Social media as a relationship marketing tool of modern university

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present selected aspects of university activities in the sphere of development of relations with its stakeholders, with particular emphasis on students, and with the use of social media as a key communication platform in the online space. The starting point for the analysis of the undertaken subject is to present the essence of relationship marketing in relation to higher education institutions as a result of adaptation and evolution of the marketing of these market players, as well as current trends in higher education marketing. In the article, secondary sources and the authors' research have been used, the object of which was to identify the scope, intensity, and professionalism of the activities of university in the area of social media.

Comparative Analysis of the Practice of Internet Use in the Marketing Activities of Higher Education Institutions in Poland and Ukraine

“…Integration into the virtual space, which involves the provision of services via the Internet, electronic advertising, and positioning in search engines, has become an integral element of university marketing strategies (Buchnowska 2013). Generation Z (post-Millennials), which significantly affects the make-up of the modern cohort of students, forces the management of higher education institutions to more actively use IT-technologies in marketing communications to benefit the following: "the possibility of 'closer relationship' of individual stakeholder groups and their deeper relationship with the university; rapid flow of information (opinions, experiences, advice, and recommendations) between the university and different staholders, particulary important for the candidates seeking information about studies on the first year and second level of study and for choosing a major of study" (Hall & Peszko 2016). Based on research of 403 higher education institutions available on the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland website in 2018, the highest popularity of the Facebook website has been proven against the backdrop of the increased use of several profiles on other social networks: YouTube; Twitter; Google+; Instagram; LinkedIn (Wojciechowska 2018).…”