A SWOT analysis of Florida International University's social media accounts.

1. FIU Social
Media
Carla Degen
Silvana Dominguez
Amy Pudsey
Nelly Reyes

2. Who we are
Florida International University is Miami’s first and only public research
university. The institution was founded in 1965 and ever since it has
provided excellence in its programs ranging from bachelors, masters, and
doctoral degrees. Being worlds ahead is what we are known for and we
intend to live and breathe this statement starting from our local to global
community.

3. LinkedIn SWOT

4. Strengths Weaknesses
 Sorts all the information in a user friendly and
organized way
 Where alumni live
 What fields they work in
 Vast network of over 100,000 professionals
 Provides important information about school
population, admittance rate, graduation rate
etc
 Has a section of Notable FIU graduates
which is very informative
 Shows what majors were studied by the
alumni and current students of FIU
 Alumni did post positive recommendations
 Doesn’t have a custom URL
 https://www.linkedin.com/edu/school?id=18093
&trk=edu-cp-title
 Doesn’t create content/no engagement.
 It would be nice to see some interaction
sparked by a comment from FIU on the LinkedIn
page.
 General information should include the fact
that FIU is an International University.
 Add some different countries where the
students/alumni come from not just where they
live right now
 No information about extracurricular
activities.
 Should maybe briefly mention sports and other
activities that the university offers

5. Opportunities Threats
 Could use the vast amount of connections
to host on campus networking events for
students/alumni on LinkedIn.
 Could make use of their network to
participate in/sponsor events that benefit
the community.
 Could share research from professors to
LinkedIn community.
 Could ask for donations for campus
projects on LinkedIn.
 Could create blog posts about FIU news.
 Could use LinkedIn to recruit foreign
exchange students.
 Privacy issues
 Online marketing might be more effective
through other social media sites.
 Getting negative
comments/recommendations.
 Not getting users engaged after posting
blogs or discussions.

6. Strategy Analysis
 The purpose of LinkedIn for FIU is to connect current
students with alumni and other current students.
 Target audience are students/alumni who use social
media to find jobs or who are interested in higher
education.
 FIU has a big network on LinkedIn which is great.
However they should create status updates and
content.

7. Instagram

8. Instagram Overview
Handle: fiuinstagram
Number of Followers: 18,000
Number of posts: 1352**
Active since: December 2014
** Information was gathered 9/23/2015

9. Instagram Most Liked

10. Instagram SWOT

11. Strengths
 Its focus is more “relaxed” compared to its other
social media. Its directed towards students through a
personal level.
 It is active (at least 2 posts a day)
 Intrigues the student to explore the university.
 Encourages feedback from followers.
 Visually appealing

12. Weakness
 Not verified by Instagram!
 Compared to its other accounts it has very little followers.
 Its target market is “student only”
 They are not answering to comments/no engagement with
followers in the comments.
 Very little variety in material (pictures get repetitive).
 There is no cross promotion of other social medias.

13. Opportunities
 Post more diverse material. Instagram is free publicity!
Exploit the opportunity to advertise events in other
departments. It is one school!
 Use more hashtags for more exposure.
 Create a post where it invites students to join our other
social media.
 Provide a link to our website to increase traffic.
 Create intrigue with prospective students.
 Have contests to increase engagement.

14. Threat
 It is public; meaning very little safety.
 High competition with other schools (UM/UF/FSU)
 Can only be managed through mobile devices.
 Innovation to keep followers.
 Negative feedback.

15. Strategy Analysis
 Florida International University’s purpose of an
Instagram is to create diversity in their social media.
Unlike LinkedIn and its Twitter, Instagram is the
university’s opportunity to show their “fun and human”
side. It focuses more on the day to day in the
university with a focus on the student.
 What the school does need to increase is creativity
and engagement with the followers. We are a school
of more than 50,000 students and we have only
reached 36% of them.

