Last month at NACAC, I got my hands on a copy of the Hobsons Domestic Research Report 2009-2010. It’s a fantastic report that every admissions professional should get their hands on, but one set of numbers specifically stood out to me. Hobsons asked sophomores, juniors and seniors about their perceptions of the credibility of college search tools. All you social media cool kids may find the results surprising:
High School Sophomores
| Somewhat Credible | Very Credible | Total Trust Ranking | |
| Institution’s Website | 35% | 49% | 84% |
| Online Planning and Advising Tool | 40% | 36% | 77% |
| Campus Visit | 8% | 65% | 73% |
| Friends/Family | 44% | 29% | 73% |
| Education Websites | 36% | 36% | 73% |
| High School Counselors | 31% | 39% | 70% |
| College Viewbook | 34% | 34% | 68% |
| College Admissions Counselors | 30% | 38% | 68% |
| College Rankings | 33% | 35% | 68% |
| College Guidebook/Directory | 39% | 27% | 66% |
| College Fairs | 31% | 23% | 55% |
| Discussion Boards/Forums | 18% | 10% | 29% |
| Social Networking Sites | 12% | 3% | 14% |
| Chatrooms | 9% | 3% | 12% |
| Podcasts | 9% | 1% | 10% |
High School Juniors
| Somewhat Credible | Very Credible | Total Trust Ranking | |
| Institution’s Website | 46% | 42% | 88% |
| Campus Visit | 16% | 71% | 86% |
| College Guidebook/Directory | 43% | 34% | 78% |
| High School Counselor | 43% | 32% | 76% |
| Friends/Family | 38% | 34% | 72% |
| College Admissions Counselors | 36% | 36% | 72% |
| Education Websites | 42% | 28% | 70% |
| College Rankings | 42% | 26% | 68% |
| College Viewbooks | 39% | 28% | 67% |
| Online Planning and Advising Tool | 37% | 29% | 66% |
| College Fairs | 38% | 23% | 61% |
| Discussion Boards/Forums | 21% | 13% | 35% |
| Social Networking Sites | 12% | 9% | 21% |
| Podcasts | 10% | 4% | 15% |
| Chatrooms | 9% | 5% | 14% |
High School Seniors
| Somewhat Credible | Very Credible | Total Trust Ranking | |
| Campus Visit | 16% | 70% | 85% |
| Institution’s Website | 42% | 42% | 85% |
| College Viewbook | 47% | 26% | 75% |
| College Guidebook/Directory | 47% | 26% | 72% |
| Friends/Family | 42% | 29% | 71% |
| High School Counselors | 39% | 29% | 68% |
| College Rankings | 42% | 26% | 68% |
| College Admissions Counselors | 40% | 25% | 65% |
| Education Websites | 41% | 20% | 60% |
| College Fairs | 37% | 21% | 58% |
| Online Planning and Advising Tool | 36% | 21% | 57% |
| Discussion Boards/Forums | 26% | 17% | 43% |
| Social Networking Sites | 13% | 4% | 17% |
| Chatrooms | 11% | 3% | 15% |
| Podcasts | 11% | 2% | 13% |
What This Means
Well, clearly this data means that admissions offices shouldn’t be spending resources on social media.
Just kidding 
I’ve shared this data with a few people at conferences and their first reaction has been something to the effect of “well it all depends on how they asked the question” or “what was the methodology?!?!” – in other words, absolute disbelief that these numbers could be valid.
I only know what the report tells me – that the research was conducted in the spring/summer of 2009 and was synthesized by data from more than 900 high school students in 47 states. But I’d suggest that if you immediately dismiss the research as invalid, stop and think for a moment:
- Hobsons has been around for a while and clearly dedicated resources to producing a quality report. I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they know what they’re doing.
- Even if you don’t think they know what they’re doing, how do you explain that social networking sites lag the most credible tool by 65-70 percentage points? That’s a pretty giant gap by any standard.
These results don’t surprise me at all. Here’s why:
- Teenagers have always made a really clear distinction between things they use for their social lives and things they use for “business”. Friends are for social media. Colleges are “business.”
- You’ll see lots of opinion leaders listed as more credible than social media – friends, family, high school counselors. Do you think they’re directing these kids to look at a school’s Facebook page as their primary source of information? Of course not. It’s a generational thing – there’s still a lot of skepticism out there.
- I don’t think there are many colleges out there who do social media really well. Until there’s a higher level of execution across the board, it is what it is.
- Did you really think that Facebook was going to be considered more credible than a campus visit? Or friends and family? Or college rankings?
I suspect that social media can be a huge influence at the bottom of the admissions funnel, but this data pretty clearly shows that it’s not a credible source of information for students at the top of the funnel. In the long run, I think that social media will probably gain some ground. But much to a web geek’s dismay, I don’t believe it will ever make it in the top five most credible sources for prospects at the top of the funnel.
Don’t misinterpret this data as proof that social media doesn’t work – it has its place in the process. Schools need to be in this arena, but they also need to have realistic expectations about what they will achieve through sites like Facebook and Twitter. By the way, this is not that much different than other elements – the campus visit is important for sophomores, but it’s critical for seniors.
This has sort of become my mantra lately, but you can’t get so enamored of the tools that you lose site of the big picture. Admissions is a huge game and there are so many different touchpoints on these kids during their search process. Just because you personally like social media, does not mean it’s the number one tool an admissions office can use to recruit students. Look at things objectively and then consider how you can best integrate it into your overall marketing mix in a way that plays to its strengths.
This post was written by Karlyn Borysenko
About the author
Karlyn is loving life as the marketing manager for Eduventures and as a staff writer for .eduGuru. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Communication from Boston University, a Master of Business Administration from Norwich University, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Psychology from Capella University.
To quote a friend of hers: “Karlyn is a super rad ninja marketing genius who will make your target demographic submit to your every whim through sheer willpower. Oh, and she’s smarter than you.” We’re not sure about the smarter part, but “super rad ninja” is true enough.
Compulsory disclaimer: The views expressed in Karlyn’s posts are hers and hers alone, and do not represent those of anyone she earns a paycheck from. Yes, it’s true – the girl has a mind of her own.
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