Illinois Media Career Services

Communications Strategy
By Taylor Eggenberger & Trevor
Zaucha

Purpose
All information was gathered to better understand
the College of Medias collective student
profile/makeup. This information was then used
in the creation of the Media Career Services
communications strategy.

The University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign

People
Campus Total: 41,505
Undergraduate Total: 30,912

Number of Colleges: 17
Number of Majors: ~130
Point College of Media is a very small college
in an enormous undergraduate ecosystem.

The College of Media

People
College of Media Total: 1,141
undergraduates
360/1141 of them are men
(31.5%)
780/1141 of them are
women (68%)

By Major
Agricultural Communications
23/1141 (2%)
Advertising 19/1141 (1.6%)
Broadcast 3/1141 (0.2%)
News-Editorial 1/1141
(negligible)
Advertising 609/1141
(53%)

By Major Cont.
Journalism 314/1141
(27.5%)
Broadcast 171/1141
(15%)
News-Editorial 143/1141
(12.5%)
Media and Cinema Studies
(MACS)
Cinema Studies 41/1141
(3.6%)
Media Studies 46/1141
(4%)

College of Media Majors

Agricultura
Communications Broadcast Journalism

4% 4% 2% 0%

Agricultural
Communications - NewsEditorial Jounralism

14%

17%

Agricultural
Communications Advertising

Advertising
59%

Broadcast Journalism
News-Editorial Journalism
Cinema Studies
Media Studies

Retention Rates and Rankings

Overall College of Media Retention Rate: 87.6%
Female Retention Rate: 91.1%
Male Retention Rate: 79.95%

High college wide retention rate suggests curriculum

satisfaction.
While still strong, the discrepancy between male and
female retention rates is worthy of further consideration.
While we were unable to find any information relating to
this, understanding why men and women choose to leave
the College of Media might help Media Career Services
create relevant content for those publics.

Programs
Majors
Bachelor of Science in
Advertising
Bachelor of Science in
Agricultural Communications
Bachelor of Science in
Journalism
Bachelor Science in Media
and Cinema Studies (2
Concentrations)
Media Studies
Cinema Studies

Majors Cont.
Master of Science in Advertising
Master of Science in Journalism
Doctor of Philosophy in
Communications and Media
Minors and Certificates
Undergraduate Minor in Cinema
Studies
Graduate Minor in Cinema
Studies
Media Sales Certificate
Public Relations Certificate
Source:
http://media.illinois.edu/progra
ms/index.html

Professional Development Activities

Professional activities and the % of 2013 graduates who participated in them
Information gathered from previous MCS report

The Illinois American Advertising Federation (AAF)

~50%
http://aafillinois.com/

The Illinois Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA)

~10%
http://illinoisprssa.com/

Journalism, Advertising and Media Students (JAMS)

~10%
https://www.facebook.com/JAMSIllinois/timeline?ref=page_internal

Illini Media (Daily Illini, WPGU, Buzz, Illio etc.)

~25%
http://illinimedia.org/

Assisted in Research
~28%

College of Media Demographics

Ethnicity
Caucasian
702/1141
61.5%

Asian American
92/1141
8%

African American
83/1141
7.3%

Hispanic
89/1141
7.8%

Ethnicity (cont.)
Native American
0/1141
0%

Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
1/1141
<1%

Multiracial
38/1141
3.3%

International
124/1141
10.8%

College of Media Race/Ethnicity

Caucasian

3%

Asian American

11%

African American

0%
8%

Hispanic

7%
8%

Native American
62%

Hawaiian/Pacific
Islander
Multiracial
International

Residency
College of Media
Demographics Cont.

Illinois
19%

Illinois
Non-Illinois

81%

926/1141
81%

Non-Illinois
215/1141
18.8%

Advertising Demographics
Gender
Men
175/609
29%

Women
434/609
71%

Ethnicity
Caucasian
422/609
69%

Asian American
50/609
8%

African American
26/609
4%

Hispanic
39/609
6%

Ethnicity (cont.)
Native American
0/609
0%

Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
1/609
<1%

Multiracial
21/609
3%

International
46/609
7.5%

Advertising Race/Ethnicity

Caucasian
Asian American

3% 8%
0%
6%

African American
Hispanic

4%
8%

Native American
71%

Hawaiian/Pacific
Islander
Multiracial
International

Advertising Residency
College of Media
Demographics Cont.

