THE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING IN HIGHER EDUCATION ENROLLMENT, A ROMANIAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The present paper represents an introspection into the world of social media marketing (SMM) with focus on higher education institutions (HEI). The continuous expansion of social media allows universities to move closer to the millennial generation. Since education is about acquiring knowledge, transferring information, and professional development all of them being subject of the individual evaluation of the student, traditional marketing channels are not enough. Spreading flyers, printing brochures, web-sites, or word of mouth (WOM) are examples of promotional instruments that have been used for years by Universities. The substantial competition among universities and even among faculties inside the same university represent realistic motives for HEI's to discover and apply new marketing promotional techniques. Marketing concepts like brand community or critical mass do apply even in this sector characterized by such special features. Education and especially HEI was one of the laggards when it comes to social media marketing (SMM). Unfortunately a distinctive characteristic of most universities in our country was to consider SMM is just for household goods or consumer loyalty and neglected such an important marketing channel. According to Anderson (2008), an important objection against marketing practices by academics was that it would undermine academic standards of quality and excellence. [Gibbs 2002] considers that marketing policies in HEI have to follow the 'collaborative relationships' model. Nowadays, social media has emerged as a way for students to connect with the university in a more casual and familiar manner. For HEI's relationship marketing involves building and maintaining a relationship of value exchanges between the institution and the three main customer groups: alumni, current students and future students. [Efthymios Constantinides & Marc C. Zinck Stagno 2011].By maintaining such a close relationship between past, present and future, faculties may change the perception from time oriented towards family/community oriented and to ultimately influence the enrollment process. Using quantitative methods, data from official Facebook pages, and qualitative research methodology, a survey regarding the content and interactions on students already enrolled, the present paper tries to emphasize the importance of SMM in a higher education institution in Romania. We start from two hypothesis: 1) social media can impact University's choice 2) social media will tighten the connections between actual students and the university. Hypotheses are followed by positive outcomes, the electronic word of mouth (e-WOM) will be used and a major target market prospected. The use of SMM in academia is fairly new.