Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/90487
Places also offers statistical data that lets organizations track how many people are searching for them, where those people are located, what search terms they're using, and what information on Google Places they access the most. Users also can leave reviews about their experiences with an organization. We found that schools on Google Places seem to benefit from excellent search engine results. Pro- spective students also turn to the user reviews—generated mainly by the school's students and alumni— as a unique way to learn about a business school's program. Even so, only about 10 percent of business schools in our sample had a profile on Google Places. Two business schools tied for the most Google Places reviews at 35. These were the NYU Stern School of Business and the Haas School of Business at the University of Cali- fornia, Berkeley. Exceptional Exceptions Perhaps not surprisingly, there is a high correlation between schools that are ranked in the top 50 by U.S. News and World Report and schools that are highly established on social media outlets. Also not surprisingly, there is a correlation between schools with large student populations that use social media outlets and those with high numbers of followers, fans, and video views. But there are exceptions to these correlations. I believe the schools that stand out as exceptions have the most valuable stories to tell. For instance, Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business in Texas and Utah State's Huntsman School had 5,426 and 9,031 Twit- ter followers, respectively. Neither of these schools is ranked among the top 50 business schools by U.S. News and World Report. Both schools have a relatively average population of 3,000 students. The Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia has 126,580 channel video views on YouTube. That places it ahead of top-25 schools such as George- town's McDonough School of Business and the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. These examples prove that a business school doesn't need a high profile in the rankings to develop a high-profile approach to social media. These data provide all busi- ness schools with opportunities to compare their social media progress to their peers and learn valuable les- sons about what social media can do for their programs and reputations. As I mentioned, this is a fascinat- ing time to be a business student, but it's just as great a time to be a business school. With today's social media tools, business schools can enhance their visibility in the market, connect with constituents at greater speed, and take only seconds to pro- vide their students with new oppor- tunities to learn. Simply put, social media is how today's students com- municate. Whether by tweet, like, or status update, it's time for business schools to get that message. Sterling Morris is a May 2012 graduate of the MS MIS program at Utah State University's Jon M. Huntsman School of Business in Logan. The article "Social Networking Usage and Grades Among College Students," written by Nicho- las Capano, Johanna Deris, and Eric Desjardins, is available at www.unh. edu/news/docs/UNHsocialmedia.pdf. The article in Search Engine Journal referenced in this article is available at www.searchenginejournal.com/ youtube-video-optimization-from-a-to- z/31278/. For an infographic on how business schools use social media, see www.bizedmagazine.com/features/ how-tweet/. BizEd November/December 2012 37 OJO IMAGES/GLOW IMAGES