Why is social media important to us? 100% of Universities have a social media presence 18 – 24 is the primary demographic The whole world can now see if we have any customer service issues Customer Service timeline – Student Experience Website less important Audience are now more marketing savvy 78% of consumers trust peer opinions - Amazon, Trip Advisor (Student Room)

1. Using
Social Media
to improve
the Student
Experience
Paul Fryer
Digital Marketing
Manager
30 January 2014

2. 14th September 2012University of Bedfordshire 2
Social Media: Do’s and Don’ts
Public relations

3. 14th September 2012University of Bedfordshire 3
Social Media: Do’s and Don’ts
Loyalty building

4. 14th September 2012University of Bedfordshire 4
Social Media: Do’s and Don’ts
Collaboration

5. 14th September 2012University of Bedfordshire 5
Social Media: Do’s and Don’ts
Networking

6. 14th September 2012University of Bedfordshire 6
Social Media: Do’s and Don’ts
Student recruitment

7. 14th September 2012University of Bedfordshire 7
Social Media: Do’s and Don’ts
Customer service

8. Using social media to
improve the student experience
Why is social media important to us?
• 100% of Universities have a social media presence
• 18 – 24 is the primary demographic
• The whole world can now see if we
have any customer service issues
• Customer Service timeline – Student Experience
• Website less important
• Audience are now more marketing savvy
• 78% of consumers trust peer opinions
- Amazon, Trip Advisor (Student Room)

9. Why is social media important to us?
• People have always talked – one of many forums
• Easier to use a space they are already in
• The use of any form of technology to
communicate is transitory
• Failure to engage and listen could cost us
business and will mean we do not have our
ear to the ground
• Registration and WiFi issues
Using social media to
improve the student experience

10. Using social media to
improve the student experience
Twitter
• Over 30 accounts University wide. Main University
account (@uniofbeds has nearly 10,000 followers)
• Currently most powerful – due to extensive reach,
amount of activity, ease of updating, demographic
• Clearing – over 200 daily interactions (Freshers)
• 1-2 hours devoted daily to main account
(feedback required from all areas of the University)
• Working with departments on responses daily
• Monitoring sentiment and competitors

11. Using social media to
improve the student experience
Facebook
• 15+ regularly updated University
accounts
• More popular with key influencers
(parents) and International students
• 28,000+ likes on our main page
(potential reach of 180,000+ people
for campaigns)
• Targeted posts (based on age,
location, marital status, interest etc.)

12. Using social media to
improve the student experience
YouTube
• All pushed through one central account
with specific playlists (662,710 video views)
• Statistics on viewing patterns/calls to action
Instagram
• One account with over 200 followers
• Purely visual, can showcase University facilities
Blogging
• 10 University blogs. Also have student bloggers
• Blogger has high search engine optimisation (SEO)

14. Using social media to
improve the student experience
How we use it for customer service
Aug 2014 – Jan 2015

15. Using social media to
improve the student experience
Our practices – guidelines are in place
• Available on in.beds.ac.uk under ‘MARC’
• Ensure consistency and appropriateness
• Guidelines not policies – want to be innovative
• Advice on content – most popular
• Advice on audience - Peek analytics

16. Using social media to
improve the student experience
Website shares

17. Using social media to
improve the student experience
Automated Tweets
• Clearing 2014
• Retweeted over 837 times
• 1,600,000+ views
• Featured in Huffington Post
• Public apology needed

18. Using social media to
improve the student experience
How you can help
• Come to us for advice / guidance
• Tap into ready built audience and
content strategy
• What happened yesterday is irrelevant
• Quick response times
• 24/7 – evenings and weekends
Average of 28 a day in 2014
• Take ownership of problems
• Turning around complaints

19. Using social media to
improve the student experience
How social media can help
• Customer service
• Student retention
• Brand visibility – Google rankings
• Changing the public perception
of the University
• Reaching specific demographics
• Responding and diffusing issues and problems
• Helping us to offer a better student experience

20. Using social media to
improve the student experience
All equals positive feedback!

21. Task: How would you respond?
• University only mentioned (not talking directly to us)

22. Task: How would you respond?
• Respond immediately • Conversational tone

23. Task: How would you respond?
• Suggest other avenues

24. Task: How would you respond?
• Take conversation offline • Final positive feedback!• Student number