#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…

Pinterest

Twitter

Instagram

YouTube

Facebook

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?