Illinois
12%
Illinois
Non-Illinois

88%

533/609
88%

Non-Illinois
76/609
12%

Agricultural Communications Demographics

(Combined)
Gender
Men
4/26
15.4%

Women
22/26
84.6%

Ethnicity
Caucasian
22/26
84.6%

Asian American
1/26
3.8%

African American
2/26
7.6

Hispanic
1/26
3.8%

Ethnicity (cont.)
Native American
0/26
0%

Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0/26
0%

Multiracial
0/26
0%

International
0/26
0%

Agricultural Communications Race/Ethnicity

Caucasian
8%

Asian American

4%

African American

4%

Hispanic
Native American
Hawaiian/Pacific
Islander
85%

Multiracial
International

Agricultural Communications Residency

College of Media
Demographics Cont.

Illinois
Illinois
Non-Illinois

100%

26/26
100%

Non-Illinois
0/26
0%

Journalism Demographics (Combined)

Gender
Men
100/314
31.8%

Women
214/314
68.2%

Ethnicity
Caucasian
188/314
59%

Asian American
24/314
7.6%

African American
44/314
14%

Hispanic
30/314
9.5%

Ethnicity (cont.)
Native American
0/314
0%

Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0/314
0%

Multiracial
11/314
3.5%

International
15/314
4.7%

Journalism Race/Ethnicity

Caucasian
Asian American

4% 5%

African American

10%

Hispanic
14%

Native American
60%

8%

Hawaiian/Pacific
Islander
Multiracial
International

Journalism Residency
College of Media
Demographics Cont.

Illinois
14%

Illinois
Non-Illinois

86%

268/314
85%

Non-Illinois
45/314
14%

Media & Cinema Studies Demographics

(Combined)
Ethnicity
Caucasian
49/96
51%

Asian American
13/96
13.5%

African American
5/96
5%

Hispanic
9/96
9.3%

Ethnicity (cont.)
Native American
0/96
0%

Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
0/96
0%

Multiracial
3/96
3%

International
16/96
16.7%

Media and Cinema Studies Race/Ethnicity

Caucasian
Asian American
17%

African American

3%

Hispanic

9%

52%

5%
14%

Native American
Hawaiian/Pacific
Islander
Multiracial
International

Media and Cinema Studies Residency

College of Media
Demographics Cont.

Illinois
26%

Illinois
Non-Illinois
74%

71/96
74%

Non-Illinois
25/96
26%

Takeaways
The College of Media
Predominantly

Female
Caucasian
From Illinois
Majoring in Advertising or Journalism
Has an internship at some point in their collegiate career
Involved with the American Advertising Federation on
campus
~50% of students participate in AAF, but 53% of all College
of Media students are Advertising majors

Takeaways Cont.
Information is far from perfect, but based off of university
wide student enrollment by zip code, it appears as though
the majority of students (campus wide) not only come
from Illinois but are actually from Northern Illinois
21,898 students from 346 counties beginning with 60001
and ending with 60918 are considered Northern Illinois

In lieu of more exact College of Media information, if

applied loosely, this information suggests that it is not
only possible, but likely that that the majority of College of
Media Students (81% of which come from Illinois) are
likely from the northern part of the state.

Satisfaction
Of those who participated in the graduation survey,
178 said that they were satisfied with the
education they received in the College of Media,
while 62 said they were very satisfied.
This means that 89.5% of all responses were positive

Highest area of neutrality in quality of internship

advising and information
Could suggests room for improvement. Get the word
out that MCS is able to help with this form of
advising.

Possible areas of student interest?

(speculative)

Media
Culture
Writing
Entertainment
Art

Design
Social Media
People
Data
Community

Millennials
Why this is important
The vast majority of College of Media students fall
within Generation Y, which is often referred to as
the Millenials. To understand this group is to
understand a large portion of the college.

What we found Who are they

What it tells us (with regards to shaping our
strategy)

What We Found Who are they?

Who are they?

Constitute 27% of the population

Born after 1981
More diverse than previous generations
Technology oriented
Characterized as being impatient, with a high need for immediate response
Value timeliness
Value teamwork , but also personal agency.

