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How to Use Social Networking Sites to Communicate to Families

How to Use Social Networking Sites to Communicate to Families. Amy Berrier - UNC Greensboro Sonja McMullen – Sallie Mae. The incoming freshman class of 2014 was born in 1992 So using a computer has always been a part of their lives

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How to Use Social Networking Sites to Communicate to Families

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  1. How to Use Social Networking Sites to Communicate to Families Amy Berrier - UNC Greensboro Sonja McMullen – Sallie Mae

  2. The incoming freshman class of 2014 was born in 1992 • So using a computer has always been a part of their lives • PCs and Apples of the early 90’s had hard drives smaller than today’s flash drives • For many students, email is passe – and because of cell phones, wrist watches are no longer necessary Beloit College’s 2010 Mindset Listwww.beloit.edu/mindset

  3. Communication is no longer a one way street • People now spend more time on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter than on personal or work email • Generational • Millennials are the heaviest users • Baby Boomers are the fastest growing users Shifts in Communication

  4. You can meet students where they are • Get the message out in the most effective manner in the most effective means • Larger reach with fewer staff resources • Field common questions • Reduce phone calls on simple issues • Shorter lines and less walk-in traffic in your offices • Competitive advantage • If you aren’t out there meeting your audience, who is? • Financial Aid Scams via spam • Getting the right message out is CRUCIAL What’s in it for the FAO?

  5. Be interactive! Create great conversation starters! Use relevant keywords in “About Us” box Include FAQ’s and photos when appropriate Use email to announce your page Create

  6. What do we want to achieve? Who do we want to reach? What social media channels are the right ones for our institution/office? What will work best for our audience? Plan your strategy!

  7. Common Channels What’s most effective for you? Common Social Media Channels

  8. What is being said about you? • Keywords – do not misspell! • Tools for social media management: • Google Alerts (listening tool) • Email updates of the latest Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic • Social Mention (listening tool) • http://www.socialmention.com/ • Similar to Google alerts but for social media • Receive daily email alerts of your brand, company, developing news story, etc. Stop, Listen, and Learn!

  9. Facebook has over 500 million users • If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest • An average Facebook user spends: • 55 minutes a day on Facebook • 6.5 hours a week on Facebook • 1.2 days a month on Facebook • More than 30 billion pieces of content shared each month Facebook

  10. Facebook is most commonly used social media channel on college campuses

  11. Status Updates • Text, links, photos • Meet the customer where they are • Facebook Events • Promote Financial Aid Events and Deadlines • Easy to share • Facebook Questions • Answer and keep track of common questions • Shorten your lines What can you do with Facebook?

  12. Students don’t use the school website much – using FB can potentially drive students to the website for pertinent info • FB posts – what is too little? What is too much? • Use the Notes section of Facebook (use hyperlinks to important info) • Use FB polls and discussions • Most colleges say to focus on Facebook more than any other social media application • Podcasts What can you do with Facebook?

  13. What does it take to create a Facebook page? • Negative comments on Facebook? Concerns? • Monitor 24/7? Facebook

  14. Official rep of an organization • http://www.facebook.com/help/?page=904#!/pages/create.php • Create a Facebook page • http://www.facebook.com/pages/learn.php • A public profile that enables you to share your organization’s information with the public How do you create a Facebook page?

  15. Pick a category and name • Add a profile picture • Add information • Make it rich and engaging • Publish • Update regularly • http://www.facebook.com/pages/learn.php Step by Step - Facebook

  16. Using search engines and social media for research • Duke University YouTube Video • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJIxDFtUpY8 • Director of Financial Aid educating families on financial aid • Podcasts • UNC Greensboro podcast on Satisfactory Academic Progress • http://fia.uncg.edu/sap/ YouTube/Podcasts

  17. 80% of Twitter users use Twitter on mobile devices Over 50 million tweets in 2010 Over 100 million current users Twitter

  18. Follow pertinent feeds • Students, university departments, FinAid resources • Monitor • What are your students saying? • Some comments are just noise, but some feedback can be constructive • Interact • Make followers your advocates • Gain respect through involvement • Don’t be a robot • Field Questions • Link Twitter updates to Facebook – link Twitter to Facebook Other ways to use Twitter

  19. Facebook and Twitter icons on your website • Cross-promote • Such as signature lines in general email account – example finaid@uncg.edu • Follow us on Twitter @UNCGFinAidFollow us on Facebook @ UNCG Financial Aid Office • Hosts contests to gain followers • Interact • Use your website to push information • Make students, faculty, alums your advocates Promote

  20. Hootsuite • http://hootsuite.com • Social media dashboard for teams using Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn • You can follow “mentions” on Twitter • Shorten links that need to be posted – Twitter has a shorter amount of space to work with than Facebook • Can be used to schedule postings in advance for FB, Twitter, and YouTube Stop, listen, and learn!

  21. How do you get started? • Conversations on campus • Which social media outlet(s) do you choose? • What is the plan of attack for your office? • Who will manage the pages? • What information do you share? Questions

  22. How much is too much? How much is too little? • How do you create a Facebook page and Twitter account? • Concern about students being able to post to pages? • How do you deal with negative responses? • How do you choose status updates? Questions

  23. What are you hearing from your audience? • How do you gain followers? • What are the best means of promoting your offices social media outlets? Questions

  24. Amy Berrier UNC Greensboro Financial Aid Office Assistant Director for Operations PO Box 26170 Greensboro, NC 27402 (336) 334-3372 alberrie@uncg.edu Sonja McMullen Sallie Mae Senior Account Executive 5428 Cochran Drive Nashville, TN 37220 (615) 333-1488 sonja.mcmullen@salliemae.com

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