Recruitment Marketing Campaigns

Alternately titled: Where Are The Kids These Days?

Who am I?

• I’m Alex!• I plan and execute

social media for Simmons College

• I also run stupid long distances (occasionally marathons)

What are we going to talk about?

• Building a strong brand voice that will resonate with your future student body

• Leveraging social media platforms to reach different audiences

• Techniques for interacting with applicants through social media

Finding your voice

• This can be difficult• Followers are seeking authenticity• There’s a difference between voice and tone• What do you want your brand to sound like? A

peer? An expert?• Be an authority, but also be personable• Adjust your voice depending on the platform

Teen use of social platforms

Data source: Piper Jaffray, 2014

Reaching the right people

• There are 60.3 million U.S. Instagram users in 2015

• 11.4 million Instagram users are 17 or younger

• 16.4 million users are ages 18-24

• 19.4 million users are ages 25-34

Data source: Ad Week, 2015

We found the kids! What next?

• So we should focus our recruiting efforts on the platforms they’re on, right?

• Next steps: Finding them!• Targeted advertising on

Twitter is a good start• Respond in a timely

manner to any questions on social media

Have them use a hashtag

• Hashtags are a good way for students to connect with each other and you

• Once students visit campus, for tours or an larger admissions day, they use #SimmonsVisit

…and remind them to use it!

• Once students received admissions packets, we encouraged them to post to Twitter and Instagram

• We used #admittedtosimmons – allowed us to congratulate them on their achievements

In review

• Go where the kids are (Instagram, Twitter)• Engage with them early (on tours, college

visits, etc…)• Include relevant social media information

throughout the application process• Respond!• After they’re accepted, continue engaging to

ensure yield

Questions?