1Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

by Cheryl Slover-Linett and Michael Stoner 1

2Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

page 3 » Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement A report on what we learned from the survey; our reflections on

what we learned

page 15 » Appendix 1: Social Media and the Admission Office

What others have learned about how admission and enrollment officers

use social media

Case Studies In-depth looks at how four institutions use social media in coordinated,

multi-channel campaigns

page 24 » Oregon State University: Powered By Orange

page 28 » William & Mary Mascot Search

page 31 » Integrating and Managing Social Media at Northfield Mount Hermon School

page 35 » Coordination and Decentralization of Social Media in the Emory University Alumni Association

Table of Contents

3Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

1 Cheryl Slover-Linett is managing partner of Slover Linett Strategies, a research firm that conducts audience research and planning for education and cultural organizations. Michael Stoner is president of mStoner, a communications and marketing firm that works with schools, colleges, and universities. We partnered with CASE (the Council for Advancement and Support of Education) on the survey discussed in this White Paper. Both Andrew Gossen and Charlie Melichar shared some thoughts about the survey results reported in this white paper and are quoted in the text and in sidebars. We also interviewed Andy Shaindlin, founder of Alumni Futures, who, as director of alumni relations at Caltech, was a founder and participant in the early work of the CASE social media task force. You can follow the work of the task force on its blog, CASE Social Media, which is posting transcripts of conversations with advancement professionals around the world. To encourage broader participation and sharing, CASE created a listserv for people engaged in social media (SOCIALMEDIA-L) and established a LinkedIn subgroup on social media.

All institutions are trying to engage with their constituents with social media tools. But how are they doing? Are constituents commenting, liking, and otherwise interacting with the Facebook pages sponsored by institutions to engage alumni, influence parents, encourage donors, and build awareness of institutional messages and brands? What are barriers to using of social media in institutional advancement? How do we measure success? What does an effective social media program look like?

Early in 2010, a task force composed of people recruited from all three CASE Commissions began to

explore these and related questions. Led by Andrew Gossen, senior director for social media strategy

at Cornell University, and Charlie Melichar, associate vice chancellor for communications at Vanderbilt

University, they began attempting to understand what was happening with social media on various

campuses around the world by interviewing colleagues about their social media activities.2 What they

lacked was data.

So when mStoner and Slover Linett Strategies approached CASE with a proposal to conduct research

on how advancement offices were utilizing social media, everyone was keen to jump on board. As Rae

Goldsmith, vice president of advancement resources at CASE, explained, “Social media is something that

professionals in all disciplines—fundraising, alumni relations, communications, marketing, advancement

services—are struggling with. It’s a universal advancement issue.”

She noted, “There just isn’t much data about what people are doing in advancement to better

understand social media and to employ it to achieve their goals. We need a way to better benchmark

where people are to help us understand their needs and determine what resources could be meaningful

to them.”

Working with Goldsmith, Gossen, Melichar, and other CASE staff and task

force members, we developed a 39-question survey that we tested with a

focus group of attendees at the April 2010 CASE conference on social media

and community. In June, we emailed a link to the survey to a random sample

of 18,000 CASE members in the United States and abroad. We received nearly

1,000 responses, providing a demographically representative cross-section of

CASE membership. As a result, we have a high degree of confidence in the data.

The results have a 3% sampling error, very similar to most national polling data.

2

4Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

A number of caveats about our findings

» Respondents may skew toward those CASE professionals who are the most engaged with

and—the heaviest users—of social media. In other words, to the social media enthusiasts

among CASE members.

» Because most CASE members are fundraising, institutional communications (PR, media

relations, marketing, publications, and periodicals), and alumni relations professionals, the

views of enrollment and admissions professionals are under-represented. To help address

this gap, we’ve shared what others have learned about the use of social media in admission

and enrollment in Appendix 1. Similarly, because the survey focused on the use of social

media in advancement, our results do not represent perspectives on the use of social media

in learning and teaching.

» We did not conduct research on how audiences (alumni, donors, parents, or other

influencers) are using the various social media established by institutions to engage them. If

you’re interested in learning about how people are adopting and using social media in their

personal lives and for business purposes, you’ll find many resources on the Internet. Start

with the research on social networking by the Pew Internet and American Life project.

We also want to clarify two terms that we use a lot in this white paper: social media and social net-

working. Social media are web-based media used for social interaction. Examples include blogs, Flickr

for photos and images, YouTube for videos, and Facebook, which provides a suite of social media tools.

Social networking refers to the interactions facilitated by those media, which include sharing,

commenting, ranking, posting, and so forth.

Snapshot of social media use in advancement

Here are some key takeaways from the research, that provides the first in-depth look

at how schools, colleges, and universities are using social media to engage with

significant external audiences.

Most institutions are using one or more social media tools.

3 We note that the BlueFuego staff, who visited 1,387 college and university websites to see where these institutions place social web callouts, determined that 86% of the institutions they visited in July 2010 had links to destinations on the social web on either their homepage, admissions page, or alumni page. These links indicate that the destination social sites are sponsored by the institutions. Furthermore, 60% of the alumni websites they visited had callouts to social media.

» Facebook is the clear leader, with nearly every institution (94%) using Facebook to engage with multiple audiences.

» About three in five institutions also use Twitter, LinkedIn, and/or YouTube.

» Only 4% of respondents said they weren’t using any social media (most of these respondents represented development offices).3

» About one in three maintain blogs, use Flickr, and/or offer a social community via an outside vendor like Harris or iModules.

» Almost 60% of institutions have added social networking features to their own websites.

5Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

Institutions are using social media to engage with multiple audiences. The table on the left offers an idea about just whom advancement staff are attempting to reach with social media.

The top three goals are engaging alumni (86%), strengthening

institutional brand (72%), and increasing awareness/advocacy/

rankings (58%). Marketing professionals also use social media to

recruit students (70%), engage admitted students (65%) and engage

current students (62%). Nearly half of development professionals

reported using social media in fundraising.

Right now, we understand that fundraisers often don’t see value in

social media. Anecdotally, we’ve heard fundraisers argue that using

social media is a fine long-term strategy, but that it won’t help them to

raise money in the short term and is a distraction, especially for those

engaged in campaigns. It doesn’t help that there are few examples

within education in which social media have been used to raise

significant amounts of money.

Percent communicating with this audience at all (using any type of social media)

ALUMNI 96%

FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS 77%

CURRENT STUDENTS 69%

DONORS 66%

CURRENT FACULTY AND STAFF 64%

PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS 57%

PARENTS OF CURRENT STUDENTS 49%

PARENTS OF PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS 43%

MEDIA 42%

EMPLOYERS 37%

HIGH SCHOOL GUIDANCE COUNSELORS 23%

GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS 18%

Goals of social media

NO

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Engage alumni 3% 2% 10% 27% 59% 4.4

Create, sustain, and improve brand image 4% 5% 20% 35% 37% 4.0

Increase awareness/advocacy/rankings 12% 8% 22% 23% 26% 3.5

Improve community relations 10% 12% 28% 28% 23% 3.4

Engage current students 13% 12% 28% 27% 20% 3.3

Engage current faculty and staff 13% 17% 34% 24% 12% 3.1

Engage prospective students 28% 16% 15% 18% 23% 2.9

Engage admitted students 26% 13% 20% 24% 17% 2.9

Raise private funds 16% 22% 31% 18% 13% 2.9

Engage parents of current students 23% 18% 29% 21% 9% 2.8

Recruit students 30% 16% 14% 20% 20% 2.8

Manage crises and issues 32% 30% 20% 11% 7% 2.3

Recruit faculty and staff 47% 31% 16% 4% 2% 1.8

#12To what extent

is each of the following social media

objectives a goal for

your unit?

6Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

While many advancement offices are participating in

social media, they recognize that they are not, by and

large, the primary drivers of that effort. Nearly all are

motivated at least in part by demand from alumni or

other constituents (86%) or competition from peer

institutions (84%). While most (71%) believe social

media have great potential for achieving important goals

for their unit, fewer say they have either institutional

support and buy-in (46%) or the expertise to help their

social media efforts (26%). And institutions are not

making significant investments to support social media

in staffing or budget. Only 14% expect to add staff

committed to social media this year.

As Andy Shaindlin, founder of Alumni Futures, pointed

out, “The fact that only 14% expect to hire more staff for

social media, but the demand is growing, illustrates one

of the real issues we face. And it’s reinforced by the open-

ended responses. People aren’t going to get any more

people to do social media, so some staff members are

going to have to unplug from at least some of what they

are doing and switch their responsibilities.

“This is a management challenge to the institution’s

leaders, who have to figure out how to incorporate social

media responsibilities into the org chart with the full

understanding that they’re not getting more staff, and

they may actually lose some people. And let’s be clear:

this isn’t a new challenge, but an ongoing manifestation

of change. The world has changed and if you want to be

in it, you have to be ready to change, too.”

Advancement officers like Facebook. Respondents consider Facebook the most successful tool in meeting their goals

(85%). Having an institutional website with social network features ran a distant second (31%). LinkedIn ran third (27%),

and Twitter (25%) and YouTube (23%) nearly tied.

