Northlink College’s social media booms

Tracey Daniels and Tamlyn Speelman from Northlink College thanks the College’s more than 2000 followers.

In recent times, social media has become rapidly popular in both business and personal life today. Technology is ever-growing and in order to stay ahead Northlink College had to change the primitive way of doing business and communication to a more modern approach in which they can satisfy their clients’ ever changing needs.

With the inception of smartphones and applications, not only the personal lives of humans have changed, but also the way businesses communicate with their clients and this is why social media has become so significant.
Over the past 10 years, Northlink has realised that it needs to become more accessible to its students. Being on a variety of social media platforms such as Facebook, twitter and YouTube, the College can now market and communicate more effectively with the students.

Says Rene Bonzet, HoD: Communications, Marketing and Advancement: “We have seen how the need for a bigger online presence has grown and what impact effective online communication on these social media platforms can have for an educational institution.”
The College recently had its 2000th Facebook Fanpage “LIKES” which is a great accomplishment for an FET College and it means that Northlink now has the opportunity to communicate to more than 2000 people at one time including their friends.
“Now Northlink is able to instantly offer students advice on courses, to inform and remind them of all events that take place at Northlink. It simply acts as the link between the College, campuses and the client, adds Bonzet.
According to recent statistics the majority of people now own and use their mobile phones to gain access to the internet and social media with the help of smartphones.
In addition to the 2000 Facebook Fans on its fanpage, Northlink College has a Twitter handle that has more than 515 twitter followers and recently launched their YouTube Channel that currently has seven videos on the playlist.
“All these platforms will enable us to have a more direct and personal relationship with our customers as well as help with our online reputation management due to the ‘immediacy’ of the medium,” says Ivan Swart, Internal Communication and Events Practitioner about why social media is important.
Since the inception of the Northlink College Facebook Page in 2010 in three years they have now reached more than 2000 fans on Facebook, and this number is growing every day.