Análisis y evolución de los gabinetes de comunicación digitales de las universidades privadas de la Comunidad de Madrid.Estudio de casos, aplicación práctica estratégica y potencial de futuro.

Abstract

Among the main challenges faced by the private university education sector in Spain is the good use of new technologies and social networks within its marketing strategy. The high competition, the increase of new institutions (the number of centres has increased fivefold in 20 years) and the constant appearance of new communication tools have forced private universities to be present in most of the existing social networks in order to get more students and strengthen their brand. This thesis aims to identify the strategies used in social media by Spanish private universities to check the degree of implementation in the digital environment, and more specifically, the strategies used in the 11 private universities in the Community of Madrid. Methodology: The methodological design was based on descriptive, exploratory, correlational and comparative research. This research has encompassed the simultaneous use of both quantitative and qualitative methods through a bibliometric analysis, a netnographic analysis, surveys, interviews, questionnaires and case studies. Results: The results reveal a clear involvement of universities in the social media environment in recent years; however, the research shows that most of the communication offices do not allocate the necessary resources (equipment, time and budget) for good management and planning of digital communication. Nevertheless, this analysis also revealed a positive trend in the students' vision of university social networks. Furthermore, the correct use of digital communication only through creative and quality content in university institutions is a cornerstone for improving relations with their target audience and for achieving more traffic and followers. Conclusions: This research confirms the gradual adaptation that the digital communication offices of private universities are still undergoing as a result of the rise of social networks. Even so, this communication strategies has some weaknesses: a multipurpose profile, a shortage of human resources, the absence of alignment between offline and online communication policies, a lack of economic resources and a weak commitment to social networks, such as TikTok. Therefore, having a presence in the different social media profiles sometimes does not generate optimal performance if the strategies are not aligned with the objectives proposed by each of the university institutions and if the necessary resources are not used.