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Georgia State University
Admissions: Social Media
Strategy
Hannah Fowler, Megan Hord, Alphonso Crawford,
Oswaldo Jahn, and Sue Ella Ramey
Digital and Social Media Marketing, Fall 2013
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Introduction
In order to benefit Georgia State University's admissions program, our group has
constructed a social media strategy to engage with potential students. For our research,
we conducted an in-depth analysis of Georgia State's current strategy based upon
information we received from the admissions office presentation, as well as our own
research of social media platforms and trends. Our central recommendation is to create
a cohesive identity for Georgia State University on social media by creating profiles for
Pounce the Panther on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Youtube. Pounce
currently has a presence on social media, but his profiles are primarily focused on
Georgia State's athletics department rather than appealing to multiple categories of
students. Through a cohesive social media presence, Pounce would increase Georgia
State's unique identity by acting as an ambassador for future students. Furthermore, we
recommend continuously updating the admissions office’s Youtube channel, as it is
currently under-utilized. We also chose to address the issue of attracting a more
geographically-diverse applicant pool using social media and SEO tools. To ensure
Georgia State's online visibility in potential students’ research, we recommend some
methods for maximizing SEO and updating the University’s mobile application in
conjunction with our overall social media strategy. Lastly, we recommend strengthening
and/or creating partnerships with area businesses in three specific areas: lifestyle,
potential career/internship, and tourism-based businesses.
Pounce the Panther
In an effort to connect with students outside of multiple Twitter handles,
enhancing the social media personality for Pounce the Panther would be a non-intrusive
and inviting way to reach students as well as enhancing Georgia State's identity. While
a post directly from Georgia State University may seem too institutional to an upcoming
student, Pounce is more accessible and does not carry the intimidating factor of a
university. More importantly, Pounce would mediate the GSU war with Georgia
Southern by enhancing Georgia State's identity as the Panthers, and promoting the
popularity of #PantherPride.
Twitter and Instagram would appeal to high school and college applicants by
focusing on Pounce experiencing city life in Atlanta, local events, and the college
lifestyle. YouTube would feature Pounce in multiple aspects of Georgia State, including
short videos which summarize the university’s overall atmosphere, the adventures of
Pounce around Atlanta, and helpful tips for students who are struggling with the
admissions process. LinkedIn offers the university an opportunity to showcase Georgia
State’s advantageous location among multiple businesses, while using Pounce for the
profile provides a less intimidating connection to the career world. As the most popular
social media platform for both younger and older generations, Pounce’s Facebook
profile would serve as the center for cross-platform promotions and offer information
targeted toward both parents and students.
In addition to connecting with potential students through social media, Pounce
would also be featured in admissions letters and emails. Thorough research of Twitter
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and Instagram has revealed that incoming freshman are very motivated to share news
of their college acceptance and often include their name as proof, such as screenshots
of letters which say "Dear Jane, Congratulations on your acceptance to Georgia State
University!" Admissions letters and emails could be personalized significantly by
including a picture of Pounce holding a sign saying "Congratulations" followed by the
name of the accepted student. While this seems complicated for addressing hundreds
of students, the name would be the only change to the picture just as the name is the
only change to the acceptance letter format. This touch of personalization would
motivate newly accepted freshman to post about their acceptance to GSU and would
offer a far more attractive option than trying to crop a screenshot of a letter.
Twitter
A search conducted on Twitter for "GSU" revealed around twenty active pages,
which gives students a variety of feeds to follow based on their individual interests, but
could also be an overwhelming number for potential students looking for concise
information. The top result was Georgia State U., which operates under the handle
@gsu_news and has over 7500 followers; the page's posts concern all varieties of
campus events and news, from sports game enthusiasm to campus research projects.
This page could appeal to both students and incoming freshman by offering multiple
insights into campus life. We especially see value in this page for undecided applicants
who want to learn more about life at Georgia State University.
However, besides Georgia State U., Georgia State University offers few pages
specifically tailored for upcoming freshman. The page #GSU17 operates under the
handle @GeorgiaState17 and its bio reads "The Official #GSU17 Page for Incoming
Freshmen this Fall! Follow us & connect with other #GSUFam #StateNotSouthern :)."
Although the page does have over 800 followers, its scope to reach students seems
limited because it only applies to the class of 2017, and the hashtag in its title makes it
difficult to take the page seriously. #GSU17's most recent activity was to host a Twitter
contest in which students were prompted to follow Clearon Bleach to win Visa Gift cards
and free bleach tablets, which seemed irrelevant to the school and caused the page to
seem like an annoying sales pitch, not a source for information or a place to foster
relationships with other students.
