An Assessment of the University Usage of Social Media Platforms: Case from Lebanon—Theoretical Foundations—Part 1

Abstract

This paper, part of two, aims to assess how a selection of Lebanese Universities utilizes social media platforms to attract potential student candidates. Social Media is considered a significant recruitment tool universities use to attract high school graduates from the millennium digital generation. Different universities have dealt differently with social media, so capturing recorded activity is essential to assess such efforts and pinpoint gaps to justify student recruitment investments by universities. This study uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods. A descriptive comparative analysis is carried out based on collected data from the different university social media platforms to help categorize selected universities in their efforts, successes, and gaps. However, this paper, the first part of two, represents the theoretical foundations needed for the study. Paper part two (2) will follow to illustrate the numerical and graphical analysis. Results show a lack of motivation schemes to attract potential candidates and encourage them to interact with such platforms. Moreover, universities lack specialized digital marketing staff to produce the appropriate content and design marketing strategies that are attractive, interactive, and with high response rates to inquiries.

An Assessment of the University Usage of Social Media Platforms: Case from Lebanon—Analytics—Part 2

“…Based on the results of a comprehensive study (Bashir, Hejase, Danash, et al, 2022) where we surveyed the students' opinions about private universities in Lebanon, in specific, assessing their attitudes and sayings about the selected university pages on social media platforms, the practical experience in this field, and the accumulated reported empirical research in media and digital marketing in companies and universities in Lebanon and abroad, and our review of the latest Digital marketing best practices (Bashir, Hejase, Yassin, et al (2023), including marketing through social networking sites, the current study was performed analytically to provide scientific and practical solutions.…”

“…In addition, they could monitor website clicks, engagement rates, and other Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to gauge the campaign's effectiveness. Therefore, HEIs could suggest continuous improvements based on their observations and data analytics (Paladan;Chaudhari & Bhornya, 2022;Bashir, Hejase, Danash, et al, 2022;Williams, 2023;Bashir et al, 2023). According to Williams (2023), universities worldwide that have an adequate digital marketing campaign capitalizing on social media platforms benefit from -Increased visibility and brand awareness, enhanced collaborative learning, improved student recruitment and retention, and enhanced collaboration and knowledge sharing‖ (para 32).…”