10+ Ways to Boost Social Media Marketing for Higher Education

Fortunately, you have many digital marketing options to reach potential applicants where they spend lots of their time: social media.

These channels help your college or university connect with potential students, show them what sets you apart from your competitors, and encourage them to apply to your programs. And although you may be familiar with some of the more common online strategies, like SEO and PPC, social media marketing is an underutilized channel that lets you build relationships with your prospective students.

To learn more, keep reading, and give us a call at 888-601-5359.

Why social media marketing matters for universities

All digital marketing strategies get your college or university in front of potential applicants. Many of these strategies focus on reaching users as they research their options on search engines like Google.

With social media, however, you have the opportunity to reach prospective students where they already spend time online. Considering that 71% of adults with Internet access use social media, you can be sure that your target audience is on these platforms.

Beyond its large audience, though, social media’s biggest advantage for marketers is that it engages potential applicants in a two-way conversation. Unlike traditional advertising channels, which simply let you broadcast information, social media platforms allow you to talk directly to possible students.

The casual nature of most social media platforms also means that you can use them to show an informal side of your institution. Since you need to convince potential applicants to spend a few years attending your institution, showing that side of you can go a long way.

10+ ways to use social media marketing for your college

Learn how to get better results from social media marketing for your college with this compilation of our team’s most effective tips for educational institutions.

1. Use multiple platforms

For your college social media strategy to be successful, you’ll want to start off on the right foot by creating accounts on multiple platforms. Don’t set up a Twitter account and let that be your sole social media presence.

You don’t necessarily have to create accounts for every social media platform on the face of the planet — particularly if you don’t have the time or resources to manage them all — but you should use at least a few of them if you can.

Here are a few of the best social media platforms to take advantage of:

1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Instagram
4. Snapchat
5. Pinterest
6. YouTube

2. Create separate accounts

On top of using multiple platforms, you might also benefit from having multiple accounts on each of those platforms. That doesn’t mean you should create duplicate accounts, though. Rather, consider creating separate accounts for separate organizations and departments.

If your college is exceptionally small, this may not be necessary. But for larger colleges, you most likely have a variety of groups and departments, from your music department to your football team.

Those entities are fairly distinct, so it doesn’t always make the most sense for them to share an account. People who want to keep up with your football team may not care about what your symphonic winds ensemble is performing this weekend. Consider separate accounts for each.

Take Auburn University, for example. While the university does have one overall Twitter account for the broadest information, it also has individual accounts for a great many departments, from Parking Services to the marching band.

3. Show off your campus

One of the defining features of a college is its campus. Campus is where students will spend a significant amount of their time during the next two, four, or even eight years, so they’ll naturally want to attend a college whose campus is pleasant.

That means a good marketing tactic is to show off the best parts of your own campus, and social media for colleges is a great place to do that. Feature campus photos in your posts whenever you can to present a positive view of your school.

4. Interact with users

Social media in higher education requires interacting with your followers to help them get familiar with your college. Students expect a personalized experience when they attend your college, and you can’t convey that from behind generic ads and campus photos.

When you get a chance to interact with your followers, don’t pass it by. Whether it be responding to a comment or answering a question, there are plenty of ways you can engage with your audience and let them feel heard.

5. Promote events

Another great way to use social media marketing for colleges is to promote events on your campus. Whether it be a basketball game, a speaking event, or a concert, social media is an excellent tool for getting the word out.

Sometimes this could involve simply posting graphics advertising the event. Other times, though, it could entail offering special deals on tickets or encouraging users to post photos of themselves at the event.

6. Use student guides

While prospective students will listen to administrators about your college, it can be hard for those administrators to accurately convey what the student experience is like there. You know who’s better at conveying it, though? Actual students.

You can use your social media platform to post videos or promote events where select students act as guides to various aspects of student life at your college. It provides prospective students with a first-hand account of what it’s like to be a student on your campus.

7. Connect with alumni

Bringing in prospective students is the main goal of your marketing, but they aren’t the only people that matter. Your alumni want to feel a connection to their alma mater, and you should welcome that. Even from a purely financial standpoint, alumni are often valuable donors.

To that end, use social media as a way to connect with your former students. Keep them updated on what’s going on with their old organizations and professors, and maybe even feature stories about where some of them are now.

8. Share testimonials

Following in line with the previous two points, testimonials are yet another great use of social media for colleges. You can talk up your college all day long, but prospective students will likely take your opinion with a grain of salt.

But when former and current students alike are talking about how much they love attending your school, that sends a much stronger message. If you can get several of your students and alumni to submit statements or videos recommending your college, they’ll make great posts to share on your social media.

9. Post campus alerts

Despite your best efforts to prevent them, emergencies sometimes happen on campus. It can be anything from hazardous weather to road closures to fires.

Whatever it is, you’ll occasionally need to inform all your students quickly and efficiently of the danger. And what better tool for doing that than social media?

Given how much time most of your students probably spend on social media, having an account dedicated to sending out alerts is a highly efficient way to get the word out.

10. Harness user-generated content

Social media marketing for higher education can be a lot of work. Sometimes you just need to sit back and take a break from creating new content — but that doesn’t mean your marketing has to stop!

One of the best marketing strategies you can use is to simply harness the power of user-generated content. Sometimes this will happen naturally — if you see a student post something with a lot of school spirit, you can simply repost it.

