The College’s Facebook page, originally started several years ago as a novelty by Marketing Manager Alison Ryan and IT Project and Web Coordinator Jane Davis, has become a key tool for communicating news and information to Daytona State’s rapidly growing Facebook constituency or fans, as they are called in social media lingo.
“We started early when no one was really even paying attention to Facebook as a marketing tool,” Ryan said. “It has taken a while, but it is really becoming a valuable asset in our marketing toolbox.”
The College’s use of social media allows stakeholders to publicly share its many qualities and strengths, as well as to advance the institution and build relationships with important constituencies such as prospective and current students, donors, alumni and corporate partners. The institution also uses other social media channels such as Twitter, I-Tunes University and YouTube.
Nearly 70 percent of the college’s Facebook fan base is 18-34 year olds, but all told, their ages range from 13 to over 55, accounting for a total of 4,148 fans as of today. Those fans – and non-fans – are viewing news and other postings fed through the Facebook page approximately 70,000 times and more per month, according to Facebook's analytics system.
Dozens of college departments have started their own individual Facebook pages, including the Daytona State College Foundation, the Office of Admissions, Athletics, the Environmental Club, Southeast Museum of Photography and WDSC TV-15, just to name a few. Each is able to target its own narrow audience with focused messages.
Expanding Daytona State’s social media engagement is an opportunity to build on what the institution has learned and to take advantage of its assets in Web and marketing support. The media are still relatively new and in a constant state of evolution, but recent trends have shown that social media will be part of the marketing and communication landscape for the foreseeable future.