Georgia State University’s orientation page, GSU_Incept, was more difficult to
discover as it did not come up in Twitter searches for "GSU" or "Georgia State." The
page bio says, "The official Twitter of Georgia State University's Incept: New Student
Orientation. It's the next step in becoming a Panther!" Although the page also provides
a link to Georgia State University’s web site with more information, the term "incept"
sounds awkward and vague, and is not a term that most people use in their daily
vocabularies, particularly not high school students. While the program's positive
feedback could help to attract potential students because it would offer a comfortable
entrance into the unfamiliar territory of college life, the name "incept" makes its
message far less accessible to applicants and students.
In previous admissions cycles, Georgia State University employed the hashtag
#GSUAccepted for newly admitted students. While this hashtag was used frequently, it
was typically followed by a clarification denoting that GSU referred to Georgia State,
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and not Georgia Southern. The most frequent hashtag war on Twitter and Instagram
involves the clarification of #StateNotSouthern or #SouthernNotState, but that usage
spans from admissions to daily tweets. Other users included supplementary hashtags
with #GSUAccepted such as #PantherPride or #GeorgiaState. While #GSUAccepted
was a useful hashtag for admissions, there needs to be more clarification in order to
separate Georgia State from Georgia Southern and to identify Georgia State as a
unique brand.
Although Pounce did not show up in any GSU or Georgia State searches, an
account for Pounce the Panther does already exist on Twitter under @GSU Pounce.
While he is shown to frequently interact at sporting events, Pounce needs to be
accessible to all kinds of students rather than mostly athletic students. While "Georgia
State U." would continue to be utilized for campus news and important announcements,
Pounce would be shown as living out the GSU student lifestyle. Through Twitter,
applicants could learn about local events and daily student life directly from a friendly
mascot, and could connect with the identity of being a GSU Panther.
Instagram
An analysis of student conversation on Twitter and Instagram revealed similar
tendencies due to the close relationship of the two social media platforms; not only do
both favor short posts and hashtags, but most Instagram users automatically share
posts on their Twitter accounts. A popular topic of conversation included sporting
events, often followed by the hashtag #AllBlueAllIn, pictures of students in their Georgia
State athletic gear, or pictures of the event. Another popular topic on social media is
downtown Atlanta, including events, restaurants, nightclubs, and daily life in general;
topics are typically hashtagged as #ATL or #Atlanta in addition to #GSU and
#GeorgiaState. Instagram is particularly utilized for Atlanta-themed pictures such as city
skylines, street art, parks, and pictures of food at local restaurants close to campus.
Past posts also revealed multiple pictures of acceptance letters and screenshots,
showing that students want to share their college acceptance with friends and family on
social media. However, all of the acceptance posts featured different images, many of
which were cropped emails or Georgia State folders held at awkward angles.
Pounce's social media presence could be tailored to suit Instagram by featuring a
miniature version of Pounce, such as a stuffed animal bought in the bookstore. Along
the lines of the Travelocity gnome, Pounce would be featured popping out in front of city
skylines, local restaurant dishes (following the obsession with Instagraming food),
studying in the library, and living the daily, routine life of a Georgia State Student. While
the larger version of Pounce would still make appearances for important events, the
smaller Pounce would be useful in featuring everyday activities and nearby places
which students could visit. Any student could participate in this activity through
purchasing their own Pounce and displaying their Atlanta activities under
#adventuresofpounce, which would encourage creativity and enhance the "personality"
of Pounce.
YouTube Strategy
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YouTube has the potential to become a very successful marketing tool for
Georgia State University admissions. It is currently the second most visited social media
website behind Facebook; for example, in the week of November 16, 2013, there were
913,119,494 visits to YouTube. With Advertising Age reporting that millennials spend
59% of their lives on smartphones and 70% on laptops, it is safe to assume that a large
majority of YouTube visits come from younger users on mobile devices.
A search for ‘Georgia State University’ on YouTube revealed scattered results
from several different users. However, the content can be separated into two
categories: student and university. The student content consists of random videos of
events and experiences at Georgia State University, such as "Dorm Diaries Edition" by
Pounce TV. No specific user dominates the student content submitted.
The same concept applies to the university content. Several of the videos are
useful tools to better inform current students about Georgia State.
