University social media marketing tips

The advanced branding challenges of upper training establishments in rising nations can appear unmanageable. First, providers and diploma programmes supplied by universities appear to be an identical, making it laborious to face out. Second, universities in rising nations usually undergo from an absence of formal communication strategies to attach the worth of their model to their audience.

But constructing a model for larger training establishments in rising nations needn’t be a nightmare – particularly if you understand how to make use of social media marketing to develop model credibility and model fairness. In this analysis, rising nations are thought of to be nations which might be on a path in direction of prosperity with financial growth, low per capita revenue and excessive potential for development, resembling Vietnam, Thailand and Tunisia.

We examined college students’ perceptions of marketing on social media primarily based on two communication strategies: user-generated content material and institution-generated content material to develop model credibility and model fairness, utilizing knowledge from a survey with 936 undergraduates, from two rising nations, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Here we current recommendation primarily based on our findings.

User-generated content material vs institution-generated content material

To create and trade details about the college manufacturers with potential college students, social media marketing is developed in two types: user-generated content material and institution-generated content material.

User-generated content material refers back to the media content material created by college students, employees, alumni and different stakeholders for the academic establishment that may be shared straight or repurposed. It may very well be them capturing their private journeys, the college campus, commencement ceremonies, festivals or just sharing reminiscences.

Institution-generated content material is the media content material created by college marketing workforce on official model pages and social media channels.

Although these two types of content material are equally essential, college students are extremely reliant on and observe user-generated content material as it isn’t designed to serve a industrial goal. Authentic and entertaining, user-generated content material makes a huge impact on establishments’ manufacturers as a result of it presents an genuine view of campus life.

User-generated content material motivated potential college students in Sri Lanka and Vietnam to develop optimistic emotions in direction of an establishment, our analysis confirmed, as a result of collectivist tradition in these nations.

Peer-to-peer marketing of this nature is just not new, however establishments nonetheless miss alternatives to pivot their content material methods in direction of genuine, pupil voices. Here are some straightforward methods to encourage college students to create extra content material and construct a optimistic model worth for his or her college.

Understand what motivates potential college students to attach with institutional manufacturers, ie, relatable student-generated content material. There needs to be a steadiness between the social media content material created by the marketing workforce and different stakeholders as a way to current the college from completely different angles.
Let college students play a job in managing the establishment’s social media accounts. Universities can kind a social media managing workforce with a pupil ambassador. They can seize the scholar expertise and share this by way of the official social media accounts. They can even assist promote the establishment’s hashtag to encourage extra college students to make use of it in their very own posts.
Get alumni on board. Former college students have lived and gained wealthy life experiences at a selected establishment earlier than shifting on to different tasks and professions. Current and aspiring college students will look to them for inspiration.
Embed user-generated galleries on the establishment’s web site. Showcase the participating content material that your college students, alumni or employees create in your web site. It is an effective way to convey some color to your college web site and create a optimistic and pleasant picture.
Driving elements of establishments’ model fairness

Brand fairness refers back to the worth endowed by the institutional model, which helps to mitigate dangers, resembling fewer candidates or pupil attrition, and differentiates a college from its rivals.

By constructing credibility, a college will improve its model fairness, our examine reveals. To make enrolment choices, potential college students are depending on universities offering correct and truthful info. They wish to know that the establishment they apply to will ship on its guarantees. As establishments more and more use social media to share, talk and collaborate with present and potential college students, they need to be sure that the data shared is reliable. To deal with these challenges, universities can:

Talk about college students’ ache factors. For instance, the marketing workforce might analysis what worries college students most and run a marketing campaign masking key ache factors and highlighting the assist accessible.
Create participating video content material: utilizing brief movies, establishments can higher clarify diploma programmes, what they are going to contain, and the advantages to potential college students by way of social media.
Virtual campus excursions: give potential college students an perception into what the college is like in actual life by creating digital excursions of the campus. It may also help potential college students get a extra genuine really feel for the establishment.
These methods to assist develop an establishment’s model fairness needs to be utilized in mixture as a way to interact potential college students and encourage an enrolment choice.

This perception relies on a lately revealed examine: “Higher training institutes’ model fairness in rising markets: Impact of social media marketing and model credibility” in Q1-ranked Journal of Marketing Communications.

Charitha Harshani Perera is a lecturer within the Faculty of Business and Law at Northumbria University.

Rajkishore Nayak is an affiliate professor, and Long Thang Van Nguyen is a senior lecturer within the School of Communication and Design at RMIT University, Vietnam.

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https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/why-universities-emerging-countries-should-invest-social-media-marketing