Brain Waves Blog

At Duke, we’re operating on the premise that YouTube isn’t just a bucket for holding video content. It’s actually social media. I’ll show you what I mean.

For marketing and communications professionals, each semester can bring anywhere from several hundred to a hundred thousand plus public online mentions about their respective campus. And yet, most marketers only report on the social and news content they produce. That’s not the case for Angela Polec, La Salle University’s Vice President of Enrollment, Marketing, and Communications. 

Batman and Robin. The Avengers. Link and Epona. The Fellowship of the Ring. X-Men. Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Aang, Katara, Toph, Sokka, and Appa.

Following Your North Star

In January of 2021, we collectively didn’t know much about the state of the world and asked ourselves: How long will masks stick around? When will the pandemic end? What odd item will disappear from the shelves next? 

Community colleges in the United States have long been underfunded and understaffed. That hasn’t stopped them from serving as a vital resource to their local communities while educating a student body more diverse than many four-year campuses can claim. 

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.