The effectiveness of social media marketing communication for institutions of higher education

Abstract

Several studies have been done showing that universities across the world are using social media platforms, to a lesser or greater degree, in their marketing communication strategies; however, the success of this recruitment method is relatively untested. In order to determine the effectiveness of social media marketing communication on potential university students’ selection of a university, first-year students from the University of Johannesburg were studied. Through a quantitative descriptive research study using a non-probability sampling technique and online electronic questionnaire, it was found that potential university students fall mainly within the Generation Z category (14 – 22 years old). Ninety-eight percent of the respondents in this study indicated that they used social media on a regular basis, however only 37.4% used social media in their choice of a university. More than half (58.3%) of the respondents visited university social media platforms prior to applying in order to look for information about the university, with 33% indicating that they visited these platforms to experience the culture of the university. The study has found that potential students do indeed visit multiple university social media platforms to compare university offerings, but that these platforms are currently not in the top five information sources that they consult in their university search process. Facebook is the most consulted social media platform for this purpose, taking the sixth place on the list of information sources consulted. This makes social media a definite contender in the blend of marketing communication tools a university can use to influence a potential student’s choice of study destination. The findings about these Generation Z potential university students, their use of social media, and their information requirements when researching higher education institutions, can provide valuable insights for university marketers and communicators.