Social Media in Education sector

Social media is enticing masses from all walks of life. With the amplification of technology, more and more people are opting to use in surfeit – be it for expanding their business, propagation or for creating an awareness about their brand or for interacting with people. Using Social Media for education institutes or education sector has become an integral part in marketing these days.

Students and youngster being at the cusp of this social revolution, most of the educational institutes are now embracing social media as a means to reach out to students and parents. Diagnosing the high impact target strategies, the institutions can improve their fan base and convert fans and followers into brand advocates. These channels provide a low cost and highly widespread effective marketing platform to revamp the interaction and awareness of the brand among stakeholders.                                                               

The education industry’s growth is often indicative of the evolution of technological advancements, expansions of training programs and, of course, and the cultural transformations of today. This ever-changing demand opens up the door for a number of industry opportunities: Online Education: Educational institutions are only scratching the surface in the opportunity to blend in-class and online classes.

LinkedIn usage among Educational Professionals LinkedIn is another common social media platform for those in the educational industry. When we look at the latest digital marketing opportunities of social media and mobile for the education sector, their main considerations and focus should be on how they can use these technologies to form a community environment between their students, parents and teachers. On the social front, educational institutions are using social media technologies like blogs, Facebook and Twitter to share news, general info, updates and to connect with their student and teacher population.

YouTube is utilized to help broadcast student testimonials and showcase student experiences to prospective students and parents. On the mobile front, they are aiming to help make general functions like registering for classes, browsing courses, and connecting with faculty members more accessible to students using their mobile devices. Although some educational institutions have jumped onto the social and mobile train sooner than others, below is where we see the majority making considerations from a strategy standpoint. These channels not only ensure that the business is promoted to the right target audience but also strengthen the business and the brand.

The increased use of internet and digital media is a major influence in the field of education today. The education sector is a completely revolutionized sector since the majority of the population of students are the users of the internet. This has a direct implication on the fact that educational institutions and universities need to make increased use of the internet and mobile devices to reach out to more students.

The presence of such information on social networking sites is instrumental in influencing the decision making process of the students. One of the main reasons why educational institutions can make use of social media is the fact that 99% of the student population has presence on the social networking websites.

The Advantages of using social media is Cost Effective, Instantaneous feedback, Measurable, Easy Accessible tool & High conversion rate.

The information should resonate such that it increases the engagement and echo the message in minimum number of words. Make it more detailed by using pictures, videos and PowerPoint presentations: Information in form of slides attracts more attention as it is very precise. Pictures and videos helps to convey and portray minute details about the institute which would otherwise be written off.

 Social media marketing cannot be limited to adults or teenagers going to school and university. Right from a very young age, the young buds are getting exposed to advanced technology. Websites are created similar to Facebook and twitter so as that children learn the skill sets mandatory for staying ahead in the game. Concepts like social privacy are taught to them along with teaching them how to read and write. Innovative apps on these sites make learning a fun filled process and helps the child to learn faster as all this is based on a practical approach rather than on the mugging up process.

                            It’s not about the blackboard classrooms anymore! The world around is getting so fast and so are the people. So, why not acquaint the young buds with the fast growing life and make them smart! While you tweet and blog and express your opinions, give a chance to students to get themselves at pace with our world of social network. The possibility of interacting with other people, other educators, other schools, makes it more exciting; we are always expecting other people to share their experiences with us, which, at the same time, leads to students looking forward to these short periods of time in which we “speak, tell, invite, greet, etc.”

PowerPoint presentations too often resemble a school play - very loud, very slow, and very simple. With Slideshare, you can explain yourself even better! PowerPoint presentations are always easy to understand. Since the deal here is to be done with students, one must not forget the basics. Large numbers of schools and institutions have embarked on tele-education extensions to their curriculum. Some are perhaps not particularly high-tech but, in general, great beginnings have been made. Video-based communication stimulated by high-speed networks, such as the emerging National Broadband Network (NBN) and the well-established Education and Research Networks, are linking up an increasing number of schools and other educational institutions.

Email Marketing, too could be an effective driving force to boost your conversions. If you are willing to embrace social media in some form, create strong and effective strategy for their use and assign staff members with daily monitoring and analysis. Using social media for education institutes will definitely add up better conversions.

Any advancement in technology has its supporters & its detractors. It appears that we may be at the cusp of an educational revolution, where the impact of social media is radically changing the way education has been traditionally delivered. Time will tell whether the benefits outweigh the drawbacks but one thing is certain. Social media is having, and will continue to have, a lasting impact on the education field.