Adult Students and Social Media

(Great Piece I thought I would share with you from Bob Johnson Consulting)

source: bobjohnsonconsulting.com

Recruiting Adults: Email is More Important than Social Media

Sitting at Carol Aslanian's conference on adult student recruitment listing to Jennifer Copeland at Demand Engine report on initial results of a survey of 50,000 adults (drawn from files of 10 universities that volunteered to participate with about 10% response so far) on their preferences for finding or receiving information at three points in the recruitment cycle:

•Researching schools before making an inquiry ("stealth" mode is increasing)
•After making an inquiry
•After sending an application
90% Start with Search, 90% Prefer Iniitial Email and Mail Follow-up

Key findings so far:

•Before making an inquiry, 90 percent report using a search engine (Google, for the most part) to start their search. At this stage, phone use ranks quite low.
•After making an inquiry, 90 percent prefer email and direct mail for ongoing contact. Social media (including FaceBook and Twitter) rank low. Phone is now acceptable is just under 50 percent.
•Preferences don't change much after a person sends an application: Email and regular mail remain clear preferences, while phone rises to just over 50 percent and social media remain relatively low.