Part II: Social media and your recruitment culture

In my last post I talked about a recent survey that suggested that we focus our attention on our colleges’ websites, student search websites, and the like.  I argued that while those venues have their important place, sites like Facebook, student blogs, and YouTube also have a significant place when it comes to creating a recruitment culture in the age of web 2.0.  As promised, I’d like to discuss prioritization of social media within the context of your overall recruitment strategy.

So here’s my main point, right up front:

Every point of contact that a prospective student has with anything related to your college or university is significant.

Notice that I didn’t use the word “positive” or even “negative” in place of the word “significant.”  Content isn’t always perfect, but it will usually affect at least one of your constituents.  So what factors will influence the points of contact that you provide for prospective students?  Here are a few ideas from my vantage point:

1. Consider cost. The buzzwords of the year are economy, prices, cost, etc.  Every office on every college campus in the country (I’m guessing) is feeling the pressure to maintain, if not cut costs.  So the greater the rate of return coupled with the lowest barrier to entry will help you figure out which tools to focus on.  Facebook = free.  YouTube = free.  Student blogs = free (if you build them on a platform like Wordpress, TypePad, etc.).  For more thoughts on recruiting on a dime, check out Karine Joly’s article, “More With Less: Seven Ways to Survive the Budget Crunch.”
2. How do I staff this? Some of this stuff is easy to do with little or no technical experience, and some of it requires people with technical experience and web design background.  Figure out what you can do quickly without hiring out (don’t sacrifice quality), and make it happen.
3. Refinement of existing efforts. Already doing this kind of stuff?  Make sure you are squeezing every ounce of success out of each effort.  Don’t move on to something else until you’ve done all you can with what you are working on.  Quality will overrule quantity every time.
4. Be ambitious. If you’ve gotten into a habit of waiting for approval from a supervisor or boss, now’s the time to try things for yourself.  You don’t need to take on any personal cost, but trying out things that you can do for free will set the stage for getting buy-in on more costly efforts.  Obviously you can’t do this at the expense of your other tasks, but go the extra mile — you’ll be amazed how it will affect buy-in in the end.

I also need to suggest one final thought that’s been on my mind for some time: have fun! If you’re a technology nut like me, this will be no problem.  If you’re on the other end of the spectrum, it might be a little harder to get going.  The great news is that there is a fine network of individuals out there on Twitter, at conferences, and in your building. 

Get going!