Being involved in the student association for 4 years at uni, I’ve seen a lot of different techniques in the way in which the association and clubs have marketed to students. The main products which are being marketed are events but also things such as services, information and general advice.
So where does the digital aspect come into it? Well, obviously the main force behind any marketing campaign for a University association lies within Facebook and that small red notification at the top of the screen that communicates a message directly to the target. The use of posters and word of mouth advertising is important for those that haven’t “liked” the page or joined the group as it helps build hype around the place where students hang out but it’s the Facebook events which truly dominate the marketing strategy.
Not only does the consumer get the event posted in their calendar and all the information they could need, but they also get to see whose going and who isn't and they can then send the event to their friends who aren't on the list yet. The best example of a digital marketing campaign working at Uni was when a Full Moon themed party being run in the Melbourne CBD went around the student Facebook world like a grass fire. Usually for an event there will be more people that attend than the number that have clicked “attend”. For this Full Moon event there were 350 tickets available and over 1,000 people that clicked “attending”. Demand for extra tickets was incredible and the next year a larger venue was then needed.
There is only one problem with relying so heavily on Facebook and that’s when Facebook decides to change its settings for pages or groups events. Facebook just recently did that and stopped the ability to invite the members of the group to an event. Normally the group which ran the Full Moon party would be able to invite all 4,000 of its members (not all of which have joined for the parties) but now it’s up to the host and attendees of the event to share and invite their friends and now this year’s party has just under 300 people that have clicked “attending” and a quarter of the number normally invited. Facebook is powerful but when it changes, it can cause a lot of pain.
I'm interested to know of any Facebook stories which you guys have and if you've run one, how did it go?