Attitudes about social media

PERCENT USING FOR ANY AUDIENCE 94% 67% 61% 59% 58% 36% 33% 33% 5%

SUCCESS RATING 85% 25% 27% 23% 31% 15% 8% 12% 1%

Face

book

Twitter

LinkedIn

YouTube

Institu

tional s

ite w

/sm

network

featu

res

BlogsFlic

kr

Social com

m. p

rovided by ve

ndorsNing

Usage and success of social media platforms in reaching unit goals

7Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

Managing and deploying social media

“Right now, management of social media is

decentralized across the institution without much

coordination, and, you know what, we like it that way!”

At least that’s what our respondents report. More than

half (53%) handle their own social media activities

within their unit with some input from other depart-

ments; another quarter does it without any input, and

about 20% have another department take the lead.

Management of social media at the discretion of

individual units, and there aren’t many institutional

policies or standards that they can turn to for guidance.4

Those that exist tend to be graphics and branding

guidelines. Those institutions that report having policies

say that they are created and/or managed by a com-

munications, marketing, or PR department. Few institu-

tions have considered managing negative postings by

establishing posting or commenting policies. In addition,

most institutional policies do not address privacy,

ethical, or legal issues.

Though our respondents like the current “Wild West”

approach to social media—an environment where there

isn’t much coordination, focus on policy, or standards—

many respondents recognize that they could benefit

from more coordination and planning at the institutional

level. However, they don’t see the need for a one-size-

fits-all strategy, nor do they want to give up control of

staffing or the content of their social media efforts.

Our data reveal a split when it comes to planning

and control. Only 35% said their social media

development is the result of planning (not spontane-

ous), and 71% said they would like to see more planning

in the future. Just 15% said social media is controlled by

a committee or group, and 41% would like more coor-

dination. In contrast, 54% like the level of planning and

coordination they currently have.

#17 Is the use of social media by

your unit under your unit’s

complete control, or is there

a coordinating committee or

group for the institution

as a whole?

How would you like to see this

change in the coming year?

LOCAL

43%

21%

11%

10%

9%

6%

COORDINATED

6% MORE LOCAL

54% GOOD

WHERE IT IS

41% MORE

COORDINATED

#18 Is the use of social media

at your institution centralized

in one institutional unit,

or is it dispersed throughout

the institution as a whole?

How would you like to see this

change in the coming year?

CENTRALIZED

16%

11%

11%

15%

15%

32%

DISPERSED

34% MORE

CENTRALIZED

54% GOOD

WHERE IT IS

13% MORE

DISPERSED

4 CASE maintains links to a collection of social media policies from education institutions [login required]. For a more general collection of social media policies, see this article from SocialMedia.biz and the list from The Altimeter Group, where Charlene Li, author of “Open Leadership”, is a partner.

8Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

Not surprising, the biggest challenges

inhibiting institutions from doing more

with social media are staffing, expertise,

and funding. Privacy concerns, turf

battles, and institutional red tape are low

on the list of barriers, partly, we suspect,

because social media management is so

decentralized.

In fact, social media seems to be at

the same place now that institutional

websites were in 1997. At that time,

institutional leaders and administrators

often didn’t understand how important

an institution’s website was. As a result,

they provided little formal oversight

and little or no budget for site develop-

ment, essential tools such as a content

management system, common design

standards, or staff support. Much has

changed since then. If social media

follow the same trajectory as institu-

tional websites have, these issues will be

addressed as leaders begin to see how

important social media are in engaging

their important audiences.

One surprise from the survey is the

fact that fear of negative postings is

a non-issue for respondents. Many

of us who speak or write about social

media are invariably asked about how

to respond to the concern among senior

staff about negative comments or blog

postings. Yet, overall, this was a minor

concern for respondents.

Potential barriers

NO

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Staffing for day-to-day content management

7% 9% 27% 33% 23% 3.6

Staffing for site development

9% 14% 30% 29% 19% 3.4

Lack of relevant human resources in my unit

12% 22% 26% 22% 18% 3.1

Expertise in how to implement it 13% 25% 34% 22% 6% 2.8

Funding 17% 27% 28% 20% 9% 2.8

Lack of IT resources 15% 30% 27% 19% 10% 2.8

Slow pace of change 15% 27% 35% 16% 7% 2.7

Concerns about loss of control over content and tone of postings by others

14% 35% 32% 15% 4% 2.6

Lack of institutional clarity about who is responsible for social media initiatives

19% 29% 30% 15% 7% 2.6

Lack of commitment by decision makers

19% 37% 24% 14% 5% 2.5

Lack of champions at the institutional level

20% 37% 26% 13% 5% 2.5

Uncertainty about usefulness of social media

19% 34% 31% 14% 2% 2.5

Privacy issues 20% 39% 31% 9% 2% 2.4

Turf battles 25% 37% 25% 10% 4% 2.3

Institutional red tape 23% 44% 19% 10% 4% 2.3

Lack of interest from those in my unit

32% 41% 19% 6% 2% 2.0

Ethical issues 33% 48% 16% 3% 1% 1.9

Legal issues 32% 48% 17% 2% 1% 1.9

To what degree is each issue below a barrier to the successful use of social media in your unit?

9Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

We’re starting to see some coordinated yet decentralized approaches to managing

social media, both within institutions and within units charged with broad com-

munications for institutional audiences. For example, at Northfield Mount Hermon

School, an independent school (grades nine through 12) in Gill, Massachusetts,

individuals from a number of offices across campus manage and contribute to social

media. About three dozen faculty members, students, and administrators post to

NMH blogs. These blog posts, in turn, are syndicated through NMHbook, the school’s

social media aggregation site.

At the Emory University Alumni Association, a three-person team works hard to

educate and prepare colleagues to participate in social media where and when

appropriate. Stacey Gall, assistant director of technology and information manage-

ment, said, “We’re trying to get to a point where all staff have their hands in social

media. We have around 70 Facebook pages/groups based mainly on events or city-

specific networking. We rely on our staff and volunteers/contacts in these locations

to post and respond to comments.”

Measuring social media and determining success

How successful are we in using social media? Most institutions consider themselves to be moderately successful (64%)

with their social media efforts. Another quarter say they’re very successful. A stark few—13%—don’t think their efforts

are successful.

But how do they know they’re successful? That’s the real issue. Data from the survey show that most institutions are

primarily using superficial measures, such as counting the number of “touches” (friends, click-throughs, participation,

etc.) as their main success metric. Respondents rated Facebook as the most successful platform by far (85%, compared

to 31% for the next most successful one, which typically is the social media platform on the institution’s own website).

Not surprisingly, Facebook makes it easy for a page administrator to count wall posts, likes, and comments.

As Andrew Gossen observed, “It’s an encouraging sign that people are beginning to measure, but the outcome measures

that are used the most are the most basic. We need resources to help people conceptualize and implement more

sophisticated measuring.”

As Andy Shaindlin of Alumni Futures, put it: “The measurements that people are using now are very counting-oriented.

We should be moving away from these metrics and moving toward measuring the impact those numbers

have. For example ‘having 100 more people in the group has resulted in xx% increases in messages posted on message

boards.’ In other words, we should be looking at what happens as a result of the numbers, not focusing on those

numbers themselves.”

Respondents also reported that they weren’t doing much surveying of how their constituents use social media. Charlie

Melichar said, “We need to be integrating more survey research into our social media programs so we can measure the

impact we’re having and adjust our campaigns in response to what we learn.”

See page 31 »

See page 35 »

Case Studies:

10Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

Bottom line, it’s difficult right now to know exactly what success looks like. We suspect that those institutions who claim to be “very successful” (19% of respondents) in their social media activities are underestimating how much more successful they could be if they were thinking about using social media as the basis for a broadly integrated, multichannel campaign. In 2010, social media success rarely involves focusing on one social media platform or one channel. Those who say they are successful with social media report that success factors include: having specific goals for their activities; being more coordinated and doing more planning; having institutional support and buy-in; controlling social media activities (including content and staff) within their department; and having enough expertise in-house so they don’t need to look to outside resources.

Other success factors include using multiple social media platforms. In other words, developing a campaign that moves beyond a blog or Facebook to incorporate Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, blogs, and other channels.

The best example we found of a coordinated, multichannel campaign using social media is Oregon State University’s Powered by Orange. PBO deployed across multiple social platforms—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube—and used blogs and a Google map mashup. But OSU didn’t stop there: it brought PBO into the physical world using signage, bus wraps, t-shirts, and a variety of opportunities for

face-to-face interactions.

