As I explain in my April column for University Business, “Facebook, MySpace, and Co.â€, a few institutions have started to market themselves on MySpace or Facebook.
This can be done, but it’s very important to follow what I call “the five basic rules of engagement:”
- Know whom you are dealing with.
Read the terms of service of any external website you’d like to include in your marketing mix and make sure your institution can deal with any possible associated privacy and copyright risks. - Meet the locals.
Set up a profile on any social networking websites you might use as a communication channel to experience the service firsthand as a user. - Learn the culture and the language.
Marketing speak doesn’t work very well in online communities. Get a good idea of what’s acceptable behavior and what’s not. - Select and empower good ambassadors.
Talk to (and listen to) your student employees or interns. They use these websites on a daily basis and are part of the scenery. Delegating your social networking efforts to student ambassadors will avoid possible backlash caused by what could be perceived as administrator invasion of students’ privacy. - Follow the laws of the land.
Don’t get your outreach initiatives bogged down by legalities. For example, institutions can create profiles on MySpace. While they are barred from doing so on Facebook, they can launch a group instead.
