3 Quick Social Media Content Tips for Higher Ed
Capturing a university’s personality for social media content can seem overwhelming. Diverse groups of students studying dozens of different topics, classes ranging from organic chemistry to art theory and everything in between—it can be a lot to represent on social platforms. That’s why it helps to have a few tried-and-true tactics handy when you dig into improving content strategy for your college’s social media platforms.
1. Quality is key, but consistency is king.
A social media presence is like a plant—you can plant a seed with the best of intentions, but if it’s not tended to regularly, it will not grow and certainly won’t thrive. Consistent care for your social media accounts is the foundation of overall success.
Here’s where social algorithms for platforms like Facebook and Instagram come into play—the more you post, the more engagement you’ll get. The more engagement you get, the more the algorithm will consider your posts relevant to your followers, meaning your posts will appear on more newsfeeds with higher visibility. But to get there, you first have to post consistently, and your content needs to be engaging enough to produce likes, comments, and shares from your audience.
2. But what is engaging content?
To some degree, this will differ from school to school. That’s why you need to get to know your audience, but here are a few tips to get you started.
Diversify your media. Try not to create posts that only contain text. Incorporating visuals into your content almost always means higher engagement rates. This can be photography, videography, graphics, or even gifs. This is a great opportunity to utilize your branding collateral while acing point #3. Pro tip: Video is the clear winner in the visual category, getting about 60% more engagement per post than other types of media.
People, people, people. Students love to see their faces and friends on their feeds. This just means getting out on campus with your camera or phone and snapping away with a few willing participants. Most students are thrilled to be featured! So, when in doubt, just remember: faces and friends on feeds.
Posts like a simple hangout session in a dorm can become some of your college’s most engaging content.
Keep it short. Ever glazed over at a wall of text on social? Your audience will, too.
Capture events as close to real-time as possible. This will make your social relevant and fresh for your followers. Don’t wait until tomorrow to post content about tonight’s football game!
Ask questions and use polls. People love to share their thoughts and opinions. Instagram stories are a great spot for this one—they have built-in features to create highly engaging questions, polls, quizzes, and more. It doesn’t have to be serious, either—remember to make it fun and personalized to your school!
Carson-Newman University knows polls are a great opportunity for both interaction and humor.
3. Organize your content.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that social media for any business, much less higher education, is a matter of random postings. It takes time, effort, planning, creativity, and flexibility. You’ll produce a better product if you’re organized and plan ahead as much as possible. There will be many days when something unexpected and social-worthy is happening on campus, but it’s also wise to create an editorial calendar for the semester or academic year ahead of time. This way you’ll know what to cover for certain important dates and events. You can also plan content and have posts ready to go well in advance.
Now get out there and social like a pro! You’re going to love watching the likes roll in and your follower count soar.