OVERALLSUCCESSFUL

ORGANIZATIONS*OTHER

ORGANIZATIONS

Q9: Percent that report “We handle our own social media activities, without any input”

27% 36% 24%

Q12: Percent selecting “Extensively” to describe the extent to which the following are top social media goals within their organizations:

Engage alumni 59% 68% 56%

Create, sustain, and improve brand image

32% 54% 37%

Increase awareness/advocacy/rankings 26% 42% 21%

Engage prospective students 23% 35% 19%

Improve community relations 23% 34% 20%

Q16: Percent selecting “planned” (rather than spontaneous) to describe the development of social within their unit

58% 75% 54%

Q17: Percent selecting “local” (vs. coordi-nated) for control over social media use within their unit

75% 78% 74%

Q18: Percent selecting “centralized” (vs. dispersed) for the organization of social media in their institution

38% 44% 36%

Q19: Percent selecting “under unit control” (vs. control by another unit) for support staff maintaining unit’s social media

82% 93% 79%

Q20: Percent selecting “under unit control” (vs. more outside approval) for content of unit’s social media site(s)

89% 97% 87%

Q22: Percent selecting “in-house resources” (vs. outside resources) for development of unit’s social media

73% 88% 69%

Q24b: Percent selecting “in-house resources” (vs. outside resources) for conducting evaluations of social media

86% 90% 84%

Q25: Percent who agree at all with “My unit benefits from institutional support and buy in for social media develop-ment”

74% 84% 71%

*�Successful�organizations�are�defined�here�as�those�rated�either�“very�successful”�or�“a�model�for�successful�use�of�social�media”�in�question�14�concerning�the�overall�success�of�a�unit’s�use�of�social�media.�

Social media use: factors that help make an organization more successful

See page 24 »

Case Study:

11Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

Susan Evans, director of creative services at the College of William & Mary,

wanted to “involve as many people as possible” in the search for a new mascot

for the college. Using a combination of a blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and

Flickr, William & Mary ended up with more than 22,000 comments by the time the

campaign closed—and earned significant media coverage.

Evans noted, “Our main lesson was that the integra-

tion of these social media tools matters. We didn’t

realize the power behind what we were doing was

that we were using all of these channels together,

but in different ways. For example, Twitter was less

formal; our blog functioned more like a website and

was more formal. We did plan up front to use all of these channels and had a

strategy of how to use each of them, but all of them together gave us a cohesive

presence.”

In contrast, the 13% who say they have not been successful with social media cite

some of the following issues as difficulties:

» Lack of staffing, expertise and funding

» Lack of institutional clarity about goals

» Lack of “the right people” to do the job

» Slow pace of change in a world that moves quickly

» Lack of commitment and uncertainty about social media’s usefulness

» Red tape

We’re all newbies

Institutions that fail to pay attention to factors of social media implementation

that might increase their success do so because they lack of experience with the

technology and have not thought through its full risks and potential. But the vast

majority of people who are working in social media in academia are doing so part-

time, with little training, and with many competing priorities and responsibilities.

They simply don’t have the luxury of taking time to explore the larger implications

of what they’re doing.

Some of our findings support the hypothesis that social media is new enough that

many practitioners still don’t know what they don’t know.

Take measurement, for example. Success doesn’t mean simply counting touches,

but involves measuring the engagement of constituents over a longer period of

time and ultimately measuring the action that results from that engagement. But

Feedback from Andrew Gossen

Andrew�Gossen,�senior�director�for�social�media�strategy�at�Cornell�University,�is�co-chair�of�the�interdisciplinary�CASE�social�media�task�force.

1.���Why�was�the�research�necessary?�What’s�its�significance?The�research�provides�a�necessary�baseline�sense�of�what�we�are�talking�about,�and�we�can�use�it�to�track�all�manner�of�trends�from�this�point�onward.�The�fact�that�it�was�a�systematic,�CASE�membership-wide�survey�makes�it�more�significant.

2.����Any�findings�stand�out�for�you?I�was�encouraged�to�see�how�many�respondents�are�active�on�at�least�one�social�media�platform�now.�People�are�taking�steps�toward�engagement,�and�I�think�that’s�encouraging.�However,�we�do�need�to�acknowledge�that�the�response�rate�was�small�enough�that�there’s�almost�inevitably�going�to�be�a�bias�in�the�responses�toward�people�who�are�experimenting�in�this�area.�Tracking�trends�in�the�response�rate�over�time�may�help�us�get�a�better�fix�on�how�widespread�digital�media�initiatives�actually�are.��Question�16�[asking�whether�social�media�use�is�spontaneous�or�planned]�reveals�a�definite�desire�for�more�planning�in�the�way�institutions�use�social�media,�and�there’s�obviously�a�need�for�resources�to�do�that�effectively:�maybe�additional�staff,�additional�time�within�current�jobs�to�think�more�about�what�they’re�doing,�and�additional�resources�form�CASE�to�help�them�develop�their�plans.�But�there’s�clearly�something�about�the�status�quo�that�is�not�allowing�staff�working�in�this�area�to�do�their�work�as�thoughtfully�as�they�would�like�to�do�it.��Question�21�[asking�about�umbrella�vs�individual�strategies�by�target�audiences�for�social�media?]�suggests�that�there�is�a�demand�for�help�with�a�social�media�strategy.��

See page 28 »

Case Study:

12Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

defining what that means—and measuring it—is challenging and will take years.

Maybe longer. We have no good models for it in the commercial world, much less

in higher education. So counting friends, fans, or comments is a convenient proxy.

That’s acceptable for the moment: as long as we’re seeking more meaningful ways

of analyzing data long-term.

Likewise, the fact that worry about negative comments or blog posts has not

inhibited deployment of social media to a substantial degree is heartening. It

means that institutions have understood that the benefits of engagement far

outweigh the potential drawbacks and have chosen to engage rather than to

withdraw from engagement. Those that do engage have discovered that healthy

social media communities can be largely self-correcting. A proactive comment or

acceptable use policy can help to mitigate the worst excesses of negativity.

This also helps to explain the apparent lack of concern by respondents about

privacy. Andrew Gossen, senior director for social media strategy at Cornell and

the co-chair of CASE’s social media task force, remarked, “This lack of concern is

especially jarring because most of the folks responding to this survey had been

ringside spectators to the Facebook privacy kerfuffle5 and, more recently, the news

about Google’s privacy struggle. These aren’t esoteric issues: they’re the best

indicator that we should be worrying about this ourselves.” In other words, privacy

isn’t a luxury. As social media evolves, privacy issues are likely to be increasingly

important, especially as the practices of heavily used external social sites like

Facebook conflict with strong institutional privacy policies.

Finally, the lack of worry about negative comments helps to explain why

respondents are so self-satisfied with their own initiatives.

This self-satisfaction is curious for a number of reasons. First, the responses

indicate that most institutions find measuring their social media activities difficult.

A result, they aren’t measuring their efforts effectively, or at all, beyond counting

some basic indicators of participation by constituents. And because they aren’t

surveying constituents, they aren’t setting a benchmark that can show them if

leading indicators change or not over time. Oregon State University conducted

extensive survey research with many constituents before launching the PBO

campaign. In three to five years, that research could help them determine whether

or not PBO altered perceptions of the university. Without it, it would be nearly

impossible to measure the campaign’s impact.

5 The controversy erupted in March and April 2010, when Facebook changed its privacy settings to make certain information in profiles public by default. Reaction from the technology press and some members of the public was swift, with most people condemning Facebook’s actions. The changes were supplemented by news reports, such as this one from Wired, that revealed that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is said to disdain privacy. Facebook has since simplified its privacy settings, but this is the latest round in the company’s continuing attempt to encourage users to make more data public rather than private.

Andrew Gossen (continued) �Question�23�[asking�about�outcome�measures�for�social�media]�shows�that�the�outcome�measures�being�used�the�most�frequently�are�the�most�basic.�On�the�one�hand,�they’re�the�most�accessible.�It’s�an�encouraging�sign�that�people�are�beginning�to�measure,�but�there’s�a�clear�need�out�there�for�resources�to�help�people�do�some�more�sophisticated�measuring�both�in�how�they’re�conceptualizing�the�measurement�and�how�they’re�doing�it.��There’s�an�interesting�juxtaposition�between�Question�27�[about�barriers�to�social�media�use]�and�Question�30�[asking�what�kind�of�assistance�people�are�considering].�The�two�main�barriers�to�using�these�tools�better�are�lack�of�staffing�and�lack�of�expertise,�but�people�don’t�have�plans�to�hire�staff�or�vendors�who�could�help�them�develop�a�more�powerful�strategy�or�a�better�approach.�They’ve�got�their�problem�diagnosed�but�no�plans�to�solve�it.��Finally,�I’m�struck�that�people�don’t�seem�worried�about�privacy,�legal�issues,�or�ethical�issues.�This�suggests�that�people’s�engagement�now�might�be�too�basic�and�that�they’re�not�thinking�things�through�very�thoroughly.�I�anticipate�that�as�the�use�of�social�media�in�advancement�matures,�people�are�going�to�think�through�these�issues�more�carefully.

3.��What�are�the�key�takeaways�for�the�advancement�profession?It’s�great�that�people�are�engaging�with�social�media,�but�this�isn’t�the�time�to�rest�on�our�laurels.�The�really�hard�work�starts�now.�As�far�as�a�key�takeaway,�respondents�are�under-resourced�both�in�staffing�and�expertise,�and�unless�they�address�that,�they�will�never�be�able�to�take�maximum�advantage�of�these�tools.�We’re�seeing�massive�increase�in�engagement�in�these�platforms�on�a�global�sense.

13Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

Second, in the open-ended examples, respondents called out initiatives that

they thought were particularly noteworthy. Some examples consisted of a

Facebook page or having a president tweet. These examples (and others)

indicate a lack of clarity about what’s really involved in being successful with

social media. It may also indicate a lack of urgency in implementing social

media initiatives.

Not every social media campaign has to be as broad-based or diverse in

tools and strategy as PBO. In contrast, the social media deployed in Nazareth

College’s Flight of the Flyers campaign were used to further the goal of

engaging alumni. During its mascot search, William & Mary used social media

and other channels extensively, but its campaign was limited in time and

scope—and received a great deal of interaction and response.

