2013 Virtual & Social Media Report

Website: www.educationusa.state.gov

Visitors

More than 107,000 unique visitors on average visited the EducationUSA website each month in 2013. With a cumulative total for 2013 of 1,291,507 unique visitors, website visits increased 60 percent from 2012. Over two-thirds of the visitors were new to the site, while about 30 percent were returning visitors. Approximately 80 percent of total visits to the EducationUSA site come from 227 countries and territories. The additional 20 percent is from U.S. traffic. More than half the website visitors came through referrals from other sites, primarily Facebook. A quarter of all visitors found EducationUSA through organic search terms via online search engines, namely Google. Over 20 percent of visitors came through direct traffic.

New Visitor Returning Visitor

1,291,507Visitors

Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter—these are just a few of the tools EducationUSA advisers are using around the world to help international students learn about and connect with educational opportunities at U.S. universities and colleges. Even in the more remote and less populated areas, social media is playing a stronger role each day in making those connections.

EducationUSA is a U.S. Department of State-supported network of more than four hundred advising centers in 170 countries around the world. Each year, EducationUSA advisers provide millions of international students with accurate, comprehensive, and current information about how to apply to U.S. colleges and universities. EducationUSA staff also work with U.S. higher education professionals to promote international student recruitment. Virtual outreach is a vital component to this endeavor.

This report focuses on the successes of the EducationUSA network’s global virtual outreach in 2013, including a review of the most commonly used social media, video channels, and micro/ traditional blogs.

Facebook:

In addition to being the largest single referral source of traffic to the EducationUSA site, the global EducationUSA Facebook page represents the most active channel of the EducationUSA social media platforms. In 2013, the EducationUSA page grew over 60 percent, garnering 95,000 likes. Early in 2014, the EducationUSA Facebook page broke the 100,000 barrier

Likes:

Highlights/Most popular posts:

1. Keep Calm & Study in the USA: Playing off the recent internet memes related to the “Keep Calm and Carry On” phrase, this photo received the highest number of individual “likes” this year (526), the second largest number of shares (116), and the most impressions (80,468).

2. What Do You Want to Study?: This post received the most individual comments (243) of any post this year. This post simply asked a question regarding what the audience was interested in studying. Posts similar to this that ask questions on topics related to U.S. study, particularly when accompanied by attractive images or photos, engage users and in turn reach a larger audience.

3. 3 Simple Rules: This post was shared more than any other this past year (212 times). The post provided simple advice on studying in the U.S. Similar to questions posed in posts, guidance in the form of tips or inspirational quotes also trend higher as they engage the audience.

4. Happy Friday- Study in the United States!: Recognizable American icons resonate with the target audience, as demonstrated with this message which generated 229 likes, 24 comments, and 27 shares.

Up60.24%

end CY1395,019

end CY1259,299

Facebook.com/EducationUSA

YouTube: Youtube.com/EducationUSATV

Video continues to be an important outlet to engage EducationUSA students and U.S. higher education audiences. Over the past year, video content was viewed on the EducationUSA YouTube channel nearly 64,000 times. Testimonies from students currently studying in the U.S. and "how-to" advice from advisers continue to resonate well with the student audience.

Total Video Views

Highlights:

1. International Students Choose the U.S.: Received nearly 9,000 views in 2013, this compilation of current international student interviews received the most views in 2013.

2. Mobile app video release: In May, EducationUSA released its first global app for potential students. The accompanying video has driven significant traffic to the mobile app itself with over 5,800 views.

3. Interview series: Early in 2013, an adviser from Mauritius and a consular office from the U.S. Embassy in Port Louis spoke in a three-part interview series accumulating over 1,500 views.

Up35.28%

end CY13244,396

end CY12180,524

Twitter:

EducationUSA has separate global Twitter feeds for U.S. higher education and international student audiences. The number of followers for both grew over 50 percent in 2013, further expanding the reach of posted content. Twitter also served as the #10 referral source of traffic to the EducationUSA website.

For U.S. Higher Education @EdUSATips

EdUSAtips CY12 CY13 % up

Followers 2,840 4,404 55.1%

Total Impressions 4,037,580 6,135,349 52%

Retweets/Mentions 907 1,700 87.4

Highlights:

1. Twitter postings from @EdUSAtips during the EducationUSA Forum in Washington DC (June 26-28, 2013), the showpiece event for the U.S. higher education community and the EducationUSA network, produced over 342,000 possible impressions, 81 retweets, and 49 mentions.

