Because of the pandemic, the college experience may look a little different this summer and autumn. Nonetheless, the need for authentic exchanges between faculty and students will remain constant.
Where does social media come in? See if your college may benefit from these social media suggestions.
In all likelihood, if you work in administration at a university, you are already acutely aware of the reality that the vast majority of your students spend a significant portion of each day staring at their phones.
Students are heavy consumers of social media and often log in to anywhere from four to 10 different sites every week.
A number of educational institutions worry that students will spend too much time on social networking sites instead of studying. However, social media is a potent tool that may be leveraged to keep your kids enthusiastic about college.
It’s possible that in-person participation might be boosted if your institution or a customer institution consistently puts forth effort to encourage social interaction.
In this piece, we’ll examine in detail a variety of social media tactics that schools might employ to enlist the participation of their students.
Give provide useful information and updates often
You should encourage your pupils to follow you on social media by providing them with valuable content. Providing them with the tools they need and the news they can use is a wonderful one!
A growing number of students rely on social media (especially Facebook and Instagram) to stay abreast of developments at various companies and organisations.
Obviously, this also applies to your college.
Because the coronavirus made it so obvious… Users wanted open, regular updates on social media, despite the fact that many companies were already emailing them.
During the epidemic, several institutions have done a commendable job of communicating important information to their communities, such as safety standards, new limits, and safeguards being taken.
Updates and resources from institutions are valuable to students even when there is no emergency situation.
University social media managers can send out reminders to students regarding
- No-cost help sessions
- Sessions of Counseling
- Facilities for medical care
You may help prospective students discover more about your school and schedule appointments by including relevant links in your social media postings. As soon as you get it, publish the school’s calendar of games and events, and make public the activities that will be the highlights of homecoming as soon as you know. New murals, road closures, and building projects on campus should be discussed here.
Facilitate student inquiry through online platforms and encourage participation
If you want your pupils to stay interested, you have to offer them something to do. After all, real-life social interactions are what make social media truly worthwhile for everyone involved.
Interacting with others on social media is an excellent way to start a conversation and enhances the visibility of your material in feed algorithms. Social media platforms will give your posts more attention and more visibility if they perceive that many people are engaging with them. This will increase the visibility of your posts in people’s newsfeed.
To show that you care about your pupils, it’s important to interact with them on social media. They won’t be interested in working with your school if they don’t know this.
Initiate question and answer sessions on campus using social media. To spark more discussion, try ending your posts with questions like “What do you think?” or “What are you most looking forward to about the upcoming autumn season?”
Holding regular Lives is a fantastic method to provide your students (both existing and potential) an opportunity to ask questions. Facebook and Instagram are ideal for this, but Twitter may be used instead. Plan out what you want to cover in advance (such as the application process or housing policies), and be prepared to address students’ questions when they come up. You may always circle back and address unanswered queries later.
Keep in mind that all of your students can benefit from the conversations and questions addressed in your Lives if you share them after they have concluded.
Feature current students and post work they’ve made
Do you want your students to continue using your social media pages? The university’s social media would benefit greatly by highlighting some of its pupils.
You should make providing updates and information a priority in your social media efforts. If you want students to actively participate in your Pages, though, you shouldn’t just make administrative updates all the time.
While including alumni in your university’s social postings can boost credibility and generate interest in your programmes, highlighting current students is the best way to encourage interaction and participation from your target audience.
Indicative of this is announcing the recipients of any awards. Put user-generated content out there and credit the actual authors. Get your pupils to record themselves chatting in video chats. Students will find this to be a fun and accurate representation of your school.
Publish your campus activities often
As the spread of COVID continues, campus activities may experience some delays. However, one thing that most students are curious about is where and when something is happening. In addition, there is usually an abundance of student organisations and events at colleges.
Examples of happenings are:
- Event Organizers, Job Seekers
- Events devoted to the housing market
- Alumni gatherings
- Exhibitions by students
- Group get-togethers
- The Acapella Method
- Performances by Students
- Concerts
- Theatrical competitions
- Comedians
- Weekends spent watching films
- The list goes on and on.
What a packed schedule! In order to encourage your students to follow you and stay informed in the face of what might seem like a never-ending stream of information, post often on social media. It’s true that fear of missing out (FOMO) is a genuine issue, especially among the younger generations.