Having a social media presence is critical for promoting your school’s name and fostering connections with potential and current students, as well as alumni and supporters.
However, getting started might be a challenge.
This article is for you if you’re setting up your college’s social media accounts or developing a 2022 social media strategy for higher education. 10 social media tactics and case studies from colleges that are making an impact are presented here.
Observe what makes their content so effective and see if you can use some of their strategies in your own social media marketing.
1. Encouragement of Good Works and Accomplishments
Let everyone know what your school stands for. Higher education institutions use social media to set the tone on campus. Make a statement about the kind of school culture you want to foster.
Small purchases to life-changing decisions are all affected by value alignment. Get the word out that you’re a welcoming place for students, teachers, and partners. To that end, make it clear what kinds of behaviour are acceptable and what are not. Transmit messages like sustainability, community investment, and medical research advancements to alumni and current students to instill pride in their alma mater.
2. Reconnecting with Former Students and Colleagues to Increase Engagement
In many cases, alumni are the primary source of major support. Maintaining a presence on social media is a great way to keep in touch with your friends and family. Alumni relations are a common focus of college and university social media accounts. Alumni Facebook groups in other towns or countries may also be a nice option.
3. Leveraging the Power of User-Generated Content
It’s highly possible that your entire student body is creating social media content on a regular basis. A lot of real-world examples can be used to legitimately enhance your institution’s reputation.
Students can use a hashtag, such as #ILACPOV, to post their images. Use your official social media accounts to repost the finest ones.
Students who participate in contests on social media are more likely to post useful information. Motivating prizes like t-shirts bearing the insignia of your university are easy to come by. In addition, the university’s promotional clothing items are likely to pop up in future posts, further promoting the institution in an organic manner.
4. Showcase the Campus Life
In higher education, social media has become a popular tool.
It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of social media in higher education. Here are some of its most important applications in higher education.
58% of high school students use social media to evaluate college options, according to TargetX. One-seventeenth of respondents feel these sources have a huge impact on their decisions. Sixty-one percent of those polled think their social research has had some effect on their decisions.
Make it as simple as possible for pupils to imagine their futures at your school. Virtual tours and student takeovers are great ways to show off-campus life.
This should provide an overview of the various social activities that participants can participate in. Do a walk-around tour. Help them see the advantages of attending your college or university beyond just getting a degree.
5. Engage with Real-time Events
Crisis and emergency situations are something that no one wants to happen in their lives. Institutions must, however, make preparations for this possibility. The use of social media to get up-to-the-minute information is on the rise. Every crisis communication strategy must include social media.
Rumours spread quickly on the internet. Trends driven by college students are also something to keep an eye on. All of this necessitates the use of active social listening techniques in the classroom.
6. Think in Terms of Images
Adding additional photos is one of the fastest, easiest, and simplest ways to encourage increased engagement with your content. Twitter posts with images get 150% more retweets than those without, while Facebook posts with images get 2.3 times more engagement than those without. We’re visual creatures, and it shows in the numbers.
An infographic or photoshoot commissioned by a client isn’t cheap, and neither are other forms of creative visual content creation. There are several ways to obtain free visual content in this age of social media, like taking arty photos on cellphones and sharing other people’s work (so long as you have permission and give credit).
7. Use Video Content
On a typical day, people spend an average of 1.5 hours watching video content. More than seven out of ten people prefer video over text when learning about a product or service, and it’s not just Netflix and hilarious cat videos. Consider including a video tour of the campus on a page dedicated to providing comprehensive information. Most potential students will begin their research by watching the movie, so it is critical that it be prominently displayed.
However, YouTube is no longer the only place to watch videos. Since the introduction of Instagram TV, there has been a 53% increase in video interaction on Instagram. Make your video live, and you’ll see an exponential increase in activity. Facebook claims that live videos receive ten times the number of comments as pre-recorded ones.
8. Ask your Audience
Occasionally, the simplest solution is the best. Asking a question is a simple and effective approach to elicit a response and promote participation. There are times when it’s appropriate to return to basics on social media, whether it’s to promote an event or a recent award winner. You may, for example, ask existing students what their best advice is for surviving the first week of school. In addition to present students, future students will be interested in this as well.
Take Action: Show an interest in your audience by occasionally posing a question to them. This might be done through a Twitter poll, inquiring about their thoughts on a significant issue, or even just asking about their weekend plans.