Building a Social Media Presence for a College or University
By Ginger Abbot
Social media has grown in popularity with over 3.6 billion users, so it’s an excellent marketing tool. Many colleges have a social media presence to attract new students. That's why it's important to make your social media page stand out. Here are seven strategies for building a social media strategy for your university.
1. Decide on Your Overall Goal
The first step to making a successful social media page is having a goal in mind. Do you want to gain more followers or encourage students to visit the campus? Depending on your answer you will use different strategies. Suppose you want to encourage more undergraduates to come to the college. Then you might post more information about upcoming open houses.
Once you determine your goal, assign each team member their specific role. For example, who will create an editorial calendar? Having a solid plan ensures everyone is on the same page and builds a more cohesive brand.
2. Develop Audience Personas
Creating these is a good tip for how to build a social media strategy for colleges or universities.
An audience persona is when you create specific character types for your audience. For example, you could create a first-generation or transfer student persona. Make sure you create ones relevant to your target audience.
The first step is to research your audience and learn things like age, location and interest. You can collect these from online tools, such as Google Analytics. In addition, understand their pain points and how you can help. For example, is college harder to afford for your persona? Consider ways you could highlight financial opportunities with your posts.
3. Know How to Track Your Progress
To know if you’re successful, make specific goals. Start by defining your key performance indicators (KPI), such as the number of new students or growth in social media traffic. These help to track your progress and measure performance over time. To monitor your KIP you need to establish a measure, target, data source and reporting frequency. Many companies rely on analytical tools to measure this data, such as Sprout Social.
4. Get Students Involved
Involving undergraduates is ??how to build a social media strategy for a college brand. Many undergraduates want to see people they know and can connect with. It can also personalize the page for prospective students already overwhelmed with information. Plus, it’s always nice to see content from people who are experiencing the same things as you are.
In addition, add some stories about how certain people or clubs are helping out the community. For example, highlight any impressive undergraduate research and its current outcomes.
5. Automate Certain Tasks
Automating tasks frees up your time to focus on other important projects, such as defining your marketing strategy. You can use technology, like content management systems (CMS), which allow you to schedule content to different platforms. Try to automate repetitive tasks, like scheduling and posting. When choosing a CMS consider factors like ease of use, design flexibility and data portability.
6. Do a Digital Take Over
This is where you select one student to take over the account and walk through a day. It can create fresh and authentic content. They can then post pictures from their campus activities or athletic practices. You may even have undergraduates take over from abroad. It can help showcase the different study abroad programs the university offers. Be sure to discuss with the person the rules for the day and review the content before posting.
7. Develop a Hashtag For Your College
Hashtags are common for many social media platforms, such as Twitter or Instagram. Creating a hashtag unique to your school can get your posts more attention. Come up with one that showcases the college's brand and is easy to use.
Then encourage other students to post with it and get their friends involved. They can use the hashtag to share acceptance letters or talk about campus events. For example, someone could go to a trivia night with friends and post #collegelife.
How to Build a Social Media Strategy for a College Brand
Part of advertising in this digital age is social media. Like other companies, colleges need a social media presence to attract prospective students. So follow these tips for building a social media strategy for your university.
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