Permanent link for Creating excitement through social media on August 24, 2021

Fall semester is upon us, and it’s an exciting time on campus. Students, faculty and staff are looking forward to kicking off the new academic year, but how do you translate that enthusiasm to your department’s social media? We’ve outlined a few ideas to get you started. 

Run a giveaway

Everyone loves a chance to win something for free! Consider developing a giveaway that revolves around a current campaign of yours, or ties into welcoming students back to campus. 

GVSU’s social media has a tradition of a Fall Photo Contest, where students are able to submit photos of campus in hopes of winning a prize. We ask our followers to vote on their favorite photos in order to determine the winner, so it’s a great engagement generator for us as well. 

You don’t even need a big, flashy prize to attract engagement, something as simple as a dining gift card or a free sweatshirt is enough to get users excited. Just remember not to make your giveaway too complicated. 

We provide more details on how to run a giveaway in another recent blog, which you can read here. 

Get out and about

Think of ways to tie your current social media priorities into what is happening on campus. Is there an event coming up that might align with the work of individuals in your department? Can you show a professor teaching an engaging class? What about a rockstar staff member sharing a photo of their favorite spot on campus?

Showing the hustle and bustle of GVSU is exciting to everyone in the campus community, and as social media managers we play a key role in showing all of the amazing things happening on campus each day. Keep that in mind when planning your social media content for the semester. 

Ask the audience

Remember that your followers are excited about the fall semester too! Utilize poll, quiz and rating options on different social media platforms to draw engagement and generate information from your followers. 

For example, on GVSU’s Instagram, we asked our followers to submit some of their favorite places in the area to spend time. With the hundreds of responses we received, we were able to turn that into a TikTok, plus an Instagram Highlight! Our followers can use that for inspiration as to what they should do for fun after returning to GVSU.

 

Categories: engagement
Posted by Anna Young on Permanent link for Creating excitement through social media on August 24, 2021.