duke students: social media strategies
TRANSCRIPT
Duke Today Students Social Media Strategies
Megan Lax, Marketing Intern, Undergraduate Education
Trinity ’15
Sarah Haas, Social Media Editor, Undergraduate Admissions
Trinity’15
Facebook vs. Twitter• Facebook = photo albums, videos and
student spotlight articles
• No more than three posts a day –ideally only one
• Tag students when possible
• Twitter = academic and social events,shout-outs, #FreeFoodAtDuke, etc.
• No limit on the amount of tweets a day
• Use images when possible
Create content that students want to spend time with• Yik Yak album
• Gathered student-made content into one place
• “Thought funny”!
• Shared during finals
• Results:
• Reached more than 3,000 users
• Engaged with more than 19.2 thousand times
• 54% engagement rate
• This means more than half of the people who saw the post engaged with it in some way (liked, shared, clicked through)
What we learned:• When possible, use original pictures and videos
• Tag, tag, tag!
• Engagement > reach
• Take informal surveys
• If you see something cool, take a picture (even if it’s just on your iPhone) – you can tweet it later!
• Think funny
• Use at least one hashtag, and tag at least one Twitter handle
• Share original content across all your platforms
• #DukeReads album
• “best of” @dukestudents Instagram album
Results:
• Increased average post reach by 557.6%
• We were reaching an avg. of 165 students, now reach 1,118
• Increased average likes by 2,000%
• Were averaging 1 like, now average 21
• Increased overall page likes by 36.3%
• Had just over 1,080 likes, now have 1,480
Tumblr vs. Instagram
• Tumblr is a great place to share stories.
• Instagram is the new venue to interact with students on a day-to-day level.
• Take advantage of hashtag campaigns.
• What do Duke students want to see from Duke communications? EPIC content: Engagement, Personality, Intentionality, and Creativity
@DukeStudents on InstagramWant students to see your posts? TAG THEM! FEATURE THEM!
Popular hashtags used by students:#pictureduke#dukestudentsClass hashtags like #Duke2018
Types of photos we use: -Scenic-Marketing/Graphics -Student-Centered-Original content vs. Student featured (reposts)
What students <3Duke Campus (who doesn’t?) #lovemycampus* honorable mention to the Duke crane & sunsets
Hashtag Campaigns (#DukeFall #DukeReads, #Duke2019, #MyDukeChapel, #MyDukeRoom, #MyDukePath…)
What students <3Themselves (and their friends) #dukestudents*tag and interact
Durham #lovedurham #exploredurham #trydurham #durhome
What students <3• Duke sports #goduke #foreverduke #bleedblue
• Their art #duarts #artstigators #dukedance #dukeintheworld
Duke Students TumblrRanked one of the top university blogs! dukestudents.tumblr.com
WHO?
• Admissions bloggers
• First-year digital media team (~30 first-years building content)
• Guest bloggers
WHAT?• Photos from Instagram• Blog posts• Buzzfeed style lists• All things Duke
What to look for in the future from @DukeStudents?
• #Duke2019-RD admits will find out their decisions soon and
ED admits are already very active on social media.
• How can we help you?-Feel free to reach out to me for advertising,
marketing, or to showcase your awesome photos/stories.
• Coming soon: #OdeToDuke-Saying goodbye to #Duke2015.