I went back to college Friday morning at a social media week event with seven students who have an interest in media and online engagement. It was moderated by Doug Akin, chief engagement officer of interactive marketing agency
Mr. Youth. Serving as a bit of a focus group, Akin asked the students, from New York University and the University of New Hampshire, about their preferences online, how they engage with companies, and what brands can do to attract fans and followers.
"It really doesn't do so much if you don't create constant connections," said Marc Geffen, a senior marketing major at NYU's Stern School of Business. "It has to provide you some type of added value." The students said that contests and sweepstakes, deals for products, and cause-marketing elements all attract them to interact with a brand online.
"We're engaged in giving back to the community and a lot of people got engaged in giving back promotions," added Cuauhtemoc Sandoval, also a senior at NYU's Stern School of Business, who highlighted the Chase Community Giving campaign on Facebook.
While the students admitted that tools such as Twitter and FourSquare are not mainstream among most college students, they use the sites to build up networks, particularly around future jobs and internships. Jessica Roy, a senior at NYU and editor-in-chief of campus news blog
NYU Local, explained how she was offered an internship by a Twitter follower who noticed she was looking. Roy also spoke about print vs. online reading habits, saying she reads mostly online because, "In terms of news content, our generation is very niche-oriented."