Recruiting Students In Higher Education In The Age Of Social Media

This study aims to develop a deeper understanding of recent integrated marketing communication (IMC) practices by higher education institutions in the recruitment of students. In an ever-changing world, social media has altered how marketing is conducted. Due to my involvement in student affairs (heavily involved on campus with clubs, organizations, and working closely with student affairs faculty) and curiosity in university recruitment, our research question was laid out: What (if any) factors stand out to incoming students when deciding on which university to attend and how well are these factors currently used to market to students. Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, we present our findings from in-depth interviews and survey results from current students to better understand which promotional and recruitment efforts were successful in attracting them to the current university. Along with in-depth interviews and findings, we also present results from a survey showing that factors such as price, location, and quality of professors are salient in deciding which university to attend. Along with these factors, we find that in-person marketing efforts are more successful than social media targeted ads in capturing a student’s attention.