Post on 31-Jul-2015
#Protips for Utilizing Social Media to Drive Engagement
Will Patch
Assistant Director of Admissions-Social Media Coordinator
IACAC Spring Congress 2015
If You Only Remember One Thing…
Social Media is a Dialogue, Not a Monologue
The 6 Questions
Why? The Data
What the Data Says
• 2014 E-Expectations Report and 2015 Social Admissions Report– About 1/3 say social media very
important in college search– Trends in preferred networks continuing
to shift quickly– Yield, not research
Facebook Twitter YouTube Pinterest Instagram
-6%
6%
26%
29%
33%
80% watched college videos
46% read student blogs
36% searched or tweeted hashtags
21% asked a question on social media
Case Study
• 10 institutional accounts• Collaborate for content• Monthly analysis of reach,
interactions, follower growth, and Natural Audience Ratio (NA)
12 Month DataFacebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Instagram
Followers 8,137 (31%) 3,194 (63%) 148,303 (317%) 103 1,212
2013 Reach(Interactions)
3,049,246 (208,186)
3,342,774 (4,505)
14,045,402 (252,381)
N/A N/A
12 mo. Reach(Interactions)
1,473,000(267,226)
7,355,000(7,858)
54,796,274(149,421)
31,605(266)
N/A(7,509)
Comparison 7th highest NA ratio in the state (50)
8th highest NA ratio in the state (49)
Highest NA ratio in the state (30)
13th highest NA ratio in the state (49)
5th highest NA ratio in the state (45)
Differentiation
Facebook – Content for parents and alumni. Congratulations, profiles, photo albums for events
Differentiation
Twitter – Campus updates, focused for students. Interacting with admitted students and media
Differentiation
Pinterest – Campus, study abroad, and event photos. Tangential information, scholarships
Differentiation
YouTube – Videos of campus events and student profiles
DifferentiationInstagram – Visuals of campus geared
towards students. Historic photos have done well
Differentiation
LinkedIn – Alumni and professional information
Tumblr – Blogs, photos, specialized content. Hosts content
Time is thebiggest cost
Where? Networks
You Don’t Need To Be Everywhere
You Need To Be Good Where You Are
The Big 5
If you can only be 1 place…
YouTube
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Network Usage
Higher Ed Students
Who is the Audience• Facebook
– 25-34, women, lower income and w/o a college degree
• YouTube– 18-24, men, more tech savvy
• Instagram– 18-24
• Twitter– 18-29, affluent suburbs, urban minorities
• Pinterest– College educated women under 50
• Photo/Video > Status > Links
• Focus on individuals does well
• Moderate well
• Post suppression
• Use Milestones
• Show campus and student life
• #NoFilter
• Regram
• Hashtags
• Viewed as news source
• Photos and infographics
• Interact and congratulate
• Hashtag campaigns
• High quality visual content
• Tangential information
• Always have links
• Themed boards
• High quality videos, don’t ignore audio
• Highlight student life
• Tag wisely
• Make good playlists
What? Content
Content is King
Take Chances and Stand Out
Visual Content Receives More Interactions
Use Student Stories
Coordinate with Major Events
Hashtags
Check usage first
Be unique
Have a plan
BigTips
Be Interactive
Don’tJustRe-post
CrossPromote
Quality > Quantity
Spellcheck
Have a Playbook and Review It
Make Students the Heroes
When? Timing
KnowThy
Audience
Parents:8:30
12:004:00
Students:11:003:00
8:00-
Don’t Overpost
Who? The Team
Photographer
Videographer
WriterStudents
Owning a camera or an iPhone does
not make someone a photographer.
Use professionals.
Strong writing
skills are a necessity
Unsilo
Collaborate
How? Tools
Hootsuite
Web-based scheduling
Free for limited features
Tagboard
Search any hashtag across all networks, can analyze sentiment
No account needed: tagboard.com/(your tag)
Likealyzer
Facebook analysis
Provides suggestions
Compares
Iconosquare
Analyze and regram Instagram photos
Namechk
Check usernames across range of networks before starting them
What has worked for you?
What questions can we answer?