The Use of Online Marketing and Social Media in Higher Education Institutions in Romania

For a very long period of time, universities were institutions that offered education to those who could meet their prescribed entry criteria and were operating in a supply-side market, which meant that their marketing efforts were limited to a few actions, and the communication efforts were unidirectional. The diverse changes in the global environment had a direct impact over higher education institutions and forced them to rethink their general strategy and to tailor their marketing efforts in order to better suit the student-customer information and communication needs. The changed approach was mandatory for universities survival in a demand-side market. This change implied that universities undertook organizational changes meant to transform them in more market oriented institutions and that communication with target groups became a priority. Online environment offers universities various marketing instruments designed to fulfill their needs to provide accurate and up-to-date information and to have a two-way communication with their target groups, whether they are current or prospective students. Social media proves to be an unlimited resource of instruments for higher education institutions to get closer to their public. This article aims to analyze the use of online marketing and social media strategies applied by universities in Romania, both public and private. The survey was conducted on 56 public universities and 55 private universities and aimed to examine the universities websites and social media involvement.