
„ Mass Editor feature makes scheduling and updating posts easy
„ Tumblr posts create ‘dofollow’ links to benefit SEO
2. Joining the Conversation with Potential
Recruits on Tumblr
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit

6. 2. Joining the Conversation with Potential
Recruits on Tumblr
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit
„ Publish long, text heavy posts
„ Leave generic comments e.g. ‘great
post!’
„ Take too long between new posts
„ Take it too seriously
Tumblr users are very active, and have unique a sensibility, so
managing your school’s presence on the site can be challenging
and time consuming.
„ Favour short posts
„ Include visual content
„ Update regularly
„ Comment on other users’ posts
„ Use a casual tone
Tumblr Do’s- Tumblr Don'ts-

7. Schools can use Tumblr for-
„ Repurposing old content: Try taking videos of college events and cutting
small segments to make GIFs
„ Showcasing snippets and quotes from longer articles on your website
with links to the full post
„ Microblogs for departments like student support services
„ Running competitions and offers to engage potential recruits
2. Joining the Conversation with Potential
Recruits on Tumblr
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit

8. Example-
Michigan State University’s admissions office uses a Tumblr blog to answer
applicants' questions and share unique images from their students and
faculty.
2. Joining the Conversation with Potential
Recruits on Tumblr
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit
Engaging regularly
and showing your
school’s unique
personality is the key
to connecting with
Tumblr users!

9. Why can Pinterest be important to your
online student recruitment?
„ Organize images, videos, and quotes into ‘virtual pin-boards’ using the
site’s extremely intuitive layout
„ The fourth most popular social networking site with 250 million
estimated unique monthly visitors (eBizMBA Guide)
„ Three times the traffic of Instagram
„ The top traffic driver among social platforms- 4 times more traffic than
Facebook, and more than Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter combined!
„ Search activity on the site has grown 81% annually
„ Builds a stored link for every post, which creates an inbound link to your
site or even specific landing pages
3. Pinterest: A Versatile Student Recruitment
Alternative
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit

10. You can engage prospective students on Pinterest by-
„ Creating boards specifically for your blog posts, with relevant keywords
in your brand description and alt text for images, and links to your
website
„ Creating and managing unique boards on different subjects, such as
student care services, various faculties, and sporting events
„ Put your school on the map using ‘Place Pins,’ which allow users to pin
posts to specific locations
„ Showcasing visual content such as infographics and eye-catching
images
3. Pinterest: A Versatile Student Recruitment
Alternative
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit

11. Example:
„ The University of Alberta’s Go Abroad Office manages a number of
Pinterest boards promoting its services.
3. Pinterest: A Versatile Student Recruitment
Alternative
Students can access a range
of information on:
• Study and work opportunities in
different countries
• Travel and city guides
• Maps
• Fun facts on wildlife, food, local
amenities and more!
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit

12. Reddit at a glance for student recruitment professionals-
„ Around 231.6 million unique visitors per month
„ Allows users to submit content relating to any topic, divided into relevant
categories known as ‘subreddits’
„ Possibly the most efficient viral engine in the world, with constant
updates to every page throughout the day
„ Marketers estimate each upvote to be worth as many as 2-5 unique
visitors
„ 30% of users are aged between 18-24, 25% aged 25-34
„ 50% of Reddit users have at least some college education
„ Creates ‘dofollow’ links for every post
4. Reddit: Tailor-Made for Higher Education
Content Marketing
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit

13. 4. Reddit: Tailor-Made for Higher Education
Content Marketing
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit
„ Use ‘clickbait’ titles
„ Ask directly for ‘upvotes’
„ Post old, out of date content
„ Submit overly promotional posts
„ Only post your school’s own content
Student recruitment on Reddit can be challenging. Users have
total control, and have been known to ban brands for ‘spamming.’
School’s looking to promote themselves need to be seen to make a
valuable contribution to the community.
„ Promote long-form intellectual content
„ Submit current, topical posts, such as
articles about research
„ Promote other users content alongside
your own
Reddit Do’s- Reddit Don’ts-

14. You can reach a highly desirable demographic of
potential recruits with-
„ Informative articles promoting your school’s research and academic
achievements
„ Topical content that relates to recent newsworthy events
„ Asking faculty members to host ‘Ask Me Anything’ sessions (AMAs), a
popular Q&A format on the site
3. Reddit: Tailor-Made for Higher Education
Content Marketing
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit

15. Example:
„ Baylor University’s Subreddit strikes a good balance between the college’s
own promotional content and other posts that will be of interest to
students.
4. Reddit: Tailor-Made for Higher Education
Content Marketing
Posts which attract upvotes and
comments earn what Reddit calls
‘karma.’ Your karma totals are
available to users, showing them
that you have a record of
producing interesting content!
Source: HEM –
3 Emerging Social Media Networks to Expand your Student Recruitment: Tumblr, Pinterest and Reddit