Status Report of Rutgers Comprehensive Communications ...

explore opportunities for partnership among university units.
The task force recommended guidelines and training to assist university
divisions interested in utilizing social media as a part of their marketing and
communications strategies.
An outcome of both the launch of Rutgers Today and the Social Media
Task Force was the creation of an official Rutgers University Facebook page
[facebook.com/pages/New-Brunswick-Newark-and-Camden/Rutgers-
University/172636137574]. The page has helped disseminate information about
the university and promote Rutgers Day, which also has its own Facebook page.
Rutgers Speakers Bureau Expanded
Rutgers Speakers Bureau focused on making faculty profiles more appealing,
updating the data on the website, and developing new avenues of outreach to
the public. The target audience was expanded to include:
libraries and historical societies;
middle schools and high schools;
local community groups and grassroots organizations;
churches and synagogues;
senior citizen communities and community centers;
regional chamber of commerce groups; and
alumni groups.
Since May 1, 2007, the website has attracted more than 10,000 visitors from 83
countries, with an average of 264 visits per month. The source of the visits were:
67% from search engines (Google, Yahoo, uhr.rutgers.edu);
18% direct traffic; and
14% from referring sites (links).
Negotiating Reduced Advertising Rates Leverages
University Resources
University Relations continued to build relationships with media outlets and with university
units that place advertising. Its success in negotiating significantly reduced contract rates for
media buys resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings
to the university, making it affordable for units to collaborate on
media placements.
The university scaled back its institutional advertising due to
budget constrictions, but took advantage of “sale” pricing to
keep the Rutgers brand visible to the New Jersey public.
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