While it’s important for institutions to experiment with social media, a real

communications strategy must look beyond the tools themselves. Simply using

Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn is not an end in itself. These platforms, like

email, postcards, or phone calls, are tools that should be chosen specifically to

achieve a defined goal.

What’s next?

What do respondents expect to happen this year? Here’s what they said when

we asked them in June:

» We can expect to see more institutions creating a comprehensive social media plan (50%)

» Expanding social media programs to new audiences (43%)

» Adding new social media tools to current programs (41%)

» Developing formal policies (37%)

» What we probably won’t see; hiring (14%)

» Getting help from CASE in social media (9%)

» Getting help from social media consultants (7%)

» hiring a vendor for social media evaluation (4%)

And therein lies a conundrum. As Andy Shaindlin observed, “So you’re not

going to get any more people to do social media. But what you do have to do

is unplug some people from doing some of what they’re doing and switch their

responsibilities. Social media has been layered onto everything else. And the

open-ended responses support what I’m saying. This isn’t a budget issue. It’s

a management challenge. Organizational leaders have to understand how

Feedback from Charlie Melichar

Charlie�Melichar,�associate�vice�chancellor�for�communications,�Vanderbilt�University,�is�co-chair�of�the�interdisciplinary�CASE�social�media�task�force.

1.��Why�was�the�research�necessary?�What’s�its�significance?There’s�been�a�void�of�good�information�before�this.�We�can�quibble�over�specific�points�that�emerge�from�the�data,�but�we�need�research�to�have�a�common�starting�point�that�informs�our�discussions.�This�research�can�help�put�into�perspective�everything�from�what�CASE�is�offering�for�professional�development�to�what’s�being�done�on�campus.

2.��Any�findings�stand�out�for�you?�I’m�a�research-oriented�guy�and�enjoy�measurement.�So�I�appreciated�the�answers�to�the�questions�about�social�media�metrics.�The�response�to�Question�23�[which�asked�about�outcome�measures],�on�surveys�and�target�audiences,�was�a�bit�of�a�head-scratcher.�Maybe�when�people�answered�this�question,�they�just�didn’t�take�a�second�to�think�about�it.�If�we�are�integrating�social�media�into�programs�and�not�considering�that�in�our�research,�that’s�a�problem.�Not�a�lot�of�people�are�doing�survey�research,�or�maybe�they�just�haven’t�integrated�it�into�their�social�media�programs.��On�the�flipside,�I�was�pleasantly�surprised�by�a�lot�of�the�responses.�The�top�five�to�six�barriers�are�resource-related;�the�bottom�six�or�eight�all�indicate�that�leadership�or�buy-in�isn’t�an�issue,�and�that�surprised�me.�I�would�have�guessed�that�there�would�have�been�people�saying�“I�want�to�do�it,�but�my�boss�doesn’t�get�it.”�So�the�fear�of�social�media�doesn’t�seem�to�be�there.�If�we�can�align�those�things—someone�who�is�willing�to�be�supportive�and�provide�a�mandate—resources�should�follow.�It�points�out�a�real�opportunity.�

14Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

important social media is and determine how to incorporate it into the org chart.

This isn’t really a new challenge; it occurs all the time. The world changes and if

you want to be in it, you have to change too.”

Furthermore, while many institutions know they’re held back by a lack of resources

and expertise, very few have plans to acquire what they need. And 59% of re-

spondents said they weren’t aware of other organizations that were using social

media successfully. Few institutions are reaching out to external sources, or CASE,

to expand their horizons.

Budgets are tight. But there’s every indication that social media is not just a fad.

That it’s here to stay. The challenge for advancement professionals is to recognize

this reality and to begin to institutionalize the use of social media—not necessarily

by focusing on a specific platform. As Andy Shaindlin said, “We should be riding

the wave, not the surfboard.”

Now is the time to seek models that suggest how social media can be integrated

into existing initiatives and ongoing programs. Charlie Melichar said, “There

shouldn’t be any doubt that social media are a strategic asset within institutional

and communications programs that needs to be integrated into our work. We

should be moving away from knee-jerk, spontaneous solution building. We should

take the time to step back and think about what we’re doing. People need to calm

down. There’s too much trying to create buzz. People have enough buzz in their

lives right now. We should be trying to add value to their lives, and that

requires thought.”

We’re looking forward to seeing what changes—and what doesn’t—in the 2011

version of this survey.

�For�me,�Question�12�[which�asked�about�goals�for�social�media]�indicates�a�need�to�raise�people’s�sights�about�just�how�much�social�media�abhors�a�silo.�If�engaging�alumni,�creating,�sustaining,�and�improving�brand�image,�and�increasing�awareness/advocacy/rankings�are�priorities,�you�can’t�help�but�have�one�affect�all�the�others�with�your�efforts.�If�you’re�involved�in�engaging�alumni,�how�do�you�bring�prospective�students�in�to�the�conversation?�They’re�all�connected.

3.��What�are�the�key�takeaways�for�the�advancement�profession?Social�media�are�a�strategic�asset�within�institutional�and�communications�programs�that�needs�to�be�integrated�into�our�work.�Smart�institutions�are�moving�away�from�spontaneous�building�of�social�networks�and�moving�toward�more�planning.�We’re�putting�social�media�in�the�hands�of�people�who�know�how�to�think�about�it�and�do�it.��The�other�part�is�really�important:�this�is�a�people-based�platform.�It’s�not�mass�media.�If�your�social�media–based�communications�don’t�reflect�your�institutional�voice,�people�are�going�to�pick�it�up�right�away.���Finally,�everyone�needs�to�calm�down.�We’re�trying�to�do�everything�all�at�once,�trying�to�“create�buzz.”�People�have�enough�buzz�in�their�lives�right�now:�we�should�be�trying�to�add�value�to�their�lives:�that�requires�thought.�

15 Appendix 1: Social Media and the Admission Office

Appendix 1:Social Media and the Admission Office What about the use of social media in the admission office?

As noted, our survey doesn’t include significant input from admission staff because admission officers

are not well-represented among CASE members, especially where admission or enrollment marketing is

handled by admission office staff.

To provide a glimpse of how admission and enrollment officers are using social media to recruit

students—and how effective their efforts are—we’ve explored data compiled by other people. We

reviewed research that includes a master’s thesis exploring the use of social media by prospective

students and admission/enrollment offices, data derived from questions embedded in national surveys

of broader admission practices compiled by National Association for College Admission Counseling

(NACAC), and observational research on the use of social media and Facebook by consulting firms who

specialize in coaching colleges and universities on the use of these tools in student recruitment

and outreach.

How college and university admission offices use social media

According to the 2009 State of College Admission report from NACAC, 51% of colleges offer blogs by

current students on their websites, 39% link to social networking sites such as Facebook, and 23.6%

offer blogs by admission officers.1

According to NACAC’s “State of College Admissions 2010” report, the use of social media tools

continues to grow. “In 2009, 73% of respondents reported that they provide links to their colleges’ social

networking sites (up from 39% in 2008), and 61% reported offering blogs by current students (up from

51% in 2008 and 42% in 2007). Some colleges and universities also have blogs by admission officers

(31%), podcasts (31%) and online message boards.” NACAC also reported that 36% of colleges allowed

applicants to check their status on the institution’s website. NACAC did not capture data (or did not

report data) about the use of Facebook or other social networking sites in college admission.

NACAC also distributes “Social Media and College Admissions: Higher-Ed Beats Business in Adoption

of New Tools for Third Year,” a report by Nora Ganim Barnes and Eric Mattson from the Center for

Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Using data collected in 2009 from

voice surveys of admission offices selected from a directory compiled by the University of Texas, Barnes

and Mattson explored the use of a range of social media, noting that higher ed had lapped commercial

entities in the adoption of social media tools.

1 These numbers are from NACAC’s Admission Trends Survey, conducted in 2008.

16 Appendix 1: Social Media and the Admission Office

They found that 51% of colleges and universities have an admission blog and noted that “familiarity with

social networking has jumped from 55% reporting they were very familiar with it in 2007, to 63% in

2008 and now to 83%. Admission officers have clearly embraced Facebook and other social networking

sites as viable forms of communication with their constituency.” The following chart from their report

shows comparisons over the three years of the study:

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

33%

41%

51%

29%

61%

87%

27%

36%

38%

19%

48%

46%

14%

16%

22%

3%

10%

13%

59%

59%

39%

5%

94% 67% 61% 59% 58% 36% 33% 33%

BLOGGINGSOCIAL

NETWORKING

MESSAGE BULLETIN BOARDS

VIDEOBLOGGING

PODCASTING WIKIS TWITTERDO NOT USE ANY

2007

2008

2009

While they don’t say much about engagement in general, Barnes and Mattson do focus on blog

comments as a measure of engagement, and they report that 78% of respondents accept comments

on their blogs. Comments facilitate “conversation” (the term that Barnes and Mattson use); 86% of

respondents said their blogs were successful. And they don’t call out the use of Facebook specifically,

focusing on “social networking” in general.

In terms of plans for the future, they report that 50% of respondents believe that social media is “very

important” to their future strategy (a 5% decline since the question was asked in 2008).

