A few tips in using social media and websites to connect with freshmen:
1. CLEAR - Whatever internet presence that you have via instagram, facebook, website, twitter, tick tok, snapchat, etc, make sure that it is clear how a student that is looking to get involved can get involved. Primarily we use instagram and our website to drive social media connection. Facebook tends to be more for parents and alumni/friends. There are so many positives there that we could talk about. Main thing is just to make the on ramps clear. Our website has a link that runs and instagram in the link tree account and the first connection box is for new students.
2. CONSISTENT - I don't think that a person needs to be super on top of all the trends of social media and how their algorithm changes. But being clueless of how it works seems to be a detriment, especially with all the influencers and others that make posts that tell others how to make their content work the algorithms of different social medias. But a simple quick rule is that content needs to be consistent. Figuring out a way of posting very regularly, especially close to the start of the fall semester, is pretty crucial.
3. CLEAN - This is where it gets really fun. Making not just one post look good but grouping together posts in a way that the glancing view of the social media account looks good. There are several ways of doing this with a mixture of pictures of people, graphics, inspirational quotes, event recaps, etc. It does not take tons of thought but it does take a little foresight in order to make all of it fit together. Students think of their social media like a wall in someone's home to where it's not just what one picture looks like but what is the design of that wall in the room. It will also benefit your group if you google and type in your ministry and see what some of the first things that pop up. Make sure the photos, address, and content that google populates are what you want them to be.
Once the social media and online presence is clear, consistent and clean here are a few tips to connect with incoming new students.
1. EMPOWER - Use student leaders to help influence your strategy. I have seen some ministries ride or die based on what student leaders are saying in this lane. I do not think students know everything about social media or can even like or dislike it. But taking in their input and getting them to help with ideas is really useful. But at times certain students know what they like but do not know to to produce what they like. There are plenty of quick tricks and helps on Youtube about how to do simple things to help your presence on social media.
2. CAMPUS - Certain campuses use social media very differently. When I was in Little Rock some of the staff that operated the social media accounts for the University loved and would repost anything that we would post up. At the University of South Carolina, they don't tend to repost anything that is not from a University affiliated account. I would encourage you to follow as many of the University accounts that you can tolerate and know what they are posting and be a part of their strategy as much as you can.
3. CLASSES - The end of the semester is quickly approaching and the on ramp for high school seniors is happening and probably has been happening in some cases. It has been the trend at Universities to have Instagram handles that USU-2027 or something similar. It always seems like a moving target and we adjust our strategy sometimes midway depending on the response. Typically, we will send the owner of a page a DM asking them if they would be willing to promote a free giveaway that we do for incoming freshmen. We do Welcome Bags in the summer that we send. Lots of times they will promote it one time. Then, we will create a post that has clear directions and linkage to the sign up form for Welcome Bags. We also ask our student leaders that are focused on freshmen to follow the page, comment, and like people's stuff. You don't want to give off spam vibes, but you want to make a connection.
4. DIRECT MESSAGES - Direct messaging seems to be an ongoing conversation when it comes to social media. What's weird, what are the bots doing; what's appropriate and what do creepers do? It helps to have several people that have it connect to their social media device and can see incoming messages. We typically keep correspondence to a minimum mainly inviting them to the giveaway and then that's about it.
5. STUDENT LEADERS - Depending on the campus the mandatory social media for leaders is different. I know some that really ask student leaders to share and refollow. I have taken the personal advice of my friend Ryan Scantling at the University of Arkansas when it comes to social media, I want to create content that my students like sharing more than I make them mandatorily share posts.
Good luck out there! Let us know, if you have any other cool tips or tricks. We are not experts, but try to stay informed and engaged with how we can connect with freshmen coming into college.
Adam Venters is the Baptist Campus Minister at the University of South Carolina and Rachel Walton is Associate Campus Minister at the Little Rock BCM.
Arliss Dickerson's book, A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.
No comments:
Post a Comment