Content titles consist of:
Admissions Counselor Tony – Georgia State University – GAStateAdmissions1
Ask GSU – gastateadmissions
This is Georgia State Athletics - Campus Life – GSU Athletics
Explore GSU – Freshman Hall – Georgia State University
Welcome to the Georgia State University Student Recreation Center! – GSU
However, there is a lack of content and too many channels to inform prospective
students of Georgia State. ‘Explore GSU’ videos seem to have the most value for
Georgia State admissions. Current students are speaking on topics of interest to
prospective students and their parents. These videos offer information that can be
directly beneficial to prospective students and their parents; however, finding these
videos can be difficult as they are not categorized under a Georgia State Admissions
Youtube Channel. Both prospective students and their parents should be able to easily
find or navigate to the ‘Explore GSU’ videos series in a matter of one or two clicks.
A concept such as the ‘Pounce TV’ channel has great potential for prospective
students. Currently, the channel has a web series called ‘Dorm Diaries’ hosted by a
Georgia State student. The content seems a bit outdated and the jittery young host of
the series has limited subject matter that does not appeal to a larger demographic.
Many prospective students need insight into the life of a current student attending a
large university in the downtown area of a major city. With that in mind, a web series like
‘A day/week in the life of a Georgia State University student’ would show an entertaining
perspective of Georgia State life rather than an informative video. Similar to the way
students have submitted their personal content, Georgia State University should have
fun and show more of the university’s personality in order to be more relatable and
encourage engagement. Specifically, current freshman should be encouraged to submit
vlogs (video blogs) to a ‘Pounce’ channel about their college experiences. It is very
important for Georgia State University to be mindful of its brand identity on YouTube.
Putting more effort into structuring and uploading content will help to discredit any
videos that present a negative perspective of the university. For this reason, using
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“Pounce the Panther” across multiple social media platforms would be more appealing
and relatable to a wider range of students.
As a template, we recommend the YouTube format used by the University of
Chicago - Admissions. Their YouTube channel titled ‘UChicago Admissions’ has a oneminute introduction video highlighting the school. At the very least, a prospective
student visiting this channel leaves with a definition of the University of Chicago - in less
than one minute. Additional content of the channel varies from ‘Mitch Tips’ (videos of a
charismatic admissions counselor who offers sound advice on the admissions process),
to student submitted vlogs, to admissions counselors answering prospective students’
questions. Their content is updated frequently— “old” content may be 4 to 6 weeks old.
University of Chicago’s admissions channel is current, cool, edgy, and young, and
Georgia State University could benefit from mirroring some of their tactics. We
recommend restructuring the ‘GAStateAdmissions1’ or ‘gastateadmissions’ channel to
contain content from a ‘Pounce’ channel as two separate channels with interchangeable
content.
Additionally, important to note that Georgia State University admissions’ content
should also be submitted to other YouTube channels where prospective students may
visit. Channels like CollegeBoundNetwork and HighSchoolExperience are recruiting
grounds for admissions offices. With 53% of millennials exploring brands through social
networks, it is of utmost importance that Georgia State University spreads its brand
throughout social media.
Video can function as a powerful marketing tool because of the great deal of
information which can be easily conveyed in a short period of time. With YouTube being
a subsidiary of Google, maximizing its use only strengthens Georgia State University’s
SEO. Therefore, a primary goal of admissions should be to increase its YouTube
viewership by providing video links to prospective students in its Georgia State
University admissions material.
Facebook Strategy
Our recommended social media strategy puts social media in two categories: the
potential student category and a separate category for potential students’ parents. As
we are all aware, it seems that everyone in the world now has a Facebook page,
including our grandparents. According to a recent report on Social Media users by the
Pew Research center, 67% of internet users have Facebook profiles, and the site is
particularly popular with adult women.
Although a vast majority of prospective students have Facebook pages, they are
generally more active on social media applications like Instagram and Twitter. A recent
Mashable survey showed that teen interest in Facebook is steadily declining, with 23%
of teens surveying in Fall 2013 naming Facebook as their preferred social media site,
down from 33% in Spring 2013. The median age of active Facebook users is rising, so
many parents of high school students will be looking to Facebook for more information
on potential colleges. However, a vast majority of prospective students are leaving
Facebook for Instagram and, to a lesser extent, Twitter. Therefore, our Facebook
strategy is a fifty-fifty mix between the potential student category and the parent
category.
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We recommend creating a Pounce character page on Facebook as part of our
cross-platform social media strategy, and populating that page with a variety of content.