2. @EdUSAtips activity for International Education Week (November 11-15, 2013) and the release of the IIE Annual Open Doors Report elicited 61 retweets, 35 mentions, and 285,000 potential impressions.

For Students @EdUSAupdates

EdUSAupdates CY12 CY13 % up

Followers 6,189 9,326 50.7%

Total Impressions 5,784,898 10,464,231 81%

Retweets/Mentions 2,404 3,818 59%

Retweets Replies Favorites Followers MentionsTweetsPotential Impressions

285,726 43 61 6 14 + 46 35

Retweets Replies Favorites Followers MentionsTweetsPotential Impressions

342,075 71 81 5 44 +28 49

@EdUSAtips and @EdUSAupdates

Highlights:

Similar to posts popular on EducationUSA’s Facebook page, tweets with inspirational quotes and images generated the most interest. Tweets announcing virtual events, such as the EducationUSA webinar series, also garnered a positive reaction.

1. Quote/Pic: Education is a gift that one can take away - American proverb #EducationUSA https://twitter.com/EdUSAupdates/status/387551326055325696/photo/1P 10 Retweets : 1 Reply k 41,848 Potential Impressions

2. Step 2 Webinar Series released: #EducationUSA Presents Step 2 of the Your 5 Steps to U.S. Study Webinar Series #Your5Steps http://www.educationusa.info/financial-aid?view=135449P 7 Retweets : 0 Reply k 64,162 Potential Impressions

Weekly Update stories

Each Monday, EducationUSA sends out a Weekly Update newsletter featuring 8-10 campus news and financial aid updates primarily from U.S. colleges and universities, in a variety of formats (PDF, html e-mail, and pre-packaged social media posts) to over 500 EducationUSA advisers who then redistribute those stories to their student audiences. Each story includes a link for more information that redirects interested students to a page on the EducationUSA website. In 2013, there were over 274,000 clicks through to those pages.

Clicks on Weekly Update content

Since January 2013, the PDFs of the EducationUSA Weekly Updates have been archived and made available for download on Slideshare. That has led to more than 38,000 additional views of Weekly Update articles, placing EducationUSA Weekly Update content in the top 1 percent most viewed on SlideShare in 2013.

Up16.00%

end CY13274,471

end CY12236,770

iTunes Podcasts

For the past three years, EducationUSA has conducted webinars for students that engage U.S. higher education community members to explain the various steps to U.S. study. To broaden the reach of the EdUSA Connects series of “Your 5 Steps to U.S. Study” webinars, EducationUSA records these events and makes the podcasts available on iTunes. The 90+ podcasts available were downloaded more than 25,000 times, and were viewed over 168,000 times in 2013.

Mobile App Analytics

In May 2013, EducationUSA launched its first global app for students. In the first seven months, the app was downloaded more than 7,100 times in 127 countries. The app provides students access to EducationUSA global social media feeds, financial aid posts from U.S. colleges, center contact information by country, the multi-lingual Ask-an-Adviser survey, and FAQ service.

Users By CountryCountry # Users Country # Users1. United States 836 11. Peru 132

2. India 780 12. Mexico 128

3. Iraq 309 13. Israel 118

4. Yemen 244 14. China 94

5. Paraguay 235 15. Indonesia 90

6. Pakistan 216 16. Mongolia 83

7. Bangladesh 191 17. Tunisia 81

8. United Kingdom 190 18. Ecuador 80

9. Brazil 188 19. Argentina 79

10. Saudi Arabia 162 20. Egypt 75

Users By Platform

iPhone iPadiPhone iPad

3558

2281

1079

218

# Users

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

Native Webapp

Android Android

EducationUSA Network Social Media Presence

Beyond the global social media work managed centrally in Washington, D.C., the EducationUSA network of 400+ centers in 170 countries have significantly expanded its social media presence in the last 12 months. EducationUSA advisers now add content to 174 Facebook, 99 Twitter, and 41 YouTube pages. In addition to these assets, EducationUSA advising centers have also begun to embrace blogs as an effective tool in reaching their audiences.

Network properties # 2012 # 2013 Quantifiable Measure Increase over CY12

169 social network pages/groups 573,081 988,628 likes/members 92%

96 Twitter/microblog feeds 250,865 420,343 followers 70%

41 video channels 666,041 1,797,335 video views 172%

18 blogs 527,731 806,213 blog page views 63%

Total social media contacts: 2,017,718 4,012,519 98.9%

For the complete set of EducationUSA network social media platforms, follow this link.

