How Social Listening Can Impact

Enrollment Management OutcomesLiz Gross, Ph.D.

GPACAC & MOACAC Joint Conference

April 9, 2018

@LizGross144 | @CampusSonar | #ArtOfEd2018 | #CampusSonar

54%“A person like me”

is a credible

spokesperson

@EdelmanPR | www.edelman.com/trust-barometer

Reputations are made and destroyed overnight,

thanks to:

• The power of online and social media

• An emboldened public who has seen Twitter bring

down corporate titans and foment social-political

unrest around the world.

Public perception has become reality

Zach Olsen, Inside Higher Ed’s Call To Action Blog, August 30, 2017

Meet TaylorRead more: https://www.ecityinteractive.com/blog/the-importance-of-social-listening-in-two-tweets/

Photos: taybaum9, Twitter

The internet is real life

social listeningreal life: transcribed, categorized, and analyzed to provide your institution with the insights it needs to support data-driven strategies

how social listening works

all conversations

queries

results

3Strategic Uses for

Social Listening

in Enrollment

Management

1Prospect Identification

& Engagement

Prospects Expect Customer Service

Modern customer service means

• Meeting or exceeding response time expectations

• Finding and responding to comments and

complaints

• Identifying patterns in customer conversation to

inform content strategy

Most Organizations Don’t Respond Fast Enough

of social media

complainers are happy

with response time

32%of social media

complainers expect a

response within 1 hour

39%

http://www.convinceandconvert.com/hug-your-haters/new-research-shows-how-fast-companies-have-to-be-in-social-media/

Most Organizations Don’t Respond Fast Enough

• Businesses only respond to 63% of social media

complaints within 24 hours

• Education is one of the least responsive industries

on social media

• Average education response time is over 9 hours.

http://www.convinceandconvert.com/hug-your-haters/new-research-shows-how-fast-companies-have-to-be-in-social-media/

https://sproutsocial.com/insights/data/q2-2017/

Half Your Audience Thinks You Ignore Complaints

Social

Media

Review Sites Boards/

Forums

Expects a reply 42% 53% 47%

Baer, J. Hug Your Haters. 2016

Not Finding and Responding To Complaints Hurts

Brand Advocacy

Social

Media

Review Sites Boards/

Forums

Change in Advocacy:

Answered Complaint+ 20% + 16% + 25%

Change in Advocacy:

Unanswered Complaint- 43% - 37% - 38%

Baer, J. Hug Your Haters. 2016

Proactive Engagement OpportunitiesModern enrollment management professionals

should seize engagement opportunities

• Requests for information

• Decision points

• Celebrate accomplishments

Common Sources of Engagement Opportunities

• Twitter

• Instagram

• Reddit

• College Confidential

• Blogs

Reflecting On A Visit

Reflecting On A Visit

Reflecting On A Visit

Reflecting On A Visit

Reflecting On A Visit

Reflecting On A Visit

Application Decisions

2Student and Family

Behavioral Insights

What Does Market Research Make You Think Of?

Market Research

Modern market research must be

• Fast

• Flexible

• Longitudinal

• Quantifiable

• Human

There Are Some Things Students Tell Reddit That

They Won’t Tell Campus Staff

800,000 online conversation about why students drop out

• Unstructured social data + analysis framework =

valuable insights

• Students talked about 5 main reasons for dropping

out

• Only 3 were identified during interviews with

campus professionals

There Are Some Things Students Tell Reddit That

They Won’t Tell Campus Staff

Learning About Applicants To Top UK Universities

• What do prospective students talk about?

• What concerns and worries do these prospective

students have?

• When and where do they have these

conversations?

Learning About Applicants To Top UK Universities

One year = 20,000 conversations

0

1000

2000

3000

Entry

Requirements

Finance Personal

Statement

Gap Year Clearing Open Days Accomodation

Conversations About Entry Requirements

Potential Strategic Impacts

• Inform content strategy for admissions office

– Branded content for A-Level exam results

– Website updates to address finance and personal statement

questions

• Improved social media engagement strategy for admissions

– Participate in forums where students are having conversations,

including lesser-known sites like moneysaving-experts.com and

thegradcafe.com

3Brand

Benchmarking

Brand Benchmarking

Modern brand managers need to understand the

online conversation about their brand

• Share of Voice

• Owned vs Earned

• Brand Attribute Conversation

Share of Voice

Share of Voice

Terry College of Business Tracks Online Share of

Voice

They can quantify the impact of content and brand marketing

Owned vs Earned Conversation

Owned

• Created by campus accounts and websites

• Shares of this content by others

Earned

• Content about the campus

• Social media accounts, journalists, blogs, forums

• Conversations with campus social media accounts

Brand Attribute Conversation

Beloit College: Social Listening for Brand

Management

Tools To Make It

Happen

Social Listening Requires Tools

I know these are the three things you want. You can’t have all three.

FreeGreat

Data

Powerful

Search

• Twitter search (advanced)

• Tweetdeck

• Hootsuite free

• Instagram search

• Follower Wonk

• Brandwatch for Students (brandwatch.com/students)

• Sysomos free trial (sysomos.com/campaign/search-trial)

Free Options To Get Started

Free

Recognizing Student Artists via Instagram

• Hootsuite Pro

• Sprout Social

Low-Cost Options Do A Bit More< $100 per

month

• Brandwatch

• Sysomos

• Synthesio

• Crimson Hexagon

• Nuvi

• Many others

Full-Feature Software to Support

Strategic Social Listening $10K - 50K

per year

Social listening is

not a social media investment.

Social listening is a strategic investment

to get closer to your audience, better

manage your reputation, meet modern

consumer expectations, and seize

engagement opportunities.

Info.campussonar.com/gpacac-moacac