Half of the content will be geared towards the parents of prospective students. This
content will focus on highlighting the achievements of individual Georgia State students
and alumni via links to articles on the Georgia State website and videos on the new
Admissions Youtube channel. The parent-focused content will also serve to educate
parents about the plethora of employment and internship opportunities in Atlanta, with
nationally recognized brands such as Coca-Cola, CNN, and Newell Rubbermaid. The
other half will be geared towards those potential students who are still active on
Facebook, including cross-platform tools such as sharing Instagram photos of Pounce
about town or celebrity guests on campus. We also recommend highlighting photos
posted by current students that will provide an authentic view of current student life.
All of the Pounce pages will be linked to each other to expedite and facilitate the
sharing of content across multiple platforms. These accounts can also be easily
integrated into the existing Hootsuite account that is already being used to manage
social media, assisting in the ease of sharing content across platforms.
Overall, the Pounce’s Facebook profile will be, in a word, relatively benign. We
recommend creating a filter to be used when sharing content from the prospective
student-geared social media platforms. For example, comedian Amy Schumer recently
performed on campus; this would be the type of event we would recommend
highlighting on Twitter and Instagram, as she is a popular, edgy comedian. However,
her comedy also has a tendency towards vulgarity, so we would recommend not
sharing that content on Facebook, where parents might be offended. However, Steve
Harvey’s speaking arrangement would be a perfect event to share as cross-platform
promotion.
We believe that Pounce’s Facebook profile will be both popular and useful to
prospective members of the Georgia State University community by implementing the
guidelines of fifty-fifty content and a parent-friendly filter.
LinkedIn Strategy
Georgia State’s current LinkedIn page is currently focused on content such as
awards given to the university and links to current research. Our suggestion is to
continue with this type of content, but to also implement a more cohesive strategy in
order to offer more information for people looking into attending the university.
Our strategy is focused on keeping the audience in mind. While some
prospective students may be on LinkedIn, it is likely that in terms of potential applicants,
this number will be quite small. We believe that the audience on LinkedIn, in terms of
people actively seeking information, will be the parents of potential applicants. These
parents will want to see the opportunities available at Georgia State that make it unique
and a valuable choice for their child’s future career prospects.
In order to disseminate information to the parents of potential applicants, we
propose including more information tailored to career advancement opportunities at
Georgia State. Examples of this type of information include advice on interview
techniques, ways to get noticed by Atlanta companies and internship opportunities.
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To incorporate Pounce into LinkedIn, we suggest developing a “Professional
Pounce” profile. Professional Pounce would use the same mascot featured across other
platforms, but will be dressed in business attire such as a suit and tie. The posts under
Professional Pounce will feature resume and interview tips as well as other careerrelated advice.
Another way to disseminate this information in a unique capacity is to upload
videos to the Professional Pounce LinkedIn page. The content of these videos will vary,
but we suggest including videos based on the following criteria: prominent alumni,
current successful students, and recent graduates offering advice to incoming students.
For the videos featuring prominent alumni, we suggest conducting video
interviews with alumni in various fields. While more famous alumni would be the most
advantageous, we believe it is important to showcase an array of alumni who have used
their skillset developed during their time at Georgia State in their current fields.
Since many students come into college without a decided major, we suggest
creating a video series tailored towards these students. The types of people in these
videos could be current students or alumni, specifically those who were once
undecided. The interviewee would be asked questions designed to highlight the
students' decision-making process regarding their chosen majors and what excites them
about their majors. This would showcase Georgia State University’s diverse major
opportunities as well as show parents that the school’s “undecided” students will be just
as able to succeed as their more decisive peers. We advise that these interviews come
from a variety of current majors to emphasize the vast array of opportunities at Georgia
State University in an interesting and unique fashion. These videos would not be
expensive to create, and could be filmed and edited by current students.
Another feature of these video series is their share-ability. Parents will see these
videos and can subsequently share them with their children via email or other social
networking platforms. These videos will be more than just an advertisement for Georgia
State, but will put the university in the position of a thought leader and producer of
educational content.
SEM/SEO
In addition to social media platforms, the SEM of Georgia State University's
website needs some improvement in order to recruit more students. We recommend
specifically targeting both out-of-state and international students with a strong SEO
strategy. According to Georgia State's Undergraduate Admissions office, only 3% of all
current students originate from areas outside of Georgia.
We recommend that Georgia State University rely heavily on the benefits of
attending a university located in Atlanta, specifically regarding the potential the city
offers in terms of future careers, fun, accessibility, and affordability. These aspects of
city life will serve to attract international and out-of-state students.
