Transcript Slide 1

The Impact of Social Networks on
Advancement: Competing with Facebook—
and Winning!
NCCCF Symposium, October 15-17
San Diego, California
Your Harris Connect Consultants:
Susan Stewart-Kelley & Nichole Williams
empowering
relationships
Agenda:

Getting Started: the nuts and bolts of Data Research

About The Social Networking Model

Unique to Community Colleges

Facebook: facts
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
Growth & usage
Facebook: best practices
 Steps you can implement today

Taking things up a notch – Open API’s
 Building a bridge between Facebook & your Alumni
Online Community and/or your Website

Peer Results

Q&A

Reserve One-on-One Consultation
Session Objectives:
• Making the leap!
• Social Networking: Understanding and Leveraging
• Going, going, gone- GLOBAL!
• Ahead of the Curve with participation
• Share best practices for taking advantage of the
popularity & rapid growth of Facebook
• 8 things you can do now that will enable you to
reconnect
Using Data Research and Viral Marketing
to
Locate and Re-Engage Your Alumni
A Quick History
Evolution of Alumni Outreach in Community Colleges
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No Interest/No Need (“Our alumni aren’t interested in us.”
“The state provides all the money we need.”)
Growing Interest/Growing Need (state funding beginning to
dry up)
High Interest/Growing Need but No Money or Leadership
Buy-In
High Interest/Great Need
•
Alumni Offices, Funding, Research and Outreach
Connecting with College Goals
A Strategic Partnership
Increasing support through increasing alumni affinity…it’s not
just for 4 years anymore.
1. Find lost alumni and update biographical data (mailing
addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses)
2. Begin/enhance communications programs (i.e.
newsletters, invitations to events, etc.)
3. Begin/enhance solicitations programs (i.e. mail appeals,
phonathons, electronic emails to targeted alumni, online
giving, etc.)
4. Engage via a web presence for alumni – start with Email
Marketing, minimum.
5. Alumni directory program will increase reach brand, and
data coverage.
The First Step
• The Database – who should you
research?
• Subset of alumni, based on…
 Age
 Number of Credit Hours
 Program Certificate Holders
 Location
Building an Alumni Database
How do I get started?
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Where is the data?
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How do I get it?
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Foundation, Registrar, Development Office, boxes
in the basement?
Access to data (if elsewhere on campus)
Leadership Buy In
Once I get it, where do I store it?
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Fundraising database
MS Access
Etc.
Building an Alumni Database
Plan of Action
• Newsletters – communicate, communicate,
communicate…(before asking for $$$)
• Events – get alumni back on campus
• Broadcast Emails – e-newsletters, program
advertisements (Admissions), short surveys
• Campaign Appeals
Available Research Services – what’s out
there?
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Address updates
Telephone Research and Append
Email Research and Append
National Change of Address - NCOA
Keyboarding from paper/microfilm/fiche
Lost Trace - using SSN or LKA
• Use largest data source of it’s kind for this purpose - 29
terabyte database comprised of public records for
every US resident
• Sophisticated algorithm requires DOB or last known
address (high quality data in = better matches)
• Effectively locate lost alumni with data as old as 1940
with no SSN
• Single best candidate returned with confidence scoring
• Deceased Alumni identified
• Match rates 92 - 98% (should be at least this good.)
Telephone Research
• Multi-tiered approach takes advantage of the most
comprehensive available sources – allows
flexibility when determining who to research
• Data sources are refreshed weekly
• Match rates up to 90+%
• Proven partners and providers that use best
practices and and freshest data
• “Do Not Call” flags available for return (state and
national)
Email Research
• Use a privacy-based, opt-in database with more
than 75 million email addresses and growing daily
• Match rates up to 20% with use of additional
sources
• Emails provided for the cost of two direct mail
pieces
• Competitive advantages
– Deliverability is tested before data is returned to client
– Match at individual (not household) level
National Change of Address
• Research against the USPS mover database to
identify recent movers (last 48 months),
standardize address data and identify lost
• CASS certification available
• Effective way to reduce mailing costs and ensure
deliverability
• Generally very inexpensive
• Quick processing time
• Harris Connect runs at no cost in conjunction with
Lost Trace
• Use NCOA as an augment to a true Lost search –
don’t use it exclusively…it’s not enough.
Keyboarding
paper/microfilm/fiche
• Cost effective and hassle-free service to
incorporate older/previously unusable
populations
• Combined with Lost Trace research, this is a
solid way to bring all data into electronic
format
Data Maintenance
• Once is not enough.
• Schedule regular research services.
• If you communicate regularly, the initial
investment should be the largest.
The Social Networking Model
Defined…
• Conceptually: a social structure is made of
nodes that are tied by one or more specific
types of interdependency, such as values,
visions, ideas, financial exchange, friendship,
kinship, or trade- all commonalities.
The Evolution of Social
Networking to Social Utilities
Components of…
• Interdependence…
– Easy way to keep in touch- global market
– Linking people at low costs
– CRM tool
– Efficient meeting places
– Not a replacement personal elements: blogs, pictures,
videos…
• Embraced by…
– Small & Large Corporations
– Healthcare professionals
– Secondary & Higher Ed Institutions
– Specialized Professional & Educational Entities
– Affinity Groups
Facebook!
The Founding Father’s of
Social Utilities….
About Facebook
• 2004 as a Harvard student
only service
– Quickly expanded to
include other colleges
– Used Globally
• 100 Million active users
• Schools; Companies;
Organizations; Geographic
Users; Social Groups
• More than half of active
users visit the site daily
• People spend an average of
30 minutes per day on the
site
• Most popular website for
uploading photos: 14 million
uploaded daily
• The fastest growing
demographic is people 25
