One of the biggest challenges of being a Higher Education Communication Professional can be tackling your department’s social media strategy. This is especially true if your department has separate social media channels that are not the university’s main platforms for social media communication.
Use the tips below to increase brand awareness and student engagement on your higher ed’s department’s social media platforms.
- Create opportunities for social media brand awareness and encourage engagement offline. Include your department hashtag and social media handles as the footer on your department PowerPoint Presentations, email signatures, light pole banners, tent, and all marketing collateral. It’s important to let students, alumni, parents, and faculty know that you take social media seriously and are eager to engage.
- Use social media listening software to identify social media influencers online who may already be following you or using school associated hashtags. You never know what reposting or tagging them in your social media content can do to increase awareness and engagement.
- Create a Student Digital Ambassador Program. Create a formal Student Digital Ambassador Program that allows students to create content and contribute to social media campaign ideas.
- Use IG Stories and Highlights to Engage and Inform Students. Use Instagram stories to get student feedback on everything from pending student programs to what kind of furniture to purchase for the new student center. Use IG Highlights to create a Services or Programs Highlight so that there is always information on your IG page about how students can get help from your departments’ resources.
- Create Student-Driven Content. Students will only engage with content they feel reflects their needs and personality. Make sure the content you share does a great job of uplifting student voices and providing content that helps them improve the quality of their experience at your university. See how we worked with Emory University’s Campus Life Department to create student-driven social media campaigns.
Interested in working with OSM around your university’s social media strategy? Contact us today to schedule a call.