Georgia State University should include some keywords in order to improve the
SEO of the website. Phrases like “best universities in Atlanta” or “where to study in
Atlanta” should show GSU in the first page of results, but this is currently not the case. It
is highly probable that prospective international students seek more career-related
reasons to enter a university than local students, so this is a great opportunity to
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promote Atlanta as city of great opportunities to develop their future careers. To achieve
that, Georgia State University may form strategic partnerships with associations such as
Metro Atlanta Chamber, Technology Association of Georgia, or ALPFA. These
partnerships may serve to increase inbound traffic to the website with the ultimate goal
of increasing out-of-state and international applications.
Some interesting facts about Atlanta that can generate interest with out of state
and international prospective students are:
• Metro Atlanta offers an exceptionally high quality of life at a comparatively low
cost (http://www.metroatlantachamber.com/life-in-atlanta/cost-ofliving#sthash.t5tcaikL.dpuf)
• Atlanta is The Best City For New College Grads In 2013 (forbes.com, http://
www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/03/19/the-best-cities-for-newcollege-grads-in-2013/)
• Atlanta ranks between the 10 Best Cities For Young Entrepreneurs (http://
www.forbes.com/pictures/lml45eeklm/no-3-atlanta-georgia)
Mobile App
Outside of social networking, an application for smartphones is a very effective
way to improve the digital presence of Georgia State University. Although the University
currently has a very useful smartphone application, this application does not include
several features which we would recommend to integrate with our social media strategy.
The main issue we detected with this app is the lack of promotion inside and
outside of the university. With the right promotion, this app can be a succinct method of
communication with prospective and current students. The promotion of the app should
be targeted specifically for two separate groups: new and existing users. To attract new
users, the app should be constantly promoted on Georgia State University’s web site, in
social media, by email, or even by asking professors to mention it in classes. There are
many useful features of the application that can be used for promotion, such as the
virtual tour of the campus and the application/admission checklist section.
A periodic analysis of the number of downloads, or number of visits, can be a
great way to measure the number of users who have downloaded the app and are
currently engaged with it. We recommend the use of “We missed you!” push
notifications to be used as necessary for those users who have downloaded the app but
are not currently engaged (http://www.localytics.com/blog/2013/5-app-marketingcampaigns-for-every-vertical/).
To increase engagement with the current Georgia State University app, we
suggest the use of an A/B test. This test will allow the University to compare two
different versions of the app and measure which version generates more visits and
interactions from users. We recommend the inclusion of news in the main page as it will
constantly update and serve to engage users more frequently.
In order to tie in the University’s app with our recommended social media
strategy, we suggest drawing from popular practices of other universities, such as Tufts
University, Arizona State University, Columbia University, or Emerson College to create
a Social Media Hub, which features an inventory of the social network accounts of the
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university. This Social Media Hub should be highlighted not only in the mobile
application, but on www.gsu.edu as well.
To create this Social Media Hub, all social media accounts should be highlighted
on a single page of the mobile application. Currently, the app includes social media
access in different places (Twitter has an access from the main screen; Instagram,
YouTube, and Vimeo are under the multimedia menu; Facebook access is under Links
menu; and the app does not include access to new social networks such as Vine), so a
common page for those links can increase the engagement with multiple social media
platforms.
Business Partnerships
We recommend creating new connections and fostering existing partnerships
with local businesses to highlight and strengthen Georgia State University’s relationship
with the greater Atlanta community. For the purposes of our Pounce-focused social
media strategy, we recommend fostering partnerships with businesses in three different
categories: lifestyle, potential career/internship, and tourism based businesses.
Lifestyle business partnerships will focus on area restaurants, shopping
opportunities, and entertainment venues. The Pounce Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
profiles will be the primary drivers for these partnerships by focusing on photos of
Pounce enjoying meals at area restaurants or taking in a concert at The Tabernacle, for
example. Pounce will also serve as an extension of already-established partnerships
between the admissions office and local businesses by highlighting local business
offerings on his profiles. We recommend tagging the highlighted businesses in Pounce’s
posts as a passive method for establishing mutually beneficial partnerships. When
businesses respond to Pounce’s posts, the groundwork will be laid for future
partnerships that could include special events at area restaurants and "business of the
day" highlights on Pounce’s profiles, among many other things.
Career and internship business partnerships will focus on those companies that
make choosing an Atlanta university beneficial for those students who wish to integrate
professional experiences into their undergraduate education. These partnerships will
also appeal to those potential students who wish to stay in Atlanta after they graduate.