Robin Lindbeck, a professor at Drake University, and Brian Fodrey, from the University of North Carolina,

studied how prospective students and admission offices relate to social media and other technologies

Which of the following types of social media does your admission office currently have? (% yes)

17 Appendix 1: Social Media and the Admission Office

as part of the admission process. In “Using Technology in Undergraduate Admission:

Current Practices and Future Plans,”2 they reported how admission offices used technol-

ogy. They offered additional perspectives on this research in a presentation at NACAC

2010 entitled, “Integrating Emerging Technologies into Undergraduate Admission.” Their

work, which they shared in two articles in the Journal of College Admission and a presenta-

tion at NACAC 2010, is based on surveys completed by 36 institutions from 11 states.

They found that 25% of institutions were using “social networking” and, of the 69% of

respondents using an online profile for their admission office, 36% rated it as having a

high ROI.

Using a list of colleges derived from the directory compiled by the University of Texas,

BlueFuego staff visited 1,387 colleges and university websites repeatedly over the past

two years. They viewed institutional home pages and the opening pages of admission

and alumni sites and recorded instances in which the institutions linked to social media

sites from these key pages. In BlueFuego’s initial survey, conducted in March 2009, 8%

of institutions displayed “social web callouts” (BlueFuego’s term for icons or specific

links to destinations on the social web such as Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, etc.). Of the 113

institutions that used these links on their admission sites, 65% linked to Facebook, 25%

linked to YouTube (with 19% embedding a YouTube video), 14% linked to Twitter, and

12% linked to MySpace.

In July 2010, BlueFuego updated their research with the same set of institutions. Now,

53% of admission websites include social web callouts (links) on their main pages.

BlueFuego observes, “Admission continues to lag behind in promoting their presences via

SWCs directly on their site. Our supplementary research with prospective students has

shown that they are more likely to visit and join presences that are officially promoted by

the institution.” When the research was done (June 2010, about the time our survey was

posted), 94% of institutions linked to Facebook, 67% to Twitter, and 53% to YouTube.

2Journal of College Admission, Summer 2009: 25-30

18 Appendix 1: Social Media and the Admission Office

67% 40% 40% 40%% 37% 33% 29% 14% 14% 10% 9% 7% 3% 14%

Face

bookBlogs

Group C

hat Sess

ions

Twitter

YouTube

Instant M

essaging

RSS

MySpace

Audio Podcasting

Video Podcasting

Social Bookm

arking

Mess

age Boards

LinkedIn

None of These

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

% of Responents

Social media technology (from Abe Gruber)

Abe Gruber’s master’s thesis “Social

Media in Undergraduate University

Admissions” provides a very nuanced

view of the range of social media used in

admission offices and offers a perspec-

tive of how admission office use of social

media compares to what prospective

students want. Completed in late 2010,

the thesis relies upon a sample of 200

prospective students and 70 admission

offices. His admission office respondents

indicated that Facebook was the most

popular social media for communication

with prospective students (67% used it).

40% used blogs.

Varsity Outreach’s white paper, “Facebook and Admissions: A Closer Look at How College

Admission Offices Use Facebook,” reports on a survey sent to the 601 American universities

in their Facebook Page Directory in spring 2010, at roughly the same time we were surveying

advancement offices about their use of social media. They received 226 responses. Their

topline findings:

» Facebook is the most important and most used social media outlet for admission offices, ahead of blogs, YouTube, Twitter, and MySpace.

» Most admission offices have a dedicated presence on Facebook that typically includes Facebook pages or Facebook groups. Many have more than one presence on Facebook.

» An admission office’s Facebook presence is typically managed by a small group of individuals (one to three people) who spend four hours or fewer per week on this task. More than half of admission offices place primary responsibility for this task in the hands of a junior admission staff member with fewer than five years of experience.

» Most admission offices are happy with the results of their Facebook presence, yet less than half agree that their presence has had a significant impact on recruitment or yield efforts.

Admission office use of social media

19 Appendix 1: Social Media and the Admission Office

More strikingly, Gruber looked at the impact of

various social media on how students choose

which institutions to apply to, and which they

ultimately attend.

To examine the value of various social media

in helping prospective students choose

where to apply, he created a ranking he calls

the Application Impact Factor (AIF), which

multiplies the level of positive influence of

a social medium by the percent of usage

reported. Using this formula, he compared

the AIF generated by prospective students

for various social media to that generated by

admission officers.

SOCIAL MEDIA ADMISSION OFFICE AIF RANK

PROSPECTIVE STUDENT AIF RANK

Facebook 1 1

Group Chat 2 4

Twitter 3 8

Blogs 4 2

Instant Messaging 5 5

Podcasts 6 6

MySpace 7 7

Message Boards - 3

51% 60% 35% 42% 2% 31% 17% 15% 21% 4% 3% 15% 48% 8%

40% 67% 40% 33% 3% 7% 14% 14% 10% 29% 9% 40% 37% 14%

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

% Wanted by Prospective Students vs % Used by Admissions Offices

Blogs

Face

book

Group C

hat Sess

ions

Instant M

essaging

LinkedIn

Mess

age Boards

MySpace

Podcasting-A

udio

Podcasting-V

ideoRSS

Social Bookm

arking

Twitter

YouTube

None of These

Social media technology (from Abe Gruber)

Gruber’s research indicates some gaps—and some overlaps—

between the social media that admission offices currently use

and what prospective students want to use to connect with

colleges and universities.

PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS ADMISSION OFFICES

Application Impact Factor (AIF)

Prospective students’ wants vs. admission office activities

20 Appendix 1: Social Media and the Admission Office

In exploring the role social media

plays in a student’s decision to

enroll he created a formula he calls

the “Enrollment Impact Factor” or

EIF. It, like the AIF, “is calculated by

multiplying positive influence

and usage.”

SOCIAL MEDIA ADMISSION OFFICE EIF RANK

PROSPECTIVE STUDENT EIF RANK

Facebook 1 1

Twitter 2 8

Group chat sessions 3 4

Instant messaging 4 5

Blogs 5 2

Podcasts 6 6

MySpace 7 7

Message boards — 3

15

44

24

28

12

38

19

25

18

20

12

26

8

28 4

2316

9

15

9

8

10

9

7

5

10

9

65

52

2

Face

book Pages

Twitter

Face

book Profi le

s

Student B

logsRSS

YouTube

Group C

hat Sess

ions

Instant M

essaging

Faculty

Blogs

Admiss

ions Sta

ff Blogs

MySpace

Video Podcasting

Audio Podcasting

Social Bookm

arking

Mess

age Boards

LinkedIn

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Number of Admission Offices

Social Media Technology (From Abe Gruber)

Here is what Gruber’s

respondents in admission

offices reported about the

social media they were

currently using, as opposed

to those that they intended

to implement in the next

six to 12 months:

CURRENT USAGE

FUTURE USAGE (6-12 MONTHS)

Enrollment Impact Factor (EIF)

Current usage vs. future implementation

21 Appendix 1: Social Media and the Admission Office

Success with Facebook

BlueFuego, Gruber, and Varsity Outreach all explore ways to measure Facebook’s effectiveness in

student recruitment.

As a step toward measuring how effective institutions are in connecting through Facebook, BlueFuego

developed a formula designed to measure engagement on Facebook and other social sites. Their method

divides the number of “likes” and comments each post receives by the total number of fans per page

to come up with “total engagement.” Varsity Outreach takes this formula a step further, weighting

comments more heavily than “likes.” Their rationale is that “actually typing in a comment represents a

greater level of engagement than simply liking something.”

In a blog post on 24 September 2010, Varsity Outreach presented findings from a week-long project in

which they analyzed all the posts from the 601 American universities in their Facebook Page Directory.

Using their modified engagement score, they assessed the kinds of posts that generated the most

engagement from prospective students:

Varsity Outreach also noted that while only 4% of institutional respondents had prioritized Facebook

(defined as spending more than 10 hours a week on their Facebook presence), “This extra time

seems to translate into higher levels of satisfaction with their Facebook presence. These schools are

more likely to believe that Facebook has made a significant impact on their recruitment and yield

efforts.” Still, they note, even those institutions don’t know if Facebook is having a significant impact

on recruitment or yield: “For us, this highlighted one of the big challenges of utilizing Facebook—

measuring its effectiveness.”

Question 11%

Link 4%

Video 4%

Giveaway 3%

Score / Result / Pre-Game 27%

Announcement / Shout-Out 24%

Photo 14%

Stats / Facts / Ranking 13%

22 Appendix 1: Social Media and the Admission Office

Gruber learned that 78% of admission offices did not have a strategy regarding the use of social media

technologies and that 97% of them did not have specific recruitment goals for their social media

activities. One of Gruber’s key recommendations for admission/enrollment offices was adoption of a

social media strategy:

Since 78% of admission offices don’t have an official strategy for their usage of social media,

it is evident that not enough time and attention are being devoted to social media as a

recruitment tool. As admission offices report that it is “difficult to find the time” for social

media, it is common to find situations where there are only one or two people in an entire

admission office working with Facebook and blogs. If more effort was devoted to social

media in an official capacity, admission offices would become more aware of their own

disconnects, and they could do a much better job of actually incorporating social media into

their recruitment plans and objectives.

