How to Leverage Social Media Platforms for Higher Education Marketing

With social media platforms becoming the norm for daily use, the way people consume information is also changing.

While this requires some adaptation, it can be extremely beneficial for marketers in the education sector. With good implementation, higher education social media marketing can help create online communities, engage more students, and build a positive reputation.

Here are five content related social media marketing strategies that can be used by colleges and universities to increase reach and engagement through their social channels.

Start an education marketing campaign

A social media campaign is an effort aimed at increasing awareness as well as generating engagement from a target audience.

A full-fledged campaign on social media is different from the usual content posting. It needs a more strategic approach and focuses on a specific goal across all social media channels.

The user generated content

An under-utilized method to improve communication and interaction with potential students is to allow existing students or alumni to get involved with or on your social media channels.

Students are already very active on social media platforms, making user-generated content easy to promote and share. For instance, you can create a hashtag for your institution or for major events that are taking place with your participation.

Encourage students to use these hashtags and allow for your school community to build itself. Feature interesting posts, content or individuals on the institution’s official page.

Create social media groups

Social media groups fit higher education institutions like a glove. These are great for connecting with the right audience, as well as enable an exchange of experiences between previous, existing and potential students.

You can also have separate groups that cater to smaller audiences within the university community such as club groups, sports groups, groups for parents of students.

Post audience-specific content

Every social media strategy should focus on delivering relevant and engaging content. Therefore, university social media managers can also consider getting separate accounts for different aspects of university life.

For instance, a college can have news and announcements to share from different academic departments, sports teams, and alumni networks. Students with different profiles will choose different accounts to follow that cater to their needs and interests.

Interact Live

Real-time interactions over social media platforms are increasingly popular — so going live and engaging with your followers can be a great way to benefit from this development.

Live streaming is a good way to build your social media presence. You can also have students or someone from faculty conduct an online Q&A, go through a step-by-step guide on how to apply or hold workshops. It allows your audience to gain valuable insights about your academic institution.