Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/488341
SOCIAL MEDIA MARCH/APRIL 2015 STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM 58 I In late 2014 through early 2015, Austin, Texas- based Threshold Agency, a marketing and adver- tising company specializing in the residential industry, conducted a student survey to shed more light on students' social media behavior. The goal was to fnd out when and how stu- dents were using social media and how that behavior relates to the student housing indus- try. Additionally, Threshold Agency reviewed over 540 student housing property websites to see how integrated they are with social media across the industry. These surveys were given to college students ages 18 to 24, located across the country and representing a variety of backgrounds and demographics. Social Media and digital trendS Finding 1 — Students access social sites via mobile devices. Fifty (50) percent of those sur- veyed access social media on a mobile device over 20 times a day. Twenty-fve (25) percent access social media between 10 to 20 times per day. Ensuring your website is responsive or mobile friendly is critical. Finding 2 — They're online when you're offce is closed. Fifty (50) percent of the stu- dents surveyed spend most of their time on Facebook between 4 p.m. and midnight. For the best engagement, schedule posts between 4 p.m. and midnight. Additionally, ensure posts are spread out to avoid cluttering. Finding 3 — Facebook is still king. Forty- two (42) percent of those surveyed ranked Facebook as their primary social media site, followed by Instagram, Twitter, Snap Chat, Pinterest, Vine, Tumblr and lastly LinkedIn. Finding 4 — How do they fnd the time? Students spend on average 1.26 hours per day on Facebook and 1.13 hours on Instagram. Finding 5 — Coupons encourage engage- ment. Nearly 75 percent of participants select- ed coupons as motivation for them to engage (like, share a post, etc.) with apartment com- munities' social media sites. Interesting/infor- mational posts came second with 55 percent. A coupon could be anything from a free pass to use your ftness center to a waived security deposit. Finding 6 — Students like to like (and vote). Sixty-fve (65) percent of the students surveyed had participated in a "vote for" cam- paign (example: vote for the best fraternity), while 50 percent had engaged in a "photo like" contest (example: like this photo for a chance to win). apartMent Finding trendS Finding 1 — The desktop dilemma. Eighty- fve (85) percent of participants were more likely to visit an apartment community's web site on laptop/desktop than a mobile device. Students are spending time on social media on mobile, but not looking for a place to live. Is this because the lack of responsive/mobile websites in our industry? Or because making a housing decision is a big decision and best devoted to a laptop? Which came frst, the chicken or the egg? Finding 2 — Show them the money. Sixty- seven (67) percent of students who were active- ly apartment hunting, wanted to see rates and/or specials on the homepage. Second to that was the communities' location/map, fol- lowed by foor plan graphics. Make sure these three categories are clear and easy to fnd on your website. Finding 3 — What about text? Eighty-fve (85) percent had not engaged in a "text to" campaign to get more information about a community. Their largest concern was receiv- ing unsolicited texts after they received rel- evant information. Finding 4 — Social Media as a Residence Life tool. The majority (75 percent) of students surveyed did not follow/like their apartment communities' social media page prior to mov- ing in. While 46 percent of those surveyed followed their apartment communities' pages while they lived there. Furthermore, only 7 percent of students indicated their apartment communities' social media pages had a large infuence on their housing decision. It's time to rethink how we use social media in the student housing industry. Yes, it's a powerful tool. But is it best used as a residence life tool and not a leasing tool? After reviewing the results from the social survey, we then asked ourselves, "how does this translate to what our industry is actually 75% indicated that coupons would motivate them to engage with an apartment community's social media page 50% of students access social media sites on their mobile devices 20 or more times per day STUDENTS SOCIAL A recent survey of college students, and follow up survey of more than 500 student housing websites, has some interesting fndings for social media and digital trends. By John Kerrigan MEDIA &