We set up our Class of 2014 Facebook group for the same reason most colleges do — to give a place for our incoming students to interact and learn more about SUNY Oswego. Little did we realize we’d encounter a bonus bit of free market research.
One incoming student started a “get to know each other” thread with a list of questions which included “Why do you love SUNY Oswego so much?” We couldn’t have phrased it better ourselves! And as the results come in, we see feedback on what appeals to students who have committed to attending.
With 59 relevant responses (and counting), we already see some trends emerge. I extracted the following, with some entries touching on more than one theme:
- Campus beauty (curb appeal): 22
- Right major/program: 21
- “Comfortable” or “felt right”: 11
- New York state school/SUNY tuition: 10
- Lake/physical location: 10 (not including distance)
- The people/friendliness: 9
- Distance (i.e. far enough way, not too far): 8
- Atmosphere (exact word): 6
- Sports/hockey: 6/3
Since we’re currently redeveloping our Web site, seeing what resonates with students helps. That majors and academic programs rank so high underscores the importance of well-placed and helpful Web pages to aid decision-making. Facilitating physical tours of our campus (while we are working on a virtual) remains important with so many liking its beauty, friendliness, lake, atmosphere and comfort level. Knowing how students who like us describe us also should influence how we craft our copy.
This does not, of course, present perfect research. Just 59 replies from a group nearing 500 and an expected freshman class of around 1,400 isn’t an ideal sample size. The group is self-selecting, not random. It’s not a blind test in that previous responses could affect participants. Yet we can’t discount seeing such strong trends among a key affinity group. And some knowledgeable higher ed folks, like Mike Petroff at Emerson College, have gone back and surveyed group members with specific questions of institutional importance.
But this also comes back to an overlooked aspect of social media — what we can learn. All those people using social media as a megaphone, just blasting out messages, are missing a lot. You can use social media as a microphone, the same way a journalist does while conducting interviews. I’m not saying you should eavesdrop on every conversation — that’s creepy and who has the time? — but if you create Facebook fan pages or groups, Twitter accounts or blogs for your institution, the feedback and interactions are all relevant and represent learning opportunities.
In a way, the 2014 student question represents serendipitous happenstance. But it comes from us being out there in social media, encouraging connections and conversation. We all have opportunities to find out more about our institution (or brand) if we want. We just have to ask the right questions … or, if you’ve set up a good community, benefit from someone doing it for you.
We had a very similar discussion start up on our 2014 group – I enjoy seeing what the incoming students value about their new home for the next 4 years. Another interesting thread that popped up on ours was “expectations and concerns” – I’m hoping to see if we can address some of their issues in our orientation programs.
The opportunity we have here is wonderful, it is almost as if the data and is falling into our laps – the difficulty will be doing something with it – integrating what you find into the right place within your institution!
There is a TON of information you can learn from simply staying involved in the Class of 2014 Facebook groups. I’ll be presenting some of my survey research from last year at NEACAC in May (http://www.neacac.org/am.cfm). I’m doing the same tracking this year again – and seeing some interesting trends.
We’ve reorganized our Admission website structure (while the redesign is happening) heavily influenced by not only what we’ve heard in social media, but also tracking incoming emails and comments from tour participants (we email an optional survey after tours).
Great post – and I love to see this conversation continue.
J.D.: I have a student worker who posted a “what is your biggest worry/concern about college?” thread, offering her insight. Very nice dialogue there, with students expressing appreciation for the help. The possibilities right now exceed our resources and time, but the future students have done a great job of building their own community anyway. Very pleasing to see.
MIKE: Geez, when are you gonna attend one of our communicators-type conferences? I guess those admissions types will benefit from your insights then, but I thank you for how generous you’ve been with your information. Great that you’ve used feedback to help drive Web organization … I definitely have my eye that direction. And yes, a great topic for continuing conversation!