Top 10 EducationUSA-related Facebook pages in the networkCountry Host Organization URL # of fans, members Global EducationUSA https://www.facebook.com/EducationUSA 95,890 Saudi Arabia Embassy/Consulate https://www.facebook.com/USEmbassyRiyadh 81,567 Egypt EducationUSA https://www.facebook.com/StudyUSAEgypt 73,782 India EducationUSA https://www.facebook.com/EducationUSADelhi 56,601 United Kingdom Embassy/Consulate https://www.facebook.com/uk.usembassy 31,562 Indonesia EducationUSA https://www.facebook.com/EducationUSAIndonesia 31,112 Pakistan Fulbright https://www.facebook.com/USEFP 29,715 Morocco Embassy/Consulate https://www.facebook.com/USEmbassyRabat 26,713 Turkey Fulbright https://www.facebook.com/FulbrightTurkiye 24,873 Nepal EducationUSA https://www.facebook.com/usef.nepal 19,729

Top 10 EducationUSA-related YouTube channels in the networkCountry Host Organization URL Video views Belgium Fulbright http://www.youtube.com/fulbrightbe 462908Japan Embassy http://www.youtube.com/user/usembassytokyo 409842Global EducationUSA http://www.youtube.com/EducationUSATV 244396Laos Embassy http://www.youtube.com/user/USEmbassyVientiane 214639Iraq Embassy http://www.youtube.com/user/usembassybaghdad 87658United Kingdom Fulbright https://www.youtube.com/USUKFulbright 73697Japan American Corner http://www.youtube.com/user/FukuokaAmericaCenter 43509France Fulbright http://www.youtube.com/user/ComFulbrightFR 38326Brazil IBEU http://www.youtube.com/ibeurj 36907Belarus EducationUSA http://www.youtube.com/advisingbelarus 33038

EducationUSA.state.gov Location of Visits

# Total Visits 1,586,104 100%

1 United States 306,344 19.31%

2 India 104,356 6.58%

3 Brazil 87,520 5.52%

4 Mexico 47,653 3.00%

5 Russia 47,325 2.98%

6 United Kingdom 46,053 2.90%

7 Pakistan 35,783 2.26%

8 Colombia 32,307 2.04%

9 Ukraine 31,676 2.00%

10 Bangladesh 29,607 1.87%

11 China 27,301 1.72%

EducationUSA.state.gov Link Source

# Source / MediumTotal Site Visits in 2013: 1,586,104

% of total visits

1 Google 306,344 25.38%2 direct 338,024 21.31%3 facebook.com 78,440 4.95%4 travel.state.gov 45,646 2.88%5 educationusa.org.br 29,670 1.87%6 educationusa.state.gov 17,732 1.12%7 usnews.com 17,204 1.08%8 m.facebook.com 15,669 0.99%9 ustraveldocs.com 15,641 0.99%10 studentaid.ed.gov 13,976 0.88%

EducationUSA Network By The Numbers

Top 10 EducationUSA-related Twitter feeds in the networkCountry Host Organization URL # followers Indonesia Embassy https://twitter.com/usembassyjkt 127733China EducationUSA http://weibo.com/educationusa 53188South Africa Embassy https://twitter.com/USEmbassySA 32354United Kingdom Embassy https://twitter.com/USAinUK 27210Japan Connect USA https://twitter.com/USConnect 26382Mexico Embassy https://twitter.com/USEmbassyMEX 23245Uganda Embassy https://twitter.com/usmissionuganda 17667Libya Embassy http://twitter.com/USAEmbassyLibya 13420Global EducationUSA http://twitter.com/EdUSAupdates 9352Madagascar Embassy https://twitter.com/USMadagascar 9136

Top 10 EducationUSA-related blogs in the networkCountry Host Organization URL # of blog page views China EducationUSA http://blog.sina.com.cn/educationusachina 481,261 Japan EducationUSA http://blog.livedoor.jp/educationusa/ 254,147 Mexico EducationUSA http://becaseducationusa.wordpress.com/ 25,519 Macedonia American Corner http://americancornersmacedonia.blogspot.com/ 12,431 Russia EducationUSA http://askanadviser.blogspot.ru/ 11,471 Japan Fulbright http://fj-news.net 7,663 Australia EducationUSA http://educationusaperth.blogspot.com 6,601 Ukraine EducationUSA http://edusa-ukraine.livejournal.com/ 3,356 Italy Fulbright http://fulbrightcommissionitaly.blogspot.com/ 1,267 Japan American Corner http://irckansai.tumblr.com 1,267