Career and internship partnerships will serve to both attract potential students and their
parents to Georgia State University, as the potential to work with companies like
Georgia Power, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Turner Broadcasting, SunTrust, and InterContinental
Hotel Group, is unique to the in town university experience.
The partnerships will be fostered using both passive methods, such as posting
links to articles about area employers on Facebook and LinkedIn, and more active
methods, such as producing videos for Pounce’s Youtube channel. These videos will
fall under two categories: business highlights, where a specific area employer and its
opportunities for employment and internships will be highlighted, and alumni highlights,
where Georgia State University alumni who work for Atlanta area companies will
recorded talking about the benefits which attending Georgia State University afforded
them in finding employment post-graduation. We recommend working in advance with
the businesses that are highlighted actively, such as visiting local businesses when
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potential students visit Georgia State University’s campus. This partnership would be
mutually beneficial to both the university’s admissions office and area employers.
Lastly, we recommend highlighting tourism-focused businesses across all of
Pounce’s social media profiles, specifically focusing on Youtube, Facebook, and
Instagram. When a tourism or community-based business can be highlighted in a way
that focuses on potential internships or employment, LinkedIn should be utilized, but the
main focus of highlighting these businesses should be on the activities in which both
students and their families can participate. These partnerships should be fostered via
photos, links, and factoids about area tourist attractions, such as the Georgia Aquarium,
Atlanta Braves and Falcons games, the World of Coca-Cola, and the Martin Luther
King, Jr. National Historic Site. We envision photos of Pounce rising up at Falcons
games, swimming with the belugas at the aquarium, and learning about the civil rights
movement at the MLK National Historic Site. These posts will highlight all the activities
parents and students might participate in together when parents come for weekend
visits, as well as all the events students might attend while living in Atlanta. We
recommend reaching out to the marketing departments at all these businesses to set up
Pounce’s visits to area attractions and schedule a media blitz surrounding the visits,
thereby drawing attention to both Georgia State University and the area attractions.
Budget
When crafting our recommended social media strategy, we did attempt to be
mindful of the restrictive budgets generally associated with university initiatives. As a
result, a vast majority of our recommended actions can be taken without any
incremental costs to the university’s admissions office. First off, we recommend utilizing
student workers to generate the photos of the stuffed Pounce doll enjoying experiences
at area businesses. Student workers will not be responsible for posting content, only for
doing the necessary leg work. We recommend using two student workers at
approximately 6 hours a week. At the highest pay rate for non-skilled Federal Work
Study students ($7.45/hour), this portion of the budget will cost no more than
$44.70/week, or $715.12/semester. As the admissions office currently employs a social
media manager and is currently utilizing Hootsuite to manage posts across social
media, we have not included any incremental costs for coordination and post
management.
When it comes to generating and managing Youtube content, we do recommend
incurring some incremental costs, as there is quite a bit of work to be done in that area.
These costs should still be minimal, as student workers can be used to generate and
manage content under the supervision of the department’s social media manager. We
recommend hiring at least two student workers whose sole responsibility will be
generating Youtube content. As these students will need to be skilled in video
production, they will be considered Level II Skilled Support Function employees and will
be compensated at a maximum of $8.15/hour. We recommend utilizing these students
for approximately 10 hours/week per student for the first semester, with the amount of
time spent on generating Youtube content gradually decreasing as a cache of video
content is stored up for staggered release. These students will cost no more than
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$163/week, or $2,608/semester, with those costs decreasing as content is generated
less frequently.
Lastly, we recommend a discretionary budget of $3,000/semester for unforeseen costs.
Although we do not believe that this budget will be used in full, we do strongly believe
that a discretionary fund will be necessary to the success of this strategy.
Conclusion
Social media offers Georgia State University a wide variety of tools which could
be utilized to attract and engage with potential students. Instead of students having to
visit multiple college websites to research potential schools, social media allows
colleges to interact directly with potential students through platforms which they already
use. In our strategy, it is crucial to note that the conversation on social media cannot be
controlled, so potential applicants will only engage with things in which they are already
interested. By paying attention to what students are already posting about Georgia
State, we gained an idea of what would attract potential applicants and keep students
engaged. With this relatable aspect in mind, Pounce the Panther would serve as a
cross-platform representation of Georgia State with whom students would feel
comfortable interacting. We recommend tailoring messages to suit each platform in
order to appeal to both students and parents, while also enabling cross-platform
integration to encourage engagement. In addition, Georgia State’s visibility can be
increased through the improvement of SEO, promotion of features such as the mobile
app, and consistent interaction through social media.