What drives millenials?

30% use four or more devices a day
On average, check their smartphones 43 times a day

How can you reach them?

Online
56% use social networking apps at least once a month
90%+ of millenials are on Facebook
42% of which log on daily

52% would rather converse via text

Interested in consistent experiences

What this tells us

Necessity for a quick, flexible and relevant
communications approach
Digital technologies such as social media
networks are an exceptionally viable means of
reaching millenials (College of Media students)
Social media moves quickly, which places a
greater emphasis on time that social media
communications are posted.

The Strategy
Platform Breakdowns

Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Instagram
Vine

http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/blog/2014/06/07/social-media-2014-statistics-interact
ive-infographic
/
An excellent resource for determining the health of individual networks.

Other Initiatives
Main Strategic Goals

Twitter
Targeting: Students and (potentially) employers)
Goal: 1-2 posts a day (excluding job postings).
Write tweets in a way that encourages interactions (retweets,
favorites, etc.)
Retweets specifically will help MCS extend its reach.

Possible Initiatives:
Checking Twitter periodically. Replying to questions and comments
quickly.
Provide 4-5 digit I-Link code to make the process of finding new job
postings an easier one.
Whenever pushing content (think flyers and handouts) always
include links (this was not always done last year).
Possibility of hosting a Twitter chat

Pinterest
Targeting: students
Content that is informative and engaging.
Put on hold (temporarily)

LinkedIn

Targeting: Students and alumni

Used in conjunction with Twitter
Posting once a week (if possible)
Content is typically greater in depth. Larger
focus on discussion and community.
Possible Initiatives
Post with greater frequency
Posting should encourage discussion between
students, staff and alumni

Instagram

Targeting: Students
Used in conjunction with Twitter
Posting 1 to 3 times a week.
Communications take advantage of the
platforms focus on imagery.
Use Instagram as an opportunity to educate
students on events relating to MCS and the
College of Media, and to highlight some of MCS
more obscure services

Vine
Vine poses a number of challenges with regards
to how MCS might leverage it. If it were to be
used, Vine content would most likely be directed
at students
If used, it would be used irregularly. Vine is
primarily shared on other networks.

Objectives
Raise awareness of Media Career Services as an
institution
Raise awareness of the services that MCS has to
offer
Inform College of Media Students (COM) of job
and internship opportunities
Assist in the professional development of COM
students

Quantitative Goals (Measured Success)

Measured Success (Goals)
Facebook
Not a major concern of MCS
Increase likes by 100

Twitter
Increase retweets by 50% (51 retweets per year for an increase of 17)
Increase favorites by 106% (200 favorites per year for an increase of 103)
Increase followers by 50% (from 167 to 250)

Pinterest
Increase Careers in MEDIA board by 100 followers

LinkedIn
Increase group members by 100

Instagram
50 followers by end of fall semester
150 followers by the end of Spring semester 2014

Qualitative Goals (Messaging)

Messaging (Goals)
Write with energy
Engageinteractions and feedback are important to our success across platforms.
Dont write messages to meet major proportions, but also dont have a perfectly
equal balance
Create content that is helpful, interesting and thought-provoking.
Create a brand of professionalism
Curate relevant content relating to professionalism and career advancement within media
fields (through retweets, shares, etc.)
Also achieved by providing tips

Bridge the gap. Make it as easy as possible for students to reach the information
that MCS distributes/they are looking for.
In short:
Be useful
Be enthusiastic
Be the source that COM students can go to for all things professional.

Sources
http://
www.adweek.com/news/technology/here-everything-you-need-know-about-millennial-consumer-159139
http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/blog/2014/06/07/social-media-2014-statistics-interactive-infographic/
http://provost.illinois.edu/ProgramsOfStudy/2013/fall/programs/undergrad/majors.html
http://media.illinois.edu/programs/index.html
http://www.dmi.illinois.edu/stuenr/index.htm#CDS
http://www.dmi.illinois.edu/stuenr/misc/cds_2013_2014.xls
http://www.dmi.illinois.edu/stuenr/ethsexres/ethsexfa13.xls
http://www.dmi.illinois.edu/stuenr/ethsexres/ethsexsp14.xls
College of Media 2014 Report (available on Box)