Social media marketing of Islamic higher education institution in Indonesia: a marketing mix perspective

Islamic higher education (IHE) and non-religious/general higher education (GHE) are the largest forms of higher education institution in Indonesia. IHE has utilized social media as a primary marketing channel in inter-university competitions. This study aims to (1)investigate the performance of Facebook (FB) and Instagram (IG) marketing and (2) understand FB and IG content from the point of view of marketing mix strategy. This study employs content analysis to comprehensively investigate the content disseminated across the Facebook pages and Instagram accounts of all state-IHE within Kalimantan Island, Indonesia, from January 2020 to June 2023. The engagement rate indicates the performance level of FB and IG marketing. The engagement rates on Facebook are audited utilizing https://app.sproutsocial.com, while the Instagram accounts are assessed through https://phlanx.com/engagement-calculator. FB and IG content is coded and analysed descriptively quantitatively to answer research questions. The findings revealed that engagement on FB and IG must still meet engagement rate standards. IHE has implemented the marketing mix elements, including product, price, place, promotion, people, physical evidence, and process. There was an imbalance in the percentage distribution of these elements. The people/personnel element dominated the Instagram posts, while the process element was prominent in the Facebook pages posts. The theoretical contribution of this study is IHE social media marketing theory. The study recommends to IHE to manage social media systematically by posting content that includes marketing mix elements in a balanced manner. Therefore, future studies can focus on the effect of SMM on IHE enrolment in the Indonesia context.