April 3, 2009

The psychology of recruitment

Apr. 3, 2009 at 01:08 PM | By Dan Obregon | Comment Count

In keeping with the recent string of blog posts about Twitter, I wanted to examine why people Twitter, and how a simple psychology principle can help you reach your constituents more effectively.

I will admit that I don’t really understand why individuals Twitter, although I do think there are great ways to leverage the service for your business or institution. So when I came across this Psychology Today blog about why individuals Twitter, I began to think of other ways colleges and universities could use some of the principles described in the post to make their prospective students feel more at ease.

The blog focuses on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which divides human’s needs into five categories on a pyramid, with the most basic needs on the bottom. One usually has their basic needs met before they start to take action to have needs higher on the pyramid met. The blog goes on to say that Twitter can fill more than one need on the hierarchy- not only does it give people a sense of belonging and community, but it can also aid in social recognition. According to the writer, as a society, we crave connections with others, especially as we’ve become less “tribal.”

Putting aside what it might say about us as a society- if we actually are using Twitter for validation- Maslow’s pyramid could be a useful tool in plotting out your social media strategy. The needs at the top of the pyramid like achievement, friendship, self confidence and creativity- are all ones that can be fulfilled by an institution. Social networking can play a central role in speaking to those needs. Designing your social network and social media strategy to fill several of these advanced needs will better position your institution to attract prospective students.

One of the most prominent success stories are the MIT admissions blogs. The School has several members of the admissions team, and a handful of students blog on everything from FAQ’s regarding the wait list to pranks played around campus. While reading through some of the latest posts, I noticed that prospects, students and alumni all have engaged with the bloggers and with each other- most of the “comment” sections on the blogs had at least 10 comments. On the entry about the wait list applicants converse with each other about sending in their postcard to stay on the wait list, their likelihood of getting admitted and admissions in general. The first thing that struck me about their blogs are the diversity of individuals that write them- any constituent of the school could easily find a blog that spoke to their interests.

Part of the appeal of services like Twitter and Facebook is the reciprocal nature- if you follow someone, they’ll usually follow you. But with Twitter you do have the option to not follow people who follow you- an option which many companies have opted for, since it would be difficult to follow the thousands of people that follow them. Although following many students is impractical, Washington State University puts forth a huge Twitter effort, following 407 individuals.

Both of these successful outreach initiatives speak to several of the needs on the hierarchy: creativity, respect by others and friendship. Framing your marketing goals in terms of what needs of your constituents you intent to fill can help you build a more cohesive strategy and guide important decision-making.