Social Media University Branding

Abstract

Globalization has increased the demands placed on higher education and increased competition among universities. In response, institutions of higher education have started to consider their online presence as a potential competitive advantage. The aim of this article is to analyze and compare Facebook activity and content created by the world’s top ten universities. The professional social media analytics tool Socialbakers is used to monitor activity and collect data for analysis. The world’s top ten universities are determined based on the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) University Rankings. The study results are divided into four categories: an analysis of the number of fans, of content, of style, and of post promotion. All of the studied universities upload a post at least once per day. Based on the study results, selected posts could be examples of best practice and serve to inspire other educational institutions to improve their brand image and communication on social networks. Social media provide a large amount of detailed data concerning the behavior of students and other stakeholders and on the effectiveness of promotional campaigns. To use social media effectively, it is necessary to collect the available data and evaluate them to gain insight on which to base an appropriate social media strategy