Many colleges have taken the first step towards optimizing social media channels in 2018. They are working with an in-house team or a digital marketing agency. However, covering basics will no longer help. When colleges tell me we have tried digital and it does not help, all I can do is smile. Posting mindlessly 5 times a week on Facebook is not a social media strategy! Ideally, each platform you maintain should be unique. Content posted on Facebook shouldn’t be shared on Instagram. Understanding what the users use the platform for and to connect with them meaningfully should be your goal. However, there is a massive cost associated with this and it isin’t always feasible to manage several unique platforms, so, you need to choose your battles. Let’s see how the students engage with Social Media to get a clear picture as to where you need to focus first.
In our analysis, we found that social media usage will continue to grow and hit 258.27 million users by 2019 in India of which
Indian teenagers are most active on Whatsapp and Facebook as a platform still is the preferred Social Platform. Instagram is becoming more popular with urban and rich Indian teenagers and is becoming a potent platform to attract that niche.
If not download our whitepaper (Click on the link above) which has a dedicated chapter on Whatsapp Marketing to generate admission leads and no it does not suggest spamming random contacts as a strategy!
Distribution of content and not content will be taken up more seriously. With all Social Platforms taking a zero organic route, it will be important to learn, optimize and manage content distribution.
Video: The power of moving images has already caught up with the social media ecosystem as more and more people are turning to live podcasting and user generated video content for their social engagements. If you are still stuck only on images, you are falling behind.
The rise of narrative led and relevant content: The social media content strategy of the most followed accounts on Instagram (National Geographic and Nike) is based on a single common principle of creating compelling, share worthy content that stays with the user. One great thing to note is Nike uses videos, however, NatGeo narrates its stories through stunning visuals! What does this mean for colleges? When was the last time your digital marketing agency or team created a post or a plan which created an organic buzz amongst the students?
Let’s have a look at the account of university of Iowa, whose Facebook Page in 2018 made tremendous progress and was recognized by several agencies. Their Facebook page is a beautiful mix of great short videos and beautifully captured images of the campus and moments. From the video compilation of the Fresher’s day speech to the moving in pictures and class day images.
The power of user generated content (UGC): Most brands are trying hard to engage their customers to a point where they start developing their own content for the brand. The good news is that User generated Content should come naturally to educational institutions. It is the natural tendency of students, faculty and alumni to share pictures of various events and campus life with their friends and followers. User generated posts on Instagram and Facebook yield higher engagement than the regular college posts. Some of the most engaging post varieties include UGC led contests, polls and discussions on a topic on common interes
Zero in on influencers who will not only drive awareness but ROI too. Start the search for students/faculty who are naturally popular or have embraced social media over the years. Leverage their popularity. Marketers should develop strategies around these assets in order to generate awareness in the social media space.
Go digital with your School Fests and Programs: When inviting students from across colleges for annual fests look to incorporate competitions which involve participants going online. It can be a quiz, debat or musical competition. Change the flavour of the game. Instead of having a western music show, you should be giving out awards for the best music video ( share it beforehand, garner engagement which holds 50% of points) Finally the participant performs the song during the fest. This integration of activities will turn your Brand Pages into a powerhouse.
Live Streaming: Are you hosting a talk show on campus? Is an industry leader coming to the talk show? Is there is a topic which the professors of the college completely nail? Go live with the event. Let the World experience the college and start dreaming of becoming a part of a global community.
Measurement: Colleges often mindlessly spend a lot of money on admission procedures through advertisements without any attention to budgeting. The need of the hour is to have sound marketing models in order to predict the number of queries.
One-to-one communication: having a one to one channel for communication on the website/ facebook/whatsapp will become ever more important. With information required now at finger tips most students prefer quicker resolution of their queries.
All and all marketing whether digital or traditional needs an actionable plan with set goals. Every time you post on Instagram or Facebook without any guideline it is a waste of your money and time. More importantly it is a waste of your target audiences time. What is even worse is that all social platforms understand this and will make sure your content is not visible to anyone if they see you consistently posting drab content that no one wants to interact with.
December - 20,2018 | Posted by: Iosignite
