Wondering what Gen Z are doing when they are not dying their hair blue or binge-watching shows on Netflix during the lockdown?
Perhaps, making important decisions on which schools to attend?
We hope so.
At the time of writing this article, the world was amid a global pandemic depriving many students of taking the much-awaited campus tours. However, thanks to social media, they still had the option of touring the campus through pictures and videos on the universities’ social media pages.
This is just one of many instances of how social media can act as an indispensable resource for the student and alumni community. Schools and universities would be advised to spend a little extra time on social to attract and engage more students.
Let’s dive into how the academic world can benefit from social media.
1. Drive enrollment
Given that social media and technology have become an integral part of our daily lives, the obvious place for students to look up for information on what schools and universities have to offer is—duh—social media.
A simple tap on their five-inch screen is all that it takes to get the information they want.
For instance, Instagram is the place of choice when students want a visual treat of campus life. Snapshots of the residence halls, classrooms, celebrations, and outdoor strolling spaces give students a glimpse into what life at a university is like that pique their interest when deciding the school of choice.
View this post on InstagramRiding scooters across the Yard⠀ ⠀ #HarvardinWinter⠀ ⠀ Photo by @aaron_america
Looking at your Twitter feed filled with the news of your latest achievements and your breakthrough in the fields of research would make any prospective student want to be a part of your stellar institution.
.@StanfordEng professor Andrea Goldsmith has become the first woman to win the Marconi Prize, shattering a glass ceiling in the field of telecommunications. https://t.co/p0wW150hlq
— Stanford University (@Stanford) April 30, 2020
2. Build a community
Social media need not necessarily be considered for just marketing and advertising purposes. And there’s more to it than just memes and cute cat videos.
Social media has the innate ability to connect and communicate with a target audience and build relationships.
What you need to achieve on social is to build a community that is passionate about what you do and say on social.
Posting about sports events, recent developments in research, videos of lectures, and highlighting the work of your associates, students, and faculty, are just some of the ways to promote your brand and nurture a feeling of community with your audience.
3. Establish your thought leadership
Establishing yourself as an industry expert will give you more visibility and credibility. What you want to achieve is for people to come to you, not just for your services but also for the information you empower people with through social media.
Yale technology is giving astronomers a closer look at a distant planet belonging to a class called “hot Jupiters” — so hot that the air contains vaporized metals.https://t.co/2ztZZyB18d
— Yale University (@Yale) May 9, 2020
Sharing your research studies and discoveries on social media is a way of advertising your university as a thought leader in the field of research and academia.
A Harvard team led by Raj Chetty has developed a tool to help policymakers respond nimbly to the fast-moving financial crisis https://t.co/5nUf0VrWoU
— Harvard University (@Harvard) May 11, 2020
4. Promote your brand
Whether it is a tweet of your sports team winning the championship title or an Instagram post of your beautiful campus during winter, an effective brand promotion on social media will help you reach prospective students and drive enrollment.
First-year Stanford student Marcelo Peña is working with a team of researchers in his home country or Peru to develop a low-cost ventilator to treat #COVID19 patients. https://t.co/3fXW5I85Ff
— Stanford University (@Stanford) April 30, 2020
Brand promotion not just increases brand awareness but also brings a personality to your brand that piques the interest of prospective students to discover what your school has to offer.
5. Engage with students
Getting your own students to take the social media spotlight is a great way to boost student engagement.
A lot of universities ask their own students to give a virtual tour of their campus on social media in the form of YouTube videos or Instagram and Snapchat stories.
By doing so, prospective students get a better and more relatable insight into campus life.
You can also repurpose student-generated content to give your social media channels a different perspective and angle that you may have missed.
Final Thoughts
Gone are the days when social media was just considered as a distraction to students.
Today, social media has proven to enhance learning, increase student and faculty engagement, and enable smooth communication.
As for schools and universities, social media is the perfect avenue to raise their school’s profile for students, alumni, and the social community.
Social media is a competitive environment. Hence, it is important for higher education marketers to experiment, track, and analyze which content strategy is the most effective for them.