Social Media Measurement with Dr. Liz Gross
I created this course on Social Media Measurement for Higher Ed to address what I think is a key piece of social media strategy missing on most campuses—tying social media efforts back to department and institutional goals. In order to be effective marketers and communicators, we need to move beyond vanity metrics (likes, comments, followers, and shares), and connect social media work with more tangible outcomes that resonate with campus leaders.
Most of my students are not social media newbies —many of them are accomplished professionals. But when the 4 weeks are over, all of them have clarified their social media goals, identified what metrics matter and how to measure them with native analytics features or vendor apps, and created a simple report that can communicate their success to stakeholders.
Would Your Campus Social Media Program Survive Budget Cuts?
I left my job as Director of Marketing and Communications at a two-year campus in Wisconsin in 2013.
In 2015, I found out that my former position had been eliminated, along with similar positions at campuses around the state. In the midst of multi-million dollar budget cuts, nearly a third of administrative positions within the 13-campus system disappeared.
Social Media Value?
This situation makes me wonder if the leaders making these tough decisions were presented with data about the value of each role that was brought to the chopping block.
My gut tells me that this is probably not the case, since higher education professionals are not used to thinking about our jobs in this way. But, higher education is a business, and most positions are intended to create revenue (by making the campus attractive to prospective students), reduce costs, or mitigate risk.
If you found yourself in a similar situation, and were asked to justify your social media program, could you do it? Or would you only be able to say, “we engage students”? The all-too-common engagement answer does not make a compelling budgetary argument.
Valuable Social Media!
But what if you were able to say:
“We contribute to admissions efforts, and last year our social media program was responsible for 1,500 website visits, 200 of which resulted in applications. Based on our acceptance and yield rate, we believe our efforts resulted in 50 new students, who will contribute $2,250,000 in tuition over the next four years.”
Let’s say your annual salary, benefits, and software expenses are $100,000. I don’t think many campus leaders would be quick to cut a position/program that has an ROI of almost $2 million.
I believe that a successful social media manager should be able to explain on one page (or in a short elevator ride) the purpose of their program, how effectiveness is measured, and what value—in dollars—it provides to the campus or department.
This cannot be accomplished without spending time formulating clear goals that contribute to institutional objectives, understanding the appropriate measurement techniques to monitor progress, and understanding exactly how your social media efforts contribute to the campus bottom line. Unfortunately, we rarely prioritize our time to work on initiatives like this. But we must if we want to be able to articulate why our work matters.
So, tell me—what would you say if you were asked why your social media program matters? Please share in the comments.
Meet the Faculty: Dr. Liz Gross
Dr. Liz Gross is a Social Media and Market Research Strategist for a federal student loan servicer.
Liz received her Ph.D. in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service in Higher Education from Cardinal Stritch University. Her dissertation research examined the relationship between communication methods and the frequency and content of college student interactions with faculty. She is also a graduate of the Higher Ed Experts Web Analytics certificate program.
Dr. Liz Gross teaches Higher Ed Expert’s 4-week online course on Social Medi Measurement for Higher Education.
Tags: Higher Ed Experts Faculty, Higher Ed Marketing, Higher Ed News