facebook: usage in the middle east opportunities in recruitment, engagement, and retention for...

US Educational Group & Al Jamiat Usage in the Middle East

Opportunities in Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention For Higher Education

Regional Based Session

Sponsored students & Government scholarships: – Saudi Arabia – Qatar– Oman– Bahrain– Kuwait– United Arab Emirates

– Iraq– Libya– Kazakhstan– Azerbaijan

the recruitment gamehas changed

Social Media in Higher Education

Tools to help you

•Recruit ● Engage ● Retain A younger audience looking for information in non-traditional spaces

Social Media in Higher Education

relationships are what matter todayespecially in the Middle East, a culture built on relationships

social media

usage

July 2009facebook was the #1 most visited site in Lebanon & Tunisia

July 2010facebook is the #1 most visited site in Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco & Indonesia

July 2010facebook is the #2 most visited site in Jordan, Egypt, UAE, Bahrain, Palestine, Sudan, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Libya

Beirut, Lebanon

Beirut, Lebanon

500% increase in total facebook users in the Middle East in the last 12 months

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Jul-09 Oct-09 Jan-10 Apr-10 Jul-10

wow

200% increase in total facebook users in just Saudi Arabia in last 12 months

from 780K to 2.4Million

facebook Users in the Middle EastJuly 2009

- 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500

Jordan

Lebanon

Morocco

UAE

Saudi Arabia

Total Users (1000's)

Between 17-27

Total Users on Facebook

This is your target audience!

780,000 users

800,000 total

facebook Users in the Middle EastJuly 2010

0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500

Jordan

Lebanon

Morocco

UAE

Saudi Arabia

Total Users (1000's)

Between 17-27

Total Users on Facebook

2,385,740 users

Male / Female Users

0 500,000 1,000,000 1,500,000 2,000,000 2,500,000

Oman

Palestine

Bahrain

Iraq

Qatar

Kuwait

Lebanon

Jordan

UAE

Tunisia

Morocco

Saudi Arabia

Egypt

Women (17-27)

Men (17-27)

Saudi Users Between 40-65

-

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

180,000

7/1/09 10/1/09 1/1/10 4/1/10 7/1/10

why this sudden growth?

Explosive Growth

• Huge improvements in web-infrastructure• Strong investment in cell-satellites• Less ability for government censorship online• New way for separated population to interact

your future student is on facebook

you need a strategy

What is your Goal?

• Increase diversity in international student body

• Grow students from particular part of the world

• Reach and connect with potential students you don’t travel to

• Brand awareness

What is your Strategy on facebook?

• Increased interaction between alumni & students• Engage prospective students before they are on campus• Foster a warm environment for incoming students

• Generate leads• Increase traffic to specific program websites• Quantify $ spent vs. Inquiries generated

can it work?

Iraqi Student Outreach

• Targeted advertising & articles aimed at Iraqi students

• Months of Search Engine Optimization and article seeding

• Used new media to create buzz & interest

• Small ad campaign to niche market – total cost PPC $130

• Facebook Page created 1 year ago• Targeting Iraqi students currently living in Iraq • Ages between 17-28• Eligible for Scholarship• 47 Engaging conversations this week• 1 ad + Facebook Page request generated over 120 unique

student leads

Results?

Dates: July 27 – August 26, 2009

Al Jamiat Traffic Growth

yay

Great results, low dollar campaign, highly measurable, immensely successful, continued organic growth

Time consuming, many questions to answer, changing campaign to adjust to goals continually

Changing Expectations for InformationMillenials in the Middle East are

looking for

- Engagement- Choice- Understanding - Personalization

“All the websites look the same, its confusing” - Parul K.

“All the websites look the same, its confusing” - Parul K. “I would like to see

the basic information

for English programs

to be in Arabic” - Khaled

S.

“Sometimes it doesn’tseem like the collegeunderstands what I

am looking for culturally”

- Mariam A.

The time to reach these students is NOW

• Minimal competition for keywords• Audience still not immune to online marketing• Inexpensive ad campaigns can result in strong

branding• Excellent partner program to physical & traditional

recruiting

we want to talk to you!

Wassan Humadi

wassan@al-jamiat.com614.437.9955

twitter.com/aljamiat

facebook.com/aljamiat

Joseph Humadi

jhumadi@usegtours.com

617.923.6024