Social media should play an important role in every college’s marketing endeavors.
The right social media strategies can bring your school to the attention of scores of prospective students, as well as their parents.
So, if your current approach to social media marketing – provided, of course, you have one – has failed to produce the desired results, there’s no time like the present to make some improvements.
Colleges looking to step up their social media game can benefit from the following advice.
Post Regular Updates
If building awareness for your school is the goal, infrequent updates aren’t going to do you any favors. To help ensure that your school remains on the radar of prospective students and other interested parties, it’s in your best interest to update each of your accounts on a daily basis.
Keep in mind, however, that the ideal number of daily posts varies by platform. For example, when it comes to platforms that are built for long-form posts – like Facebook and Instagram – one or two daily updates should be sufficient.
Conversely, platforms that are geared towards shorter-form posts – like Twitter – should receive three or more updates per day.
If you don’t think you have the creativity or bandwidth to craft multiple posts for each of your school’s social media accounts on a daily basis, you take solace in the fact that many posts can be used across multiple platforms.
As such, you needn’t worry about creating platform-specific posts with any degree of regularity.
Regularly Interact with Followers
For many social media users, the ability to effortlessly pose questions to celebrities, brands and assorted public figures is among the main draws of their favorite platforms.
With this in mind, make a point of interacting with followers – and commenters – on a consistent basis. For example, if someone presents you with a query or concern via social media, you’d do well to provide them with an answer or direct them to someone who can.
Interacting with followers in a courteous and professional manner will effectively show people that you’re approachable and transparent, effectively bolstering the reputation of your school.
You should also avoid getting into arguments with social media users or adopting a combative tone when addressing queries.
This will make people less apt to take an interest in your school and potentially even get the school smeared on social media. So, regardless of how irritating you find a certain question or comment, take care to maintain your school.
Some people enjoy goading others into arguments on social media, and by taking the bait, you’ll be playing right into their hands.
Should you receive any needlessly insulting comments or outright threats via social media, report them to the site’s security team instead of offering up a personal response.
Reach Out to a Knowledgeable Marketing Agency
If your school’s social media marketing – or any other facet of its overall marketing strategy – could use an injection of fresh energy, you’d be wise to get in touch with an experienced higher education marketing agency.
The right marketing agency will be able to show you the ins and outs of a wide assortment of marketing disciplines, refine your current strategies, create new strategies and alter your course as needed.
For best results, look for agencies that have ample experience working with schools like yours and a proven track record of success.
Recruit a Dedicated Social Media Manager
If you don’t have the time or energy to oversee all of your school’s social media endeavors, consider recruiting a dedicated social media manager.
As you’ve probably inferred from the title, this individual will be responsible for overseeing every aspect of your school’s social media strategy.
Among other things, this entails crafting engaging posts, interacting with following, determining the best times of day to post new content and identifying areas for improvement.
Social media can be a powerful marketing tool for colleges – provided, of course, it’s utilized in the proper manner.
In the absence of experience with the web’s most popular social platforms, you’re liable to have a difficult time using said platforms to your school’s fullest advantage.
Fortunately, getting your social media game firmly on track doesn’t have to be an uphill battle.
With the aid of the pointers outlined above, building awareness for your school through social media should be well within your abilities.