Using Snapchat for Student Recruitment
A recent study from New York based marketing company Sumpto found that more than three-quarters of college students use Snapchat at least once a day.
The study, which polled more than 1,600 self-identified social media users in college in the US, also found that the majority of pictures sent through Snapchat by this group are selfies. Almost half of college-age Snapchat users said they would open a Snap from a brand they’d never heard of, and 73% said they would open one from a brand they did know. Close to 70% of students said they’d even add a brand as a friend if they also followed them on another social network like Facebook or Twitter.
The Snapchat data was collected by Sumpto, a New York-based marketing company that identifies college students who are influential on social media and connects them with brands. The brands send students free stuff, and the students share it out over their social media profiles. It’s a cheap way for brands to get some of the most valuable endorsements in town.
Sumpto has more than 50,000 college students in its influencer network — well over double the number it had in November. It sent the snapchat survey to all its influencers, and received 1,650 responses, says CEO Ben Kosinski. Any student can sign up for Sumpto, so while these students are self-identified social media users, Kosinski believes the survey is also a valid representation of Snapchat’s collegiate user base.
“I would say that all college students – not just those signed up for Sumpto – are social media savvy,” he told Mashable in a statement.
One other interesting stat from the study — only 2% of poll respondents listed “sexting” as their primary use of the service. Snapchat has long been associated with sexting and sending inappropriate messages, but it appears that for college students, the app is primarily used for other functions.
The most popular Snapchat use case was “creativity” (37%), followed by “Keeping in touch” (27%) and “easier than texting” (23%).
Obviously, these findings widely open the door to using snapchat in student recruitment campaigns
Snapchat is immediate, personal and reaches the student where you can find them most: on their phone. “To reach out via a smartphone application like Snapchat as opposed to students’ e-mails makes the student feel like the college has taken extra steps to get in touch with them.
Snapchat could be a great channel for everything from reminding students about campus events and activities to delivering messages from administrative departments.
CRM FOR EDUCATION 