engaging students through social media
TRANSCRIPT
Engaging Students
Through Social Media
Presented by:Araceli “Sally” Pérez-Ramos,
Manager of Communications & Online ProgrammingSt. Edward’s University
About St. Edward’s University
• Private liberal arts university• Undergraduate and graduate degrees • Student population = 5,500• Traditional-aged & Non-traditional student body• Centralized Career Services Office• Recent title change from Internship Coordinator to
Manager of Communications & Online Programming • Currently managing the following on social media:
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WordPress, Newsletter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+
How can Social Media Help Career Services
Learn about your audience Target audience more effectively Find new students and employers to expand your audience Receive instant feedback from your students’ perspective Increase website traffic and search ranking Sharing content is faster and easier Create meaning relationships with students and employers through social
media dialogue Increase brand awareness and reach for little to no budget
How Students Are Using Social Media
– USA Today, July 14, 2015• 68.6% of students used social media to find an internship • Women had a higher likelihood of researching employers whereas men
were more likely to network and discuss internship opportunities on social media
The Popularity Contest
When are the Best Times to Post?
• Posting on your department Facebook page may not circulate into students’ feeds
• Join university Facebook groups and post
• Develop events on your page to engage students
• Remember – keep your characters short and include pictures & links
• Pictures & Links will increase your audience reached
• You can pay to Boost post too!
Twitter users can:• Find and add friends. Adding friends is NOT a
mutual relationship—they do not have to accept you as a friend for you to be able to follow them.
• Find and follow companies, recruiters, students, and fellow departments.
• Create a short bio—about one sentence in length.• Share links to anything on the Web.• Posts with pictures will always get more attention! • Track “trending topics”—the most popular topics
of conversation on Twitter & how can they relate to you? (i.e. #MotivationalMonday)
• When posting about internship and job opportunities, utilize company handles to engage employers
• Utilize hashtags to catch students’ attention (i.e. #lifeafterseu, #stedwardsu, #seualumni)
Remember: Hashtags are the key to information in the Twitter-verse!
Twitter VocabularyTweet: A short, 140-character message Twitter users broadcast to their contacts.
Twit/Tweeple/Tweeps: Nicknames for people who use Twitter- @seucareer, @stedwardsuRetweet: A way to share another user’s tweet with your own followers. @ Message: A way to mention or publicly message another Twitter individual.
DM/Direct Message: A way to privately message another Twitter individual.
Hashtags (#s): Denoted by a # in front of a word, hashtags are a way to link your tweet to an index of tweets on related topics.
Unfollow: This is when someone decides to remove a Twitter contact.
Favorite: If you like a tweet, then you can “favorite” it, and it will show up on your “Favorites” lists on your profile. The person whose tweets you like will also be notified.
Twitter VocabularyLists/Listed: This is a way to organize the
accounts you’re following into categories. If you make your lists public, other people can
follow them.
Trends: This is a list of the top 10 phrases used on Twitter at any given moment.
Shortening Your Links Since you only have 140 characters, be sure to shorten links to articles,
blogs, etc. Favorites used are:
For additional URL Shorteners, please click here!
Tweet Chats – Engaging Your Audience Beyond
the Posts• Hosted by Career Services
Professionals• Great networking• Opportunity to exchange ideas
or concerns • Topics change EVERY WEEK• Find out about job postings
throughout the U.S.• Learn about upcoming
webinars• Make new friends every
Thursday night at 8 pm
Beyond the Twitter Posts
Twitter Chats on Careers & Internships
MONDAY#InternPro 8 pm#JobHuntChat 9 pm
TUESDAY#CareerChat 12 pm#InternChat 7 pm#LinkedInChat 7 pm
WEDNESDAY#TChat 6 pm
THURSDAY#CareerServChat 8 pm#EMChat8 pm
FRIDAY#HFChat: 11 am
Yes, There’s More Chats!
And EVEN MORE CHATS!
Create Your Own Tweet Chat
• Host Department Group page • Post about events, job
opportunities, internships, and advice
• LinkedIn Blog• Host specialized
workshops/webinars• Utilize LinkedIn in online
programming • Engage in more than just your own
LinkedIn Group! • Highlight students posting articles
Create Your Own Blog • Utilize WordPress, Blogger,
Wix, or SquareSpace but…• SEU hosts Wordpress for free!• Create a calendar!
