I recently attended a presentation delivered by John Hill, the Higher Education Evangelist for Linkedin. His job is to get colleges and universities to utilize Linkedin to connect with their students and alumni – a pretty cool job! Founded in 2003, Linkedin is about connecting people, jobs, companies, and professional groups. There are 150 million members worldwide as well as 2.4 million companies and 1.2 million groups represented on this booming social network. So, what does that mean for you?

Think about how important it is for higher education marketing purposes to have access to a platform that fosters constant connection and communication among students and alumni. Linkedin provides this platform, which means that the huge expense of software development and maintenance doesn’t fall on individual colleges and universities. For this reason, many institutions are rapidly adopting and embracing Linkedin.

One of the most compelling parts of John’s presentation focused on his Michigan State Days. John talked about his friend, Boomi, who went to Michigan State, lives in East Lansing, and is a serial entrepreneur who frequently hires Michigan State alumni. Boomi is now a very engaged alum who has unbelievable connections, loyalty to the university, and a willingness to connect alumni with jobs. Boomi also serves as a brand ambassador and and brand pillar for the university. Boomi is someone whom Michigan State definitely wants to keep engaged, connected, informed, and positive. Do you know who your Boomi’s are? Here are some ways you can find them, engage with them, and stay connected.

People

Engaging young alumni can be extremely difficult. However, LinkedIn is a network that fosters engagement because of its inherent networking and job opportunities. Your alumni (young and old) are on LinkedIn. Have you utilized LinkedIn? Do you encourage your alumni to engage with your institution’s Linkedin page and community? Does anyone on your team “own” this social medium and understand the power of it in terms of its ability to connect people? If not, consider appointing a LinkedIn Ambassador for your alums.

Jobs

As a college or university, the primary way that you can prove the value of one of your degrees is to demonstrate that your graduates are getting hired and finding jobs in fields that match their interests and academic preparation. Linkedin is an amazing networking tool that can connect alumni with jobs which they never knew existed. It can also provide paths to jobs that were never on their radar screens. Are you encouraging your alumni to connect on LinkedIn? Furthermore, are you encouraging your current students to use this network as they prepare for professional life?

Companies

For current student interns to alumni who are looking for jobs, LinkedIn provides a natural connection point where colleges and universities can network with companies and other professional organizations. Not only is this helpful in terms of employment opportunities, but it can also be valuable for institutional fundraising personnel. Are your advancement teams, major gift officers, and alumni offices using Linkedin to ascertain who your alumni are, what their interests are, where they work, and how they want to stay connected and engaged with their alma maters?

Linkedin Groups

Linkedin enables colleges and universities to create groups in which conversations can take place in a space that is specifically relevant to your alums and current students. They are already in that space, so the question is: Now, how can we engage them in our conversation.

If you build it, they will come. Actually, it is already built, so engage in the conversation and take advantage of an unbelievably powerful network that can drastically improve your ability to network and engage with your students and alumni.