16. Facebook SWOT

17. Strengths Weaknesses
 Personalized URL
 Posts daily
 Current interesting and
informative content
 Interaction from users
 Positive review rating 4.6/5
 Page likes are increasing
 Email signup tab
 Does not currently use
events feature
 Does not keep milestone
feature up to date
 About section is not very
detailed
 Little interaction from page
with users
 Only links to official website,
no other FIU social media

18. Opportunities Threats
 Link to other social media
accounts to increase
exposure
 Use the events feature to
promote school events
 Update milestones feature to
highlight important occasions
 Can tag students in pictures
to increase number of
photo/page views
 Students may become
disinterested once they
graduate or transfer
 Competition with other
Colleges and Universities
 Users can post negative
reviews and comments
 Not all fans see content that
is posted
 Facebook wants users to pay
to reach more people

19. Strategy Analysis
 The purpose is to inform users of events and news.
 Target audience is students, staff, alumni, and parents who
like to know what is going on at FIU. They use Facebook
for fun and want interesting content.
 The FIU Facebook page is posting a lot of interesting
content on a daily basis. They have a large number of
likes which is increasing.
 The FIU Facebook page needs to use more of
Facebooks features (such as events and milestones) to
promote themselves and their highlights.

20. Twitter SWOT
@FIU
Number of Followers:
24.1K
Number of Tweets: 18K
Active Since: May 2009
*Information gathered on 10/1/2015

21. Strengths Weaknesses
 Great coverage of current news involving the
university.
 Displays a variety of information of all parts of
university.
 Very active! 30+ Tweets/Retweets daily.
 Tweets are current and relevant.
 Tweets aren’t about outdated information.
 Cross promotion among other FIU accounts.
 Amount of followers are low.
 In the year 2014, FIU has 50K+ students
enrolled and they only have 24.1 K
followers.*
 Not a very large reach (voice isn’t being
heard).
 Not much engagement with followers. Person
to Person strategy.**
 Interactions aren’t human or authentic.
Spitting out information.***
 The account is treated very much like a
bulletin board and very little conversation
between followers.
 Information does not flow. Tweets are very
sporadic.

22. Opportunities Threats
 Usage of hashtags.
 Increases exposure.
 New way of reaching out to potential incoming
freshman and transfer students.
 Twitter is global and can reach potential
students from around the world.*
 Fun way to network with businesses.
 Whether it is for sponsorships or career
fair opportunities, there is a high chance to
reach out for opportunities with other
businesses.
 Integrate with other social platforms.
 If boring and not really active, followers may
unfollow the account.
 Trying to keep interesting content posted.
 There’s competition with other universities
 Other universities, such as UF and
FSU, have more followers and have a
larger potential reach.
 Can only be managed through mobile
devices.
 Success is dependent on followers.

23. Strategy Analysis
 Florida International University’s purpose for having a
Twitter account is to engage the FIU community with
events, promotion, and real time news that involve FIU.
 The target audience is faculty, staff, alumni, students, and
the FIU community as a whole.
 FIU has done a great job with always providing content
throughout the day and not just during a specific time
period.
 FIU can improve the account by engaging and creating
relationship with their followers.
 Make it more personal.

24. References
 10 benefits of social media for business. (2014, July 25).
Retrieved September 25, 2015.
 Carlson, N. (2013, December 30). This Irate
Cookbook Author Represents A Swelling Threat To
Facebook's $6 Billion Ad Business. Retrieved
October 20, 2015.
 Florida International University. (n.d.). Retrieved
September 24, 2015.
 Florida International University Analysis and
Information Management (2014) Quick Facts.
Retrieved October 1, 2015
<http://opir.fiu.edu/quickfacts.htm>

25. References
 Florida International University Facebook. (n.d.).
Retrieved October 20, 2015.
 Mark Schaefer (2014, January). Social Media
Explained. Retrieved October 1, 2015. (pp. 11-25)
 Ross, T. (n.d.). Challenge LinkedIn. In Social Media
Mastery (pp. 498-557).
 Social Media Keynote Speaker | NRF 27,600
Attendees
(YouTube)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MycwT
mJJ2IM#action=share
 Twitter (2015). Retrieved October 1,2015
<https://about.twitter.com/>