Benefits of a blog:• Provides daily analytics
broken down • Great tool to showcase
expertise • Ask for guest bloggers, people
love to highlight samples of their writing
Writers:• Partner with Alumni office• Students (soon to graduate,
interns, etc)
http://sites.stedwards.edu/seucareer
Using Instagram as Your Secret Weapon
8 Tips to Increase Likes & Following on Instagram
1. Have a theme – what’s your thing?2. Post AMAZING content3. Tell a story with your caption4. Stick to a content schedule5. Engage with your followers6. Use your hashtags – but don’t
overkill it7. Develop a branded hashtag8. Use the explore tool to engage with
people outside your following
Apps to partner with Instagram: PicCollage, Aviary, Pixsta, Overgram & Instasize
Pablo by Buffer.com
Engage your Audience Through Memes and Gifs
http://memegenerator.net http://giphy.com
Social Media Newsletter
Pricing Plans: Educator Year Fee - $59
www.smore.com
• Engaged entire university in naming the newsletter
• Comes out every Monday • Smore allows you to do
social media blasts via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+, and mass email
• Subscribers can add themselves to email list
• Able to embed on university CAPD site
Track Your HashtagsTagBoard is free• Track hashtags for
Twitter & Instagram• Will only show as a
collection• Will not catch anything
other than hashtags
Storify is free• Track hashtags on all
social media networks• Create slide show, tiled
collection or scroll• Will catch usernames
and hashtags
LiveStreaming: The Next Big Thing
Meerkat (launched 2/27/15) & Periscope (launched 3/26/15)• Setting Up a LiveStream
– Simply enter a title for your broadcast, tap the "Schedule" option, set the time and add a photo.
– Your followers will get a notification you're planning a future broadcast. When the time comes, the apps will alert you to begin.
• Both are only available for iPhone and Androids
Online Chat • Program: ZoHo Chat
(free)• Mirrored from Berkley
University • Debuting Fall 2015• Hours: 8 pm – 10 pm/
Monday – Thursday• Student Career
Advisors will be managing evening shifts
Managing All Your Social Media: HootSuite
Free to host up to 5 accountsAbility to schedule posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, FourSquare, WordPressTrack analytics for various social media accountsCollaborate with others on scheduled posts Can also monitor, post, and schedule from smartphone
Managing Your Twitter Posts - TweetDeck
Ideas to Get Them Engaged
• Provide incentives to have them follow you
• Present social media at freshman orientation
• Secure online ambassadors – students, staff, administrators
• Engage with other departments to share information
• Post interesting articles outside of your department’s activities
• Join campus Facebook Groups – works miracles!
Get Your Fellow Departments Involved!
Student Academic Success Center (SASS) Social Media Consortium
• Academic Counseling & Exploration, Academic Support Programs, College Assistance Migrant Program, International Education, Student Disability Services and Career and Professional Development
• Lead for departmental appointed social media liaisons (10 in total)
• Trained liaisons on how to utilize social media
• Meet quarterly to discuss new initiatives, trainings, and scheduled tweet chats
Risks to Consider• What are the risks?
– Privacy implications– Inability to succeed
• How to manage these risks– Be professional at all times with these accounts– Designate 1-2 people in office to manage accounts– Be consistent– Create a privacy policy– User generated content
• Addressing student comments• Remove comments that use bad language • Don’t get mad with criticism• Answer questions immediately• Address complaints immediately
Whoa! That’s A LOT!
Remember: This is an investment in your department
– Standing students are your best promoters
– Your online presence will be seen by countless others
– Students will follow you because they want to be in the know
– Social Media helps to create a sense of community
– Hire an intern to help you! Most Important:
HAVE FUN WITH SOCIAL MEDIA!
Before You Take This On…
Ponder these thoughts:1. Where should your focus be … beyond LinkedIn, Twitter,
and Facebook?
2. What specific activities should be considered?
3. What are the realities of managing multiple accounts?
Questions?
Araceli “Sally” Perez-Ramos, Manager of Communications & Online ProgrammingSt. Edward’s University, Austin, TX
facebook.com/seucareer@sallyperezramos
@seucareer
http://bit.ly/HilltopScoop @seucareer
pinterest.com/seucareer
smore.com/u/seucareer