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

Most popular posts

Most popular posts

Most popular posts

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.