Social Media in Higher Education

Natalie TrippBrigham Young University

The Utah Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

a communication tool a customer service outlet a billboard for your office/website SOCIAL: two-way communication

NOT just a cool icon to have on your website or page

NOT going to replace other communication

Social Media is…

You build a CONSISTANT audience through interaction

Two birds with one stone

Which do I choose?

PEOPLE (relationships)Lifespan: 23 hours average

PECEPTIONS (“this line is really long” “Nice weather”)Lifespan: 2.8 hours average

PASSIONS (Communities i.e. Photography)Lifespan: completely dependent on re-shares

Polling feature on Facebook

G+ Hangouts with admission representatives Twitter feeds

on webpages

Beneficial Features on Each Network

Just students? Parents? How old? What are they using to communicate? What do they want from you? What social media networks are they using

most often?

Know Your Audience

Financial Aid Content

Share content you’ve already created Use the calendar cycle to your advantage

Content New content posted on the website

Dates and Deadlines

Post upcoming dates, deadlines and events regarding financial aid

Processing timeline information Beginning of the semester calendar; i.e., disbursements,

refunds, add/drop, etc.Financial Literacy

Post article, scriptures, or other content from Guidance From Our Leaders

Policy Highlights / Helpful Hints / Reminders / Questions

Reminders about prevalent policies; e.g., SAP, Marriage, filling out the FAFSA

Attention catching: stands out

in the newsfeed

Attention holding: Long enough to share your information

Still requires some text to explain the message

Try to make every post visual

Photos are King of SM

Instructional Photo

Albums

Photo Album showing students how to make their lives easier

Decide what you want to measure (phone

calls, wait times)

Facebook has a good built in metric system if you know what you’re looking for

Google Analytics

Bit.ly

Metrics

Schedule and track

your posts

Relevant: does it apply to my audience?

Imagery: is there a visual aspect?

Precise: how few words can I use?

Participation: Am I asking for comment?

Timely: posted during rush hour (high traffic time)?

NONE OF THIS MATTERS IF YOU’RE NOT SOCIAL AND

ENGAGING YOUR AUDIENCE!!!!