Tweets, Likes, and Click-Throughs: Assessing the Return on Investment of Higher Education Social Media Marketing Initiatives during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Autor/in	Crovetto, Christina
Titel	Tweets, Likes, and Click-Throughs: Assessing the Return on Investment of Higher Education Social Media Marketing Initiatives during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Quelle	(2023), (111 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit Ed.D. Dissertation, Drexel University
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
ISBN	979-8-3795-4281-8
Schlagwörter	Hochschulschrift; Dissertation; Higher Education; Social Media; Marketing; Program Effectiveness; Institutional Mission; Reputation; Information Dissemination; COVID-19; Pandemics + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Thesis; Dissertations; Academic thesis; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Soziale Medien; Informationsverbreitung
Abstract	The advent of social media has changed the way the public perceives and reacts to higher education. Although higher education institutions have progressively adopted and integrated social media technologies into their marketing efforts, the efficacy of these initiatives has not been substantially measured. While in the past, higher education institutions could determine the effectiveness of an ad placement by inserting a code directly on the ad and counting the number of individuals responding to the ad, currently social media metrics are more nebulous. The purpose of this collective case study research design was to measure the effectiveness of higher education marketing initiatives distributed through social media vehicles including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and WhatsApp in promoting the mission and image of higher education institutions. This study was guided by four research questions: (1) How are higher education institutions using social media metrics to measure the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns?(2) What social media marketing techniques are most successful in promoting higher education institutions? (3) To what extent do social media marketing initiatives advance a higher education institution's mission and image? (4) To what extent are social media marketing initiatives used in higher education to provide information and promote public discussions? The aim of this research study was to examine the extent to which social media technologies are being utilized and measured by higher education marketing professionals to promote their institutions' mission and image. Semi-structured interviews and artifacts were employed to gauge higher education marketers' responses to how they currently leverage social media technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researcher completed this case study utilizing two qualitative data collection methods. The findings for the interview questions indicated that the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on social media practices at HEIs, although adequate staffing for dedicated positions to social media efforts is lacking. Additionally, HEI marketing professionals are generally using platform-based metrics, including social listening, to measure the impact of their social media marketing efforts, which corroborates previously published research. The findings for the artifacts review revealed that HEIs dedicated digital space and time to pandemic-related news coverage in their social media efforts. Due to the evolving nature of social media in tandem with the COVID-19 pandemic, this research could be replicated at a later point in time or post-pandemic to evaluate its long-term effects on social media practices at HEIs across the country. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.] (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01