30% 65% 12% 38% 11% 54% 23% 41%

19% 54% 12% 19% 3% 10% 2% 5%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

Facebook: what students want vs. what universities do

Admiss

ion counse

lors adding

prosp

ective st

udents as f

riends

Invitatio

ns to adm

ission eve

nts

prosp

ective st

udents as f

riends

Posts on w

all -

how to apply fo

r adm

ission

Private

mess

ages -

how to apply fo

r adm

ission

Posts on w

all -

miss

ing docs/co

mpletin

g your app

Posts on w

all -

being accepte

d

Private

mess

ages -

miss

ing docs/co

mpletin

g your app

Private

mess

ages -

being accepte

d

Method of Facebook Interaction (From Abe Gruber)

Finally, Gruber’s research shows how important Facebook

is to admission officers and to prospective students. Gruber

compares what his prospective student respondents want

with what universities actually do.

WHAT STUDENTS WANT WHAT UNIVERSITIES DO

23 Appendix 1: Social Media and the Admission Office

Prospective students and social media

This appendix has focused on research on the use of social media by admission/enrollment offices, to

complement the research we conducted with advancement offices.

Plenty of research also exists on how prospective students use social media. If you’re interested in

pursuing this topic, start with Lougan Bishop’s post on Eduguru: “Social Media Recruitment: Do prospects

really use it??”

Bishop summarizes the findings on how teens use social media from three studies: “E-Expectations 2010 –

Focusing You E-Recruitment Efforts to Meet the Expectations of College-Bound Students,” by Noel-Levitz;

“The Hobsons Report on Undergraduate Student Recruitment 2010”; and “Stamats – TeensTalk® 2010.”

Robin Lindbeck and Brian Fodrey offer some insights into how students use technology in “Using

Technology in Undergraduate Admission: A Student Perspective,” Journal of College Admission, Summer

2010: 10-17. [Their complementary research with admission offices is reviewed above.]

And as described above, Abe Gruber’s master’s thesis, “Social Media in Undergraduate University

Admissions,“ is invaluable in the comparisons between what prospective students want—and what

admission offices offer them.

24Case Studies

Case Study: Oregon State University:

Powered by Orange1

1 This case study was condensed from two blog posts about Powered by Orange: “Powered by Orange: A Comprehensive Social Media Campaign” and “Powered by Orange: An Update.” The campaign earned a Gold in the 2010 CASE Awards of Excellence. The judging panel noted, “The breadth of this campaign is truly impressive, as is the execution and the university’s “launch and learn” approach to developing PBO. And there are encouraging results, including 55,500 distinct visits to the PBO site since its inception, with the most visits coming on the official launch day of the campaign; more than 10,000 social media connections on PBO-specific networks; and comments and blog posts about PBO.”

25Case Studies

Powered By Orange, launched in March 2009 by Oregon State University, is the most comprehensive university social marketing campaign that we’ve seen to date.

The campaign, which focused initially

on building awareness of the univer-

sity in the primary media market of

Portland, Oregon,

has evolved into a

broad-based brand

awareness campaign,

growing in reach and

influence in the year

since its launch.

Before PBO launched

in 2009, OSU thor-

oughly researched

what thousands

of students and

alumni thought

about the university.

The research was

designed initially to

help OSU develop an

integrated marketing

communications plan.

But because the uni-

versity knew so much

about the expecta-

tions of its audiences,

it was also prepared to shape an

effective awareness campaign.

Drawing on the insights from the

original communications plan, a group

of team members from the University

Advancement division developed a

plan and creative concepts to take

advantage of an integrated social

media campaign. They tested these

ideas with a mixed group of campus

staff and leaders, including repre-

sentatives of the OSU Foundation,

the OSU Alumni Association, college

communications representatives,

admissions staff, and others.

Knowing which messages about OSU

might resonate with its audiences

was key to early success, according to

David Baker. As director of web com-

munications at OSU, Baker was a key

figure in developing PBO and helping it

evolve. “Our audiences were prepared

to believe that OSU was a small-town

school with agricultural roots. In

reality, we were doing amazing things

that they were not aware of, but they

wouldn’t have believed glossy ads or

videos. By using voices of alumni, we

were able to showcase what OSU is

doing with great authenticity. And that

authenticity is very important to our

audience.” The authentic tone of PBO

has allowed it to spread both exter-

nally and internally.

What’s Powered by Orange? Here’s

the answer from the PBO website: “It’s

you—the network of alumni, students,

faculty, staff, friends,

and fans connected to

Oregon State University.

It’s the positive impact

you make every day in

Portland and beyond—

on the economy, the

environment and

the community.

One of the key insights

from the research that

led to the integrated

marketing plan was the

necessity of connect-

ing with younger alumni

who are critical to future

giving. Testing showed

that this audience in

particular wanted reas-

surance that OSU was

making an impact on the

world. “Not only did the

research gave us insights

into the needs of some of our key

audiences—but it was a no-brainer

to reach out to young alumni through

channels that they were familiar with,”

said David Baker, OSU’s director of

web communications.

In short order, Baker’s web commu-

nications unit, in collaboration with

26Case Studies

university marketing, designed a

website in Wordpress to serve as the

hub for Powered By Orange. Planning

and execution of the site and social

networking components, Baker said,

“took a couple of months from first

concept to site launch. We were able

to move quickly because we had

that research.”

The PBO online ecosystem

The PBO website aggregates a signifi-

cant number of social media tools and

social networks:

» A focal point of the site is a Google Map that allows people who are Powered By Orange to place a dot to mark their location. Baker said, “Lots of people are adding them-selves to the map because they are connected to OSU and OSU has played a part in making them who they are. They’re showing that they are part of their community—and not just through their profes-sion. In fact, this reinforces how community-oriented OSU students are.”

» Content from the PBO Blog is featured prominently on the site; it is also syndicated to and from other OSU blogs.

» OSU has also focused heavily on developing video content for PBO and utilizing YouTube

videos generated elsewhere on campus. Videos are syndi-cated into a Facebook page.

» There’s an extensive Flickr gallery where people can post photos of Benny, the OSU mascot, in various places. An image of Benny can be down-loaded from a gallery that includes computer desktop wallpaper; a door hanger; and PBO website tags.

» OSU’s Twitter feed (@pow-eredbyorange) and a LinkedIn group are part of the package, too.

» PBO staff invested in other channels, including face-to-face and advertising. During its public launch in Portland, PBO invested in bus wraps and store signs.

Though it originally targeted Portland,

the campaign expanded quickly. PBO

evolved into a broader awareness-

building campaign for OSU. To make

this shift, PBO initiated the Orange

Spotlight in 2010. The feature invites

nominations for businesses that are

“Powered by Orange”—“owned by

an Oregon State alum, have lots of

OSU alums working there, or are just

friends of OSU. They also drive inno-

vation, support economic growth, and

serve in the community.” Each month,

a winning business is selected for the

“Orange Spotlight,” which includes

a feature story on OSU’s website,

promotion on its social networks,

and inclusion in a campaign to push

OSU fans to featured businesses

via Powered by Orange. People who

nominate businesses are entered

in a drawing for OSU Football

season tickets.

The result? Baker said, “We’re

getting hundreds of nominations for

businesses with some kind of OSU

connection.” The benefits can be

real for businesses profiled. “We just

spotlighted a vineyard in Napa Valley,

Lamborn Family Vineyards. Its owners

are graduates of the OSU horticul-

ture program and using sustainable

growing techniques. Lamborn got

great publicity when WineBusiness.

com picked up the story. This gave us

a great story to reuse as we talk about

OSU’s new wine institute. It was a

win-win for all concerned.”

The “Orange Spotlight” nominations

have enabled OSU to gain detailed

information on hundreds of business-

es. Baker noted, “That’s a pretty

significant result for us.”

27Case Studies

Lessons learned thus far

Baker called OSU’s approach to PBO a “launch and learn” approach. This attitude allowed the univer-

sity to evolve the campaign as they learned what was—and wasn’t—working. This has meant adjusting

tactics, revising their expectations, and watching as the tools they’re using evolve. It has also meant

giving up control and watching how users adopt the PBO theme and imagery.

For example, OSU learned early on that they just weren’t going to get the volume of user-generated

videos they had hoped for. But the void was partially filled when communicators on campus generated

videos that could be used by PBO. “For example, a staff member in international studies recorded about

15 videos of students sharing what PBO means to them—in their native languages. This was part of a

recruiting program to bring international students to OSU.”

The PBO team compensated for the lack of user-generated video in other creative ways. Baker noted,

“We hosted an event to get students to share their definition of PBO. We attracted about 100 students

and, as a result, created ambassadors to talk about OSU. Now we do this wherever we go.”

Baker reports that initially, the most engaged audience—measured in terms of participation by wall

posts, “likes,” and comments—has been in the Facebook community, which is currently at about 10,000

members. Interestingly, the center of gravity seems to be moving toward the PBO blog after a few

popular blog posts were posted on Facebook. PBO’s blog now has posts on which dozens of people

have commented.

Baker stressed that PBO is an ongoing effort for Oregon State. “We know that we aren’t going to be able

to measure the larger impact of PBO until we can go back and resurvey in three to five years to see how

things have changed against our original benchmark. Meanwhile, though, we can observe our members

and followers on various networks. Plus we’re keeping track of the connections and the anecdotal data,

which is very important to keeping a campaign going.”