Other times, you can generate fresh user content on your own by simply encouraging students to use a specific hashtag to promote an event.

11. Live-stream events

If there’s a cool event happening on your campus, you can use social media to do more than just tell people about it. You can live stream the event itself — whether in its entirety or only in part — for everyone to see.

You can approach this casually by pulling out a phone and recording like a regular social media user, or you can set up a professional camera and generate a high-quality stream.

Either way, letting people get a peek at your swim team competition or marching band performance can inspire students to visit future events on your campus or even attend your school.

12. Maintain a consistent brand

Social media marketing is a great tool to make people aware of your brand, but you have to make sure that brand is consistent. While your basketball and fine arts accounts might have different content, they should still convey the same voice on behalf of the university.

Even if you only use one account, you may have a team of different people that manage that account, and those people might be prone to use different voices. Make sure everything conforms to a shared standard.

To this end, it might be a good idea to create a style guide. Can you use emojis? Do you have to conform to any grammar and capitalization standards? Having everyone follow these social media guidelines for your university can do a lot for your brand.

13. Play to specific platform strengths

It’s good to use multiple social networks for universities rather than only using one platform, but you shouldn’t treat all those platforms the same. Different platforms are optimal for different tasks and tend to target different audiences.

While you might post the same message on two separate platforms, you might still need to convey it differently on each platform. On Facebook, for example, you might make a single post with a long piece of information, whereas on Twitter you might break it up across multiple tweets, or make one tweet with a link to the longer piece of content.

For best results, come up with a plan for how you intend to use your account on each platform.

14. Engage with your audience

When it comes to universities, people are often looking for connection. Prospective students are looking for somewhere that conveys a sense of community, and alumni are looking to keep in touch with their alma mater.

To make that connection happen for your audience, make sure to engage with them through your social networks. Leave positive comments on their user-generated content, and answer questions from people who may comment on your social posts.

How to use different social media platforms to reach prospective students

There are many platforms available to social media marketers today, and all of them have their place in an effective strategy for colleges and universities.

They also require a slightly different approach to attracting and engaging prospective students.

Here are some of the most common platforms, with a few tips on how to use them for your college or university.

Facebook

As the most popular social network, Facebook is a great starting point for any social media marketing strategy. If you haven’t yet set up a business page for your college or university, do that as soon as you can.

You can use Facebook to share news about your school, links to media coverage, information on your website, and photos of your campus.

Each of these posts has their place in your strategy, but in general, visual content tends to work better than text-only posts. So as you start using Facebook, prioritize photos, videos, and other visually interesting content.

Facebook is also a great place to highlight the achievements of your faculty and students. Did one of your professors recently publish new research in their field? Are your alumni advancing their careers with exciting new jobs? Sharing this information with potential students can build confidence in the quality of the education they’d receive at your school.

With every new post, your goals should be to inform and engage your audience. Ideally, some of them will leave comments and questions in return. This is where you have the biggest opportunity to connect with your followers.

Respond to all comments in a timely manner and include links to additional resources on your website where relevant. When you show prospective students that you’re dedicated to answering their questions before they ever even set foot on campus, you leave a positive, lasting impression on them.

In addition to all the benefits Facebook offers for free, its advertising features are great for colleges and universities because of their advanced targeting options. You can select your audience based on age, location, interests, and behaviors, so you can be sure that your advertisements are reaching people interested in your institution.

Twitter

Much like Facebook, Twitter allows you to connect with your audience in a less formal manner than most advertising channels. But unlike almost every other platform, it requires you to do so in 280 characters or fewer per post (or “tweet”).

As a result, Twitter’s most common use is sharing links to interesting content. In the case of your college or university, these links could be to information on your own site, coverage of your school, student highlights, or faculty news.

Many of Twitter’s users voice their opinions and ask questions, too. In this way, it’s almost become an extension of many brands’ customer service strategies — and your college can use it similarly.

If prospective students have questions about your application process or programs, they may take to Twitter to get quick, easy responses from you. And if you’re there to answer them with helpful information, you establish a positive relationship before they even apply.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is different from other social networks because it’s specifically designed for professional use. While your prospective students may not yet use it regularly, it’s a great way to boost your school’s reputation in the professional world.

You can use it similarly as Facebook and Twitter, but with a focus on faculty and alumni achievements. This is an easy way to get employers interested in your graduates and an effective way to keep alumni in the loop about what’s happening on campus.

Instagram

Because Instagram is a photo-based platform, it’s excellent for sharing visual content related to your school. You can use it to post images of your campus, events, students, and anything else related to your programs.

Although it may not seem to offer many advantages over other social networks, it’s important to note that 90% of Instagram’s 500 million users are under the age of 35. It’s one of the best places to be when you want to reach high school students between 17 and 19 who want to discover their next step in life.

Optimize your college social media strategy with WebFX

Still, having trouble figuring out the intricacies of social media marketing for schools? WebFX can help you get it all sorted.

With over 500 client testimonials, we have all the expertise and commitment to boost your social media campaign to new heights. We can set up your accounts, manage your social media ad campaigns, create scheduled posts, and so much more.

We won’t just give your account a once-over and call it a day, either — we’ll stick with you for the long haul to keep everything constantly up-to-date and optimized for maximum lead generation.

To get started with us, just call us at 888-601-5359 or contact us online today!

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