We all know a great message is a critical component of any successful marketing campaign. But if that message can’t find its intended audience, it quickly goes from great to meaningless.
Hitting the right audience not only means knowing who your audience is, but also where they “hang out.”
Over the last few years, GradComm has done extensive research into community college students’ media habits, educational goals, key challenges, satisfaction levels, and more, offering us unique insight into various student demographics.
Today, we’re going to share some of that data with a focus on current students and their media habits.
A quick note: The following research highlights are based on accumulated data from five representative surveys of 9,518 community college students. The data is not weighted, and the combined results are not considered projectable nor conclusive. However, they do provide some consistent and compelling insights about student needs, challenges, and media habits.
Here are some key takeaways:
Social Media
The preferred social media platforms are clear and consistent across colleges.
- While YouTube has the highest overall average usage (95%), Instagram is typically accessed most often each day (54%).
- TikTok usage is trending higher over time, now surpassing legacy platforms such as Pinterest and Snapchat.
Radio
Streaming radio is the music source for nearly all students.
- Spotify is the most popular streaming platform, and students are much more likely to have a paid (commercial-free) subscription than for other services.
- Generally, around 1/3 of students also listen to local radio stations regularly, though preferred stations and formats vary broadly by location.
Preferred Marketing Channels
Students believe promoting academic programs on social media is the most effective way to reach them.
- This approach ranks far ahead of other proposed marketing channels.
- Receiving class schedules by mail remains a highly desired way for colleges to maintain visibility and connect with the local community.
- Other favored digital channels include email, Google Search, YouTube, and Video Streaming (i.e., Netflix, Hulu).
Marketing Recall
Overall, roughly half of CC students recall seeing and/or hearing their college advertising within the past 6-9 months.
Of these ad aware students…
- Around two-thirds recall seeing CC advertising via online search or on social media, often in the past month.
- There is also considerable recall of advertising in non-digital channels such as billboards, mailers, or on buses/other types of vehicles.
As insightful as this research is, please don’t take it as absolute. While we believe the data reveals common trends, we also believe that community college campuses are incredibly nuanced and unique places.
For this reason, we invite you to use this data not to create rules, but to deepen your understanding about how to best target your students and allocate those precious funds.
Of course, when you’re ready for your own research, we’ll be ready.
