For the last three years, we’ve been researching and analyzing online conversation about higher ed. We shared some of the multi-year trends we captured along the way, which also led us to eight recommendations higher ed marketers can use to drive their communication and marketing strategy.
Higher ed marketing isn’t synonymous with pushing boundaries, but some CMOs are trying to change that. We sat down with Jenny Petty, University of Montana, and Gabriel Welsch, Duquesne University, to pick their brains on the importance of boundary pushing in higher ed marketing.
Defining your target audience is key to your brand messaging. In Episode 2 of Social Strategy Fundamentals, we walk through finding your audience based on demographics and how to tailor your strategies to the platforms they're on.
Every time a new social platform surfaces, we hear the question “should my campus be on this platform?” While TikTok has been around for a few years, it’s still incredibly popular with your prospective and admitted students. According to Statista, almost half of TikTok’s users are under age 29 and 25% of them are ages 10–19.
With social listening you collect the conversation as it happens, offering opportunities to understand what’s happening now so you can make changes for the future. But the real power comes with the ongoing analysis and context that allows you to better understand your baseline conversation and create personal benchmarks, track seasonal changes, evaluate the effects of crises, and measure the impact of new campaigns.
In Fundamentals of Social Media Strategy: A Guide for College Campuses, Liz Gross wrote, “The general public is not your target audience. If you aim your content and efforts at everyone, they’re perfect for no one.” Defining and targeting your audience is your first step in developing and creating content, determining your brand and messaging—pretty much everything you do.