I was presenting a session to some new friends at a school outside of Knoxville last week, and this was the question I was asked.
Like so many questions I'm asked, there isn't a straight answer. It almost always depends on your audience. But let me take a shot and share some thoughts below.
For traditional admissions - the clear cut answer that will give you the best edge is Snapchat. I've been working with one of my former interns (a recent graduate of a local college) on a strategy to embed the app in an admissions office to engage an audience (we are looking to pilot this in the next couple of months, so hit me up if you want to test it out - our pilot projects are very affordable).
The challenge with Snapchat is that it requires quite a bit of attention. Because the posts disappear after 24 hours, you have to continually generate engaging content in order for your posts to be digested. That said, this is the app that has captured our traditional age high school students' attention.
BTW, if you're thinking this is some "sexting" app, you've just dated yourself.
Your next best bet is Instagram. Another great app that has captured a great mix of both high school students and adult. So if you are trying to engage an audience at both ends of the spectrum, this may be your best bet. The problem, though, is the visual nature of the app. How do you continually find the visual graphics that engages your audience?
Now, don't get me wrong, we have lots of ideas to help, they just come with a requirement - TIME.
Just like Snapchat, it takes an investment of staff resources to make this work. You don't need an entire staff involved, but you need to give a staff member the authority (and depending on the staff member - maybe a requirement) to be out and about snapping images and capturing video to post to your account.
That's certainly not the end all, be all to effectively making social work for you, but it's a key component to the basic requirements. If you can't make this work, then it simply won't work.
As a consultant for the past five years, what I've found is that in higher ed, we are typically about five to nine years behind traditional businesses when it comes to the incorporation of technology. There are many (too many to name) companies that have created incredible personas and developed incredible social followings. I've seen a few successes in higher ed, but those are several years old at this point. SO I won't highlight them because none focused on these two media.
IMPORTANT: Don't stop reading when you see where I'm going next...
I will wrap with this third social app. Of course, it is the most popular of all, and will be important for grad and nontraditional populations. That's the obvious, behemoth in the room - Facebook. Almost all of you are there now - but that certainly doesn't mean you are where you need to be. Few, if ANY of you reading this have mastered what Facebook can do for you (unless you're paying a third party to advertise and manage your pages - and that doesn't guarantee your success).
There are two critical components to your success in Facebook. First, you need great content on your page. In order to make the content work for you (and to be clear, by work for you, I mean inevitably convert prospective students), you have to diversify your content.
A year or so ago, I wrote about our 75/25 model for social content, based on Gary Vaynerchuk's book on all things social, Jab, Jab, Jab Right Hook.
Once you find your cadence, your voice and have diversified your content, then you can add on sponsored content. Many of you may be thinking, well we already have sponsored content.
But is it really successful? And have you kept it successful for a long period of time? It's easy to get some success early, but in order to sustain it, you have to have awesome content. So, if you've been getting engagement with your organic posts, as well as your sponsored posts for over 18 months, then maybe you've found your stride. If you have, and you haven't used the previous two social platforms, I strongly urge to do so; it's time to expand your horizons.
If not, well, you may need a new strategy, and in creating one, maybe you, too, can add another platform or two to your mix.How is your social strategy working? Want feedback on your content? Then drop me a line (mickey@fourthdimensionpartners.com) and let me know. I will give you honest feedback and suggestions.