Like other successful social media campaigns, PBO has allowed audience members to co-opt its theme

and imagery. And that has helped its spread. Baker noted, “We’ve been flexible enough to allow users to

define the campaign for themselves. It’s powerful because PBO gives them a language to talk

about OSU.”

On campus, this means that university divisions, extension offices, colleges, and other units can talk

about PBO in their specific contexts. For example, OSU’s Alumni Association organized a Haunted by

Orange homecoming event last Halloween. Health and Human Services put together a Powered By

Orange 5k race last fall.

Furthermore, Baker said, “We’re even seeing the media pick up PBO. It’s showing up in titles of articles or

as a play on words, without us suggesting that they use it.”

28Case Studies

Case Study: William & Mary Mascot Search1

1 This case study is condensed from a blog post entitled “William & Mary Mascot Search: The Power of Integrating Social Tools.”

29Case Studies

You know your new mascot has arrived when it gets a plug on The Daily Show.

But more interesting than the mascot

itself was the process that led William

& Mary to choose it. The search

began when W&M’s new president,

Taylor Reveley, heard board members,

students, and alumni alike bemoaning

the fact that the college didn’t

have an official mascot to rally

support for the college’s athletic

team, the Tribe. So President

Reveley created a task force to

select a mascot for the uni-

versity, charging its members

to make the search open,

engaging, and fun.

Susan T. Evans, director of

creative services, planned the

communications for the mascot

search. As project manager for

the redesign of the William &

Mary website, Evans had seen

firsthand the power of social media.

The re.Web blog, which chronicled

progress on WM.edu, widely praised

by colleagues, and earned an Edustyle

People’s Choice Award in 2008. She

built a mascot search communica-

tions plan around social media, using

multiple channels, knowing that that’s

how people would engage with each

other and the university.

Together, these channels formed the

basis of a broader communications

campaign that helped constituents

stay up to speed with and participate

in the mascot selection process. Plus,

as the campaign got rolling, it got a

real boost in earned media from print

and broadcast outlets.

How the channels fit together

Evans and her team set up a web page

for the mascot on WM.edu. This was

the outlet for more static content.

The blog served a similar, though less

formal, function. Evans said, “We used

the blog to lay out the ground rules for

what kind of mascot we were looking

for. Then, we used it to share informa-

tion. For example, we’d post informa-

tion about meetings. A lot of this was

like a press release. We had some

comments on our blog, but not the

volume we received on Facebook.”

The Mascot Search Facebook Group

was where a lot of the interaction

happened. Evans reports, “At the

time we launched the mascot search

we had about 10,000 fans on the

William & Mary Facebook page, so

we co-opted it for the mascot search

because we had so many people using

it compared to the other channels.”

Evans and her colleagues used Twitter

(@WMMascot) to break informa-

tion. The campaign’s 1,360 Twitter

followers received the first notices

about news on the search.

During the later stages of the mascot

search, they used a Flickr gallery to

unveil concept drawings of suggested

mascots designed by Torch Creative,

Inc. “And we used it at the end to

unveil the final selection,”

Evans said.

She regards the Mascot YouTube

channel as the most successful

channel overall, though during the

selection process it also served

as a (useful) distraction. “During

the search, we took suggestions

for 90 days using a SurveyMon-

key survey and then accepted

feedback about them for a month.

During this time, and while the

committee deliberated, we used

YouTube to post funny things

about what we were doing.”

At the conclusion of the campaign,

W&M used posted a very funny

video on YouTube revealing the new

mascot. “Get Me the Griffin,” featuring

President Reveley, helped to engage

constituents who weren’t able to join

the 700 people who attended the

campus launch event. “When the

Griffin walked out into the crowd,”

Evans said, “our simultaneous internet

launch had many people involved via

social media.”

These online channels, which formed

the primary focus of the campaign,

were augmented by some print, email,

and an online survey.

30Case Studies

Lessons learned thus far

Before the campaign began, William & Mary did not define specific metrics for success. “We didn’t know

what to expect, beyond having a goal of involving as many of our current students, alumni, faculty, staff,

and parents as we could. We didn’t even set up targets for how many suggestions we wanted to get. We

knew that mascot searches can be messy, so we were hoping that by being inclusive and allowing people

to participate we would get consensus and that people would realize we were listening to their

suggestions and ideas.”

The response was “off the charts,” Evans said. “I was very pleased with the participation in the search; we

more than 800 people visit the website to suggest a mascot idea. Moreover, we had 22,000 comments

of feedback when we narrowed down to the final five finalists.”

And the engagement wasn’t just comment-deep. “I was surprised at how strongly people felt about their

mascot suggestion. They took a lot of time to write their suggestions/comments, many of which were

very well documented and thoughtful. Some people even ran their own campaign to promote the mascot

they suggested—they had their own Facebook pages, like those who hoped we’d choose Bricky the Brick.”

People’s passion for their mascot was pretty surprising.”

But, she observed, “The main lesson we learned was that the integration of these social media tools

matters. We didn’t realize that the power behind what we were doing was that we were using all of these

channels together, but in different ways. The result was that we had a cohesive presence.” That “cohesive

presence” was the result of an integrated set of multiple community tools, a consistent concept and

brand, and an informal tone.

One important lesson was to get people of all ages participated. “It may seem like common sense, but

one of the key assumptions we were able to confirm is that older alumni will use the Internet to engage

with us. At the beginning of the campaign, some people said to us that the alumni wouldn’t participate

via the web. That was hardly true! Alumni of all ages participated and visited the blog. They submitted

suggestions regardless of their age. Total participation was about 50% alumni—and a substantial number

of those were ages 50-80.” Even prospective students submitted drawings; one parent who visited his

son, a college employee, brought drawings of proposed mascots with him and personally delivered them

to Evans’s office.

An unanticipated byproduct of the mascot search was the enormous amount of media coverage it

received. “We did a little bit of media outreach,” Evans said. “The athletic department used its listserv and

we did distribute information along the way to media. But a lot of media got information directly from our

website and blog.” The coverage included the segment on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a William &

Mary alum, along with stories in the Washington�Post,�Sports�Illustrated,�Chronicle�of�Higher�Ed, ESPN,

and the AP.

31Case Studies

Case Study: Integrating and Managing Social Media

at Northfield Mount Hermon School1

1 An interview with Heather Sullivan is posted on our blog. A separate post focuses on NMHbook.

32Case Studies

You don’t need a huge staff to pull off a sophisticated and integrated social media presence. Just ask Heather

Sullivan, director of

communications and

marketing at Northfield

Mount Hermon School

(NMH), a ninth through

twelfth grade independent

school in Gill,

Massachusetts.

NMH’s social media are

aggregated in NMHbook,

connecting the school’s

website to the social

web and presenting

a selection of social

content to visitors to the

site. When NMH rede-

signed NMHschool.org,

its redesign partners,

mStoner, customized the

school’s Drupal content

management system to

collect and display feeds

from NMH social media,

including blogs, Flickr,

Facebook, Twitter, and

YouTube.

For example, a faculty member con-

tributes many of the images for the

Flickr archive, which is managed by

one of the five communications staff

members. More than 30 active blogs

are administered by NMH faculty,

staff, and students with support in

the communications office. Primary

content for Facebook and Twitter

are generated by a communications

staffer, with additional tweeting (and

texture) coming from areas as diverse

as college counseling and the basket-

ball coach. Video content is produced

in communications with student

videos included in the mix. News

headlines and events listings are fed

into Facebook from the NMH website.

Sullivan coordinates these social

media activities with her staff and

the other contributors. She asserts

that one reason for the success of

the social media efforts on campus

is that the communications office

has developed tools, made them

easily available, and has supported

the efforts of various members of

the NMH community as they figure

out how to use different channels to

reach their audiences. In

addition, the school gives

content play online and

occasionally recaptures

highlights from blogs or

Facebook for periodicals

including the

school magazine.

According to Sullivan,

NMH maintains a “fairly

robust” presence on Flickr,

Twitter, and Facebook (one

Facebook post recently

generated more than 100

comments, and the school

also used social media to

announce the major news

of the sale of one of its two

campuses), in addition to

news and events feeds on

the school’s public-facing

website. “We try to have

as little overlap as possible

in the feeds. It gives our

audiences a chance to

participate in everything,

or to view NMH through

the channels they want to.

And we want to be sure that informa-

tion we surface is complementary

and not redundant, which is already a

challenge when you think about main-

taining four or five feeds almost daily.

A little bit of overlap is acceptable for

really important events, but we want

to give the public a reason to partici-

pate with NMH on every channel. To

33Case Studies

do this, the information has to be a

little different on every platform.”

Maintaining the channels

A number of Sullivan’s colleagues

work hard at maintaining different

channels for NMH.

» Blogs: About three dozen faculty, students, and administrators post to NMH blogs. These are, in turn, syndicated through NMHbook, the school’s social media aggre-gation site.

» Flickr: NMH’s former web manager helped set up and integrate Flickr into the school’s website. Sharon Labella-Lindale, assistant director of communica-tions, manages the ongoing Flickr presence, and a faculty member who is also a photographer shoots most events as part of his responsibilities. “Photo of the Day,” a homepage feature, is fed from Flickr via Drupal.

