A lot of people really like Sampson Community College. No, really, they do. For the past few years, the college has focused heavily on social media and website strategies in an effort to push the word out about events, new programs, features and inclement weather updates through its Facebook presence. The result has propelled the page to more than 6,000 “likes” and growing.

“It is exciting to see the following the college has on Facebook,” says Lisa Turlington, Dean of Advancement for SCC. “It shows that people want to read positive stories of good things happening in our community. Our page is also a place to learn about opportunities that provide training for jobs in and around Sampson County.”

Facebook is an American online social media and social networking service company and is considered one of the Big Four technology companies along with Amazon, Apple, and Google. The service can be accessed from devices with Internet connectivity, such as personal computers, tablets and smartphones. Facebook estimates that it had more than 2.3 billion monthly active users at the beginning of this year.

“Of course, any time we can find a way to get the message out about the great things we do here, we are going to capitalize on that,” says Dan Grubb, Public Information Officer for the college. “We have seen more than a thousand or so new ‘likes’ every year on this site the past few years and we are trying to accelerate that number. The more we have people that can see this information twenty-four-seven, the more we can keep costs down for effective advertising.”

A recent SCC Facebook post advertising a Job Fair to be held October 23^rd at the college

The ‘like’ feature enables users to easily interact with status updates, comments, photos and videos, links shared by friends, and advertisements by SCC. Once clicked by a user, the designated content appears in the News Feeds of that user’s friends. The button also displays the number of other users who have liked the content. This makes it easier for the college to spread its message faster and to a wider audience than just using contemporary advertising.

Michael Blankenship, Communications Coordinator at SCC agrees with the assessment that the site has made an impact. “A large portion of our new students discover Sampson Community College through word-of-mouth. In a Spring 2019 Graduate survey, a combined 59% of respondents say they discovered the school through conversations with friends/family members or high school counselors. When our audience discusses a news article they read, or a new initiative on campus, they are helping to expose a new generation of students to the wonderful programs that we offer.”

The college says that their Facebook page is the very first line of contact to the public when there is a weather-related event that impacts the college and urges users to like the college Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SampsonCommunityCollege as a result.