This spring it shouldn’t just be lesson plans and course outlines that are under review. Many parts of your digital marketing strategy need to be streamlined and cleaned up regularly, too. When it comes to social media accounts, it’s easy to get carried away, sign up for new accounts and lose focus over time. Mismanaged social channels have a negative impact on your school’s reputation, and a poorly executed social strategy can also hurt your recruitment rates.
Follow our guide to social media spring cleaning and transform your social media accounts into points of customer engagement and conversion.
Audit Your Accounts
Cleaning up your social media channels begins with an audit. To get started, locate all of your social media profiles. It’s important to think beyond Facebook and Twitter. Include Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and Tumblr in your search. You might be surprised to find forgotten or unofficial accounts.
Examine each account and determine how useful it will be when it comes to reaching your goal. Don’t be afraid to delete profiles that don’t align with your strategy. After all, it’s better to start small and focus on channels that will have the biggest return.
Compare your accounts’ current performance to their performance from a few years ago. Are your posts doing better? Worse? What is the frequency of posts? This analysis can give you a good idea of where to start when it comes streamlining your social profiles.
Finding the Right Channel
Whether your goal is to recruit more students via social media, or develop stronger alumni relations, the key is finding the social channel that will achieve that goal.
It goes without saying that as a college or university, you should have a presence on the big four: Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. These platforms are the best when it comes to sharing campus news, generating conversations and answering questions directly.
These platforms also allow for a lot of user-directed conversation, so make sure you use social listening to your advantage. Record frequently asked questions; you might find a common theme that you can turn into a social campaign to increase engagement, and create evergreen content for your website.
Photo sharing sites like Instagram and Tumblr also help to share student experiences and paint a picture of campus life.
Check for Consistency
Now that you’ve pared down your list of accounts, check for consistency across profiles. This includes ensuring location and contact information are up to date, pictures follow branding guidelines and all logos are current.
Each social channel is different, so you may have to open the customized settings to ensure that all the necessary information is filled out completely and your images and text are being optimized.
Contact Us
If you need help cleaning up your social profiles or developing a social media strategy for your college or university, contact us today. We specialize in all aspects of digital marketing from online strategy to full-scale web development.