years and older
What do your peers think?
•
Fred Stutzman--a PhD student at the School of Information and
Library Science at The University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill who has researched identity, social software, social
technologies, computer-mediated communication, and more
specifically Facebook--thinks social networks are key media
through which students can be engaged. Conversations that
level the playing field among students, academics, and
administrators can occur. In other words, students and
faculty/staff are equals on these sites. "Part of college is building
successful relationships with those in power, and the
humanizing aspect of communication in a space like
Facebook goes a long way," he says. (I’ll get the e source)
The University of Florida also started to use Facebook groups last
year to promote: three graduate programs to undergrads. The
decision
The University of Florida also started to use Facebook groups last
year to promote:
was based on plans developed by a graduate-level public relations
class, on assignment for the University Relations office. Course
descriptions, faculty and student bios, and research information
were included on Facebook. Grad students and faculty members
posted comments and responded when undergrads inquired about
the programs. Each program was seeking 10 to 12 additional
graduate students, and with that goal met by all three, Joe Hice,
associate vice president for Marketing & Public Relations, says,
"We believe the Facebook outreach helped."
Northampton CC Facebook Community
Facts:
• 1620 Students/Staff on Facebook
• 3500 Alumni on Facebook
• 6 Groups (Classes, Sports, Students, Honor Societies)
• 3 fan pages
How about results (trending)?
Sept 23: no marketing, 29 users
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Sept 24: email campaign deploys,
1,469 adds
Sept 25: 2,165 adds, with 900
linking to the community
Sept 29: 2,717 adds, with over 1,000
linking to the community.
How did they market it?
Branded, targeted
email messages.
A step-by-step,
downloadable guide to
adding the application
via “New” Facebook.
Link for login assistance.
What did that do for their Online Community
Activity?
120% increase in weekly profile updates.
100% increase in weekly new registered
users.
Increase of over 1100 unique visitors from
the prior week.
Want to know how many Facebook users
are associated with your institution?
Let’s get started
Building a Group
http://www.facebook.com
Building a Fan Page
http://www.facebook.com
Engagement
What are & the importance of “Groups”
• Keeps people engaged in what they participated in when they were
at your college and makes them aware of current College
“happenings” that are taking place in their geographical area and
on campus
• Allows alumni to post opinions and concerns as well as praise the
university for accomplishments
• Alumni can post pictures
What are & the importance of “Fan Pages”
• Provides College alumni the opportunity to be aware of special
events that may arouse their interest
• Alumni logo shows up on your alumni Facebook profile to let other
people know that your College is important to them and helps
brand our logo
Features used by Other Colleges
• The Wall
 Post messages about what is happening on campus
 People advertise general and University information
• Photos
 Upload photo albums of alumni events and comment on photos
• Gifts
 Send "gifts"-- small novelty icons when alumni attend an event as a
small thank you for their participation
• Events
 Use “Events” to let alumni know about upcoming programs and social
gatherings in their area
What else?
Class/Student AA Groups
Alumni Chapter Groups
• Creates awareness about
the Alumni Association
• Helps us learn what alumni
are interested in doing in
their area
• Allows communication with
Student Body
• Foster relationship through
events with alumni
• Shows students that it is
advantageous to be
involved (networking,etc.)
• Helps us know the areas
where alumni are active
and interested in being
involved
• Enables us to send specific
marketing messages to a
niche market
Taking things up a notch
Open API’s
Where’s the Facebook connection to you &
your online community?
Are you getting?
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Alumni data updates?
Email addresses?
Participation in your events?
Job postings?
Gifts?
Class Notes?
• Career Advisors?
How are they engaging with you?
The Opportunity
Leverage Open API’s
To Build a Secure Bridge
Your Online
Community
&
Website
By going where your alumni are today, you can win them back for a lifetime.
Consider the possibilities
• By providing a secure, seamless integration from Facebook to
your own Alumni Community, your alumni could:
 Keep their Alumni Community profile data in synch with the profile
data on Facebook (email, address, job, education)
 Upload their resume & search for Career Advisors on your Alumni
Community
 Read and post class notes on your Alumni Community
 Keep up to date & register for events
 Make gifts
• Increase overall Alumni Community engagement
• Improve your staff efficiency
Facebook Best Practices
Steps you can
implement today
Alumni ConnectionsTM
How about results?
EMORY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
• Email sent to 776 members of official Emory Alumni
Association Facebook Group on June 16, 2008
• In first 24 hours, 512 members added the application
• That’s 66% of the recipients in the first day alone
• Within 4 more days, the number climbed to 733
 22% of the growth was viral; saw that a friend had it (via a
news feed or mini feed)
• Today more than 1,100 constituents (and that number
continues to climb) on Facebook have a seamless
connection--a bridge--to the Emory Online Community
More results…..
The email that was sent:
EMORY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
Wrap up
8 action items you can do now:
1.
Get a Facebook profile and reconnect with your Alma Mater, your work, and
friends
2.
See how many Facebook users are associated with your institution
(students/alumni/faculty/staff)
3.
Identify all the Groups and Fan Pages associated with your institution
4.
Create Groups for your local Chapters and Clubs
5.
Build Fan Pages for your Alumni Association
6.
Pursue a secure seamless bridge between Facebook & your Online
Community/Website
7.
Be ready for an increase in participation and enthusiasm from your alumni
and students
8.
Explore other Web 2.0 options that will bring you closer to your alumni
(LinkedIn, Tweeter, etc.)