Hi Everyone!

As part of the SSMM course, I have decided to carry out a brief diagnosis of Salford University’s current online brand management from an international recruitment perspective and with a focus on social media engagement.

I am an experienced international marketer with a strong interest in search and social media marketing within an international context, more precisely within the field of Higher education. I started the course hoping that my academic background in intercultural business communication and current work experience would provide me with some foundation and inspiration for the implementation of SSMM to my current field.

Attending the SSMM course has provided me with a more structured approach to online brand management and strategy thanks to the use of key tools at diagnosis stage and planning stages with the confidence that the practical and theoretical elements of the course will strengthen our marcomms plan and enable us to measure our success (for example with regards to qualitative/ quantitative data, campaign tracking, choice of key words, etc).

From a micro perspective, the SSMM course has enhanced the way that I look at content and provided me with the confidence to be more creative to really maximize content use through appropriate campaigns, media channels and more importantly to fulfil different purposes.

For example, embedding some video content in the shape of webinars, or as part of a slideshow would make content more lively and interactive and achieve different goals such as providing an insight on current experiences that international students are having on campus but also showcasing the quality of our teaching and the credentials of our academic team. Releasing this on our own site as well as social media such as Facebook and Youtube would make the content readily available and searchable for prospective international students. Another way to use video content to run short campaigns would be to put a spotlight on our international students’ opinion on a current topic, which could also be beneficial to demonstrate how engaged they are with current affairs, thereby reflecting the key selling point that our courses embed theory with real world issues. The video could be used via our established promotional networks (CRM companies, Agent network) and other social media (Facebook and twitter) where prospective international student will be naturally encouraged/ pre-disposed to comment/ respond.

As international recruitment means engaging and interacting with prospective students from a range of countries ,cultural sensitivity is required and cultural differences apply in terms of social media use. For example, students from India tend to post more statuses and pictures with a spiritual note (sayings, quotes, etc) rather than an update on their daily life as most UK students would. Chinese students typically use Facebook and instagram to illustrate their social lifestyle with pictures of special places they have been to and friends and family associated with the moment. Some prospective students may or may not click on “like” to show their willingness to be associated with a brand just like some may choose to use social media for a more immediate response from a corporation such as the university. I believe this indicates that an informal context such as social media definitely provides a platform where people seek not only responses but also a personal touch, which could in the long run reflect some form of loyalty to the brand (for example, via an alumni group on facebook, shares of pictures post graduation, click and likes , etc…) Understanding how cultural differences apply to the use of Social media will become crucial in our social media engagement strategy.

Age, demographics and other social and economic factors definitely pre-define the way prospective students use social media and this should be reflected in the way we target our international audience and the way we choose to present ourselves digitally. I found the use of HITWISE particularly interesting for that purpose but as any other good tool, there is a price to pay to be able to use it!

Another crucial point would be linguistics and key words, as overseas students may search for the same thing; for example “scholarships” but depending on the country they are from other terms might also be used such as “bursaries” “discount” “award” and there may be local preferences which could affect the SERP from a particular region. Therefore an awareness of preferred search key words is necessary depending on the region targeted.

In terms of the more technical elements of the course, although I did find them useful and interesting to learn about, I cannot say they will have as much of a direct impact on my current activities. However, the fact that I have learned about them has definitely provided me with a greater awareness of what to ask and look for when interacting with SEO/ Web teams/ agency counterparts.

Overall, the course was a very positive experience and I have really enjoyed learning about SSMM. The knowledge I have acquired will definitely help me in my current field but is definitely transferable to any other in this day and age where everything is going digital and online.

See you all online!

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