The dominant role of social media in the lives of prospective students can be now capitalized by admission offices. This will be possible due to the key enhancements made to the Student Recruitment Manager or SRM by the student recruiting firm TargetX. The organization’s groundbreaking customer relationship management system has been now integrated with the two most important social networks.
In a release, Brian Wm. Niles, CEO of TargetX said, “This is a chance for schools to bring all that social stuff into their CRM strategy. You can now get a complete picture of your prospects, including what they're saying and thinking about you on Facebook and Twitter.”
According to Niles, for the first time a real 360 degree view of students can be obtained. It is important to pay attention to what the students are posting these days on the social networks. The most complete and authentic picture of their interests, concerns and goals can be obtained through these posts on the social network.
The information received from students' social interaction however needs to be integrated with the data already present in the CRM database. The enhanced SRM provides this capability which will be beneficial to the schools. Ways to keep up with the online “chatter” are being constantly searched by colleges. An easy way to monitor the two most popular social networks is now provided by the SRM. Relationships can be also built as the SRM allows content to be connected with individuals.
Patrick Kelly, product manager at TargetX said, “This enhancement to the SRM provides schools with an enormous competitive advantage. It's an invaluable tool for identifying best-fit students. It also means you'll be able to follow online conversations for real-time data and feedback, respond quickly to negative feedback, and attend to student concerns.”
The proven Force.com platform of Salesforce.com was selected by TargetX to build the SRM. A cloud-based recruiting tool in higher education, which is also powerful, mobile and customizable has been created.
Built-in electronic communication tools are among the strengths of the SRM. These include the top email broadcasting and online chat tools in higher education marketing. A fully-integrated event management tool has also been included.
In other news, Informatica Corporation, the world's number one independent provider of data integration software, recently announced that TargetX has embedded Informatica Cloud as part of its flagship salesforce.com platform-based Student Recruitment Manager (SRM) offering, which is helping redefine higher education recruiting in the new economy.