Social Media in Higher Education: Strategies, Benefits, and Challenges

We are in a fast, changing and developing digital era which has revolutionized on how we communicate. With gadgets like smartphones, iPad, computers, and tablets anyone can log in virtually and get their work done, and most of the time even I am able to write my paper at ease using them. Social media had become a primary method for communication whereby a lot of institutions are implementing it as a communication and content marketing method. However, below is a brief discussion on how social media in higher education could be strategized to benefit the higher education along with the challenges it could encounter.

▶Strategies

When it reaches a point of coming up with a social media existence that will communicate effectively and professionally to students, parents, alumni, and researchers; one will need to find a social media strategy. Below are a few of the popular strategies that could be adopted.

▶Widen Your Social Media Purview:

Once your institution has enacted social media strategy on sites like Facebook or Instagram, you can take this opportunity to go live on Instagram stories and discuss your higher education institution potentiality with an audience that is interested.

▶ Social Media Content That is Engaging:

A higher institution social media strategy must reflect the values, purpose, and outlook. Ensure to keep your prospects engaged at all times with timely contents. For instance, share one of the most recent campus events and appreciate educational successes just to mention a few.

▶ Engage Your Community And Respond To Social Media Posts In Time:

Engaging with your audience is a perfect social media strategy. For instance, if a student or a prospect sends a direct message or comment on your post, it is the duty of the social media manager to respond to such questions or messages in the right manner. Next comes benefits, so let us discuss them in details.

▶Benefits

A tool for student enrollment. A great number of institutions all around the world are taking to social media platforms to exhibit and share their curriculum, culture, and departments to their students. Through this, they are able to grab the attention of students who want to enroll in universities.

▶ A Tool Used To Enhance Research And Transformation:

Top notch research institutions depend on getting attention from the topmost researchers in order to accelerate their evolution in innovation. A lot of institutions are now making use of social media in order to advance and create awareness regarding their research findings.

▶ A Crisis Communication Platform.

A good number of higher education institutions have communication crisis strategies to protect their learners, staffs, and faculty in case of any campus crisis. Furthermore, administrators are making use of social media to communicate effectively with their stakeholders especially during such crisis moments.

▶Acts as a Fundraising Platform.

A lot of higher education institutions rely on external funding to run their program. In the past years, fundraising was done through direct phone calls and emails. With the help of social media higher institutions are able to create their own school websites where they can engage not only the alumni but reach out to a number of people for raising funds.

▶Challenges

There are challenges of using social media in higher education, either when used as an institution engagement strategy or in times of crisis. The most common challenge is the absence of proper training to the staffs representing the institution on social media, leading to creating discrepancies among prospects regarding their queries and concerns.

Note: To conclude, higher education institutions blossom in a healthy environment. All over the world higher institutions are coming up with social media strategies to benefit students, staffs, faculty, parents, and prospects as discussed above.