5 Social Media Strategies From Schools Doing It Right

Author: Patrick Whatman / Source: Business 2 Community

Colleges are big business. Schools have huge marketing teams
working full-time to build their brands. They’re looking for ways
to boost admissions, build their brands, and make their campuses
seem special.

Naturally, they’re turning to social marketing. You go where
your market is, of course, and college students are all over social
media.

That strategy is sound. Social media helps strengthen your
reputation, bring your community together, and even recruit
students.

But if everyone’s doing it, you need to do it well. So that you
can learn by example, we’ve rounded up some of the best schools on
social media, to figure out what makes them so good.

Let’s see what some of the best schools are doing on social
media.

1. Appeal to your college community

First of all, despite how badly you want to reach new students,
you can’t forget about the community you already have – your
current students. You want students to stay at your school, enjoy
their time, and come back to visit after they’ve graduated.

The obvious ways to do this are concerts, social events, and
sports games. But social media plays a role too. When students
connect with each other and share content, “school spirit” can
flourish.

How Baylor University does it

Despite not having a huge following,
Engagement Labs ranked Baylor
University as the number one Facebook among US colleges. Its
account receives more likes and comments per 1,000 followers than
any other school.

But how does Baylor get such a small audience so incredibly
engaged? The page has a very targeted, local focus, talking about
things their students are interested in. And in Texas, that means
college football:

Baylor also does a great job of engaging students about their
daily life. People go to Facebook to interact and share stories,
and Baylor’s content strategy encourages them to do so. Take this
blog post about
campus food:

The title makes readers feel a part of a special club: the
Baylor Bears. And the description includes a call to action to “let
us know,” inviting comments for more discussion.

Do it yourself

Post content that speaks directly to your community. This
includes:

• Students’ stories about their favorite memories
• Behind-the-scenes looks at sports and cultural events
• Questions and polls that matter to your students
• Content about what campus life is like

In terms of how you talk about these things, questions and
social calls-to-action that require a response in the form of a
comment is often the most engaging.

2. Find interesting local content

That sense of “community” mentioned can extend beyond the
university itself and into the actual physical community.
Especially in small college towns where the town and the university
go hand-in-hand. In these cases, sharing news and images from the
area can make the town look like a wonderful place to spend your
college years, serving as a great recruiting tool.

Let’s see that in practice.

How University of Chester does it

Based in a small town near Liverpool, Northwest England, the
University of Chester
doesn’t have the same brand recognition as Oxford or Cambridge. And
yet, social media grader EduRank has named its social media
presence the 10th best
among British universities.

Chester places an emphasis on sharing content about small-town
life in and around its campus. That includes DJs from Game of
Thrones, and ducks:

A big well done to @BioSciChester student Pete
Mikulin who rescued a family of ducks from @ChesterRevs @ChesterChron https://t.co/0nGjrVF36W

To find that engaging content, Chester’s social media team uses

media monitoring to listen for fun and interesting stories
about the town.

Do it yourself

• Track keywords like your school’s name and the name of your
  town.
• Watch for interesting stories related…

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