» Facebook: Admission and com-munications collaborated on the original launch of the school’s Facebook presence. Facebook is now managed by communica-tions with input from admission and development staff. Rachael Hanley is the primary writer of the website highlights and manages the news feed on the main site, which is fed into Facebook. Label-la-Lindale manages the calendar of events on the main site; events from this calendar are fed into Facebook.

» Twitter: NMH recently set up co-tweeting, which allows multiple staff members to tweet as @NMHSchool.

» YouTube: Before redesigning the website, NMH had begun using YouTube to house some videos, including advancement solicitation pieces. During the site redesign, they branded the channel and recut an admission video to allow segments to work for YouTube. As of August 2010, NMH is concentrating more more deliberately on using video to communicate value and brand and is hosting on Vimeo, where the quality is better. They’ve also hired a staff member to produce video for the site.

Sullivan is clear that, for the time

being, NMH is focusing its social

media efforts on prospective students.

Not that it doesn’t want to engage

with current students or alumni, but

bumping up admission numbers is its

current goal.

“Anecdotally, I think our efforts are

working for admission, but it’s difficult

to say how much impact these things

have. It’s tricky to try to attach metrics

about admission to something like

a website redesign or social media

because these things don’t tend to

be the decision-maker; they just help

build or strengthen the case for why a

student (or their parents) would want

to attend. I could tell you that our yield

is very strong right now, and our en-

rollment is stronger than it was before

we launched social media. But our

social media presence is only a part of

the work that we’re doing to support

admission goals.” (NB: Incidentally,

NMH is faring well in advancement

efforts as well, having just completed

a capital campaign that exceeded its

goal by more than 10%.)

“The focus this year for admission has

been on the quality of relationship

with prospectives and with parents.

We saw social networking as another

dimension of the relationship. Think

about how Facebook helps a relation-

ship. We like possible students seeing

alumni posting that their time at NMH

was the best four years of their life…

or even stuff that’s less dramatic, like

alumni talking about how they miss

the place or what their favorite tradi-

tions or classes were. Social media is

a tool that allows marketing types to

step back and let people who are in-

terested talk to one another and offer

stories or information that can

be directly useful.”

Sullivan reports that NMH hasn’t had

many problems with inappropriate

messaging and isn’t too concerned

about an occasional negative post.

“If nothing bad is ever mentioned,

people begin to question the au-

thenticity of the messaging. We

often forget that negative messaging

34Succeeding with Social Media: Lessons from the First Survey of Social Media in Advancement

appears in print, as well.

Most magazines are willing

to run negative letters to the

editor, even in the front of the

magazine. If you have courage

and you’re being yourself, you

should be willing to share the

voice of opposition. Negative

comments can foster

a dialogue or create a level

of engagement.”

Why is NMH’s social media

effort successful? For one thing,

it’s focused on prospective

students. While others aren’t

excluded—and alumni and

current students do partici-

pate—the content creators at

NMH keep prospects (and their

parents) in mind when they

create and post content.

Fresh content appears regularly

in many of the channels—often

daily, except for YouTube.

Sullivan notes that video

production, managed by new

hire Jessica Lindsey, who has

a background in broadcast

journalism, has been a new

area of focus. New video

content is now posted weekly

or more frequently. Because

the information is relevant,

audiences have an incentive to

check back regularly. Also, the

content is often designed to

stimulate response, interaction,

or action. And there isn’t much

overlap between the channels

except for events or calls to

action. This means audiences

have an incentive to visit NMH

on multiple channels. But not

only that: they have the option

to participate in or ignore

channels that aren’t particularly

useful or meaningful to them.

35Case Studies

Case Study: Coordination and Decentralization of Social Media

at the Emory University Alumni Association

36Case Studies

The goal at the Emory University Alumni Association (EAA) is to make all staff proficient enough to participate in social media. “We think it should be part of

everyone’s job, just like the telephone

or email,” said Stacey Gall, assistant

director of technology and information

management. She’s responsible for

developing social media strategy for the

EAA, which is part of the department of

development and alumni relations

at Emory.

Her colleague, Eric Rangus, remarked,

“We want to get to a place where all of

the alumni association is comfortable

communicating through social media

and using it to encourage alumni to get

involved with us.” Rangus, the EAA’s

director of communications, works with

Gall and Cassie Young, coordinator

of alumni programs and student

development, to manage social media

strategies, model best practices, manage

key channels, and help their colleagues

understand how to use social media

effectively to do their jobs, market

and promote EAA programs, and

engage alumni.

It helps that the EAA knows its audience.

Young, who also manages the social

media strategies for homecoming

weekend and commencement, said,

“We don’t have to worry about covering

all EU’s academic information. So we

can be more selective in our content. We

know our audience and what they like.”

It also helps that this team has set

up some guiding principles for their

social media presence:

1. Identify and address issues.

2. Listen to people, respond, and improve engagement over time. Learn their interests.

3. Customize your message accordingly.

4. A sustained presence in social channels develops credibility and trust.

5. An integrated online presence is key to successful delivery of messages.

6. Diversify. Any online network could disappear tomorrow.

How the channels work

Rangus manages EAAvesdropping,

the alumni association’s blog, which

is updated daily with posts about the

EAA staff, alumni, and other Emory-

related subjects, as well as posts

about events. Content from the blog

is automatically fed to Facebook,

LinkedIn, and a few other social

sites, and is cross-promoted on

Twitter. They encourage blog posts

from EAA staff and alumni and run

photos of the day. “Alumni

love photos!”

EAA has three Twitter feeds.

Young manages two of them

(@EmoryAlumni and

@EmoryTravel); a third is alumni-

run (@EmoryAlumNash). These

feeds are primarily used to promote

new blog content or events, or as a

way of cross-promoting other EAA

activities or events on campus. “For

example, we might communicate

about a VIP visiting Emory or that

the science department has just

published an interesting article”

Rangus said.

Response Count Percent

Alumni accomplishments

543 64%

Career or professional development information

431 51%

Current student activities and accomplishments

280 33%

Emory arts (all disciplines and venues)

199 24%

Emory athletes an athletic news

82 10%

Emory faculty research and achievements

415 49%

Emory initiatives around the world

419 50%

Fraternity/sorority life at Emory

98 12%

Homecoming/reunion information

188 22%

My school news and activities

367 44%

Other (please specify) 28 3%

Photos/photo slide shows

236 28%

Ways to support Emory

89 11%

What alumni want

“ When thinking of communications

from the Emory Alumni Association,

what types of content would make

them more satisfying to read?”

From: “Getting Social: The Emory Alumni Association Online”

37Case Studies

Emory has nine LinkedIn groups.

EAA’s, which is open to Emory alumni

only, has 3,448 members.

EAA’s main Facebook page launched

in 2009. Gall, Rangus and Young

schedule posts and promotional

tweets, as well as blog posts. But EAA

has a lot more going on on Facebook:

three fan pages (for the EAA itself,

the Emory Travel Program, and Emory

Cares International) and 70 Facebook

groups, (mainly based on events

or city-specific networking). For

these, other EAA staff members are

empowered to post and engage with

fans, as are key volunteers. In fact,

Gall reports, “All of the 26 full-time

staff members contribute to the EAA’s

social media strategy.”

The EAA is particularly invested in

using social media to promote their

events. They sketch out the calendar

of events and locations and then

work to develop a message and

communications strategy around

key events. Young said, “First we

select events and then determine

how to communicate and what to

communicate about the event. Then

we gather content from our staff. We

want to involve everyone we can, so

those who like to write can write blog

posts. We reach out to students, too.

One of our lead bloggers is

a student intern.”

Managing all the editorial content

at an institution like Emory is

challenging, he says. Not only because

of the volume, which is large and

requires a great deal of thought to

manage, but because the less formal

nature of social media content and

discourse runs counter to the kind

of content that many colleagues are

used to producing for other university

channels, even online channels.

Rangus said, “We learned early on

that the key is to be human; to be

conversational and approachable.

This kind of attitude and tone is

something we try to put into all of our

communications. We want to talk to

alumni the way we talk to our friends.”

They’re constantly looking for a

type of content that Young called

“offbeat stuff” like student videos or

elements that one wouldn’t expect

from a university news feed. And EAA

attempts to break news to alumni

so they feel as if they’re getting the

inside scoop: “It makes alumni feel

like they’re back on campus,” Young

observed.

Memorial pages—remembering

alumni who have passed away—are

also very popular. “This is because

these sites are the only place where

alumni can leave thoughts and

messages about departed friends,”

Rangus observed.

In order to establish a share

responsibility for social media,

Gall and her colleagues do many

presentations and talk to staff about

the nuts and bolts of social media.

“We find that the more people

understand how to use each social

tool, the better they’re able to

generate content and help to plan for

the different event campaigns,” she

said.

Looking ahead, the team is exploring

development of a mobile app for

alumni and is looking at multiple

new social media channels, including

SCVNGR, an app that bills itself as

“a game about doing challenges at

places.” Gall sees possibilities for

using this app to provide a challenge

for alumni visiting campus or

doing something with it to enliven

homecoming.

As Cassie Young pointed out, “The

key for us is to diversify our social

media efforts—not to put all our eggs

in one basket, but to be aware of the

networks that our alumni are using. If

it’s the next best thing, we want to be

there already.”