Alumni Catalyst
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact

Get More Out of Your Content With Social Media Walls

9/28/2016

0 Comments

 
This post originally published on the Evertrue blog.

So, your advancement office has a great social media plan. You’re pushing out quality content, and your alumni are sharing and re-tweeting your posts using hashtags.


But how can you amplify that social chatter and get even more alumni engaging with you online? How can you increase the reach of your content—especially when a portion of your alumni base isn’t even using social media? (Don’t count out alumni who aren’t on social media; you just have to get a little more creative about how and where you surface the content to them.)


If these are the types of questions you grapple with every day, you may want to look into using social media walls. There are plenty of content curation tools available that can aggregate your best social media posts and display them in one place—whether on your website or on the big screen at an event.


Below are some of the ways that a social media wall can add value to your alumni engagement efforts, plus a few questions to ask yourself before you launch one for your institution.

Live Social Media Walls at Events

​If you’ve ever been to a sports game, you’ve seen it before: it’s halftime, and a brightly lit Jumbotron is cycling through dozens of tweets from fans.social media jumbotron

Content curation has been a tried-and-true tactic in the athletics world for a while now, and for good reason—the ability to display social media content on a Jumbotron makes TV timeouts and halftime shows that much more fun and engaging. Plus, because fans want to get featured on the big screen, they’re much more likely to use the hashtag and post about the event from their social media accounts in the first place.


Picture
Why not apply this type of technology to our alumni events?

You don’t need a Jumbotron or fancy equipment to make it work; a few TV screens or a projector will do. Just think about the impact of aggregating all of the amazing thoughts your alumni are sharing on social media. They’re excited to be at your event—so showcase that excitement!

Whether it’s reunion or a campaign kickoff, a live social media screen can build more buzz around the event and put a much-deserved spotlight on your most engaged alumni.

Social Media Curation for Your Website
​
Many institutions have also started placing social media walls on their websites (and microsites) to support giving days and other campus events. Just like with content curation for events, these walls can capture and display live social media activity from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.

Let’s look at a few ways that schools are using social media walls on their websites.

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Picture
This year, the University of Washington created a social wall focused on graduation, encouraging seniors and their families and friends to post pictures of the weekend using the UW graduation hashtag. For those who couldn’t be there in person, the wall helped capture and spread the excitement of the event.

College of Charleston​


Picture
The College of Charleston has a number of different feeds on its “social stream,” including one called “I Want Your Job” that highlights alumni who have interesting or unique careers.

Stony Brook University
Picture
Stony Brook University’s social media wall pulls in content from a variety of university-run social media platforms (even Flickr!) to keep website visitors in touch with their latest and greatest content.

SUNY New Paltz
Picture
On SUNY New Paltz’s “social media hub,” they do a fantastic job of sourcing content from both student and university-run social feeds to show off what’s happening across campus.

Thinking about launching your school's first social media wall?


Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you get started:
  1. Do you want to showcase your school’s official social media content, or do you want to pull in content from alumni and friends of the school through hashtags?Showcasing your administration’s social media feeds is simple to set up and more cost effective, while collecting content via hashtags may require an additional investment in promoting certain hashtags amongst your followers.
  2. Where are you going to place your social wall? To get the most out of your social wall, you’ll want to put it on a webpage that gets solid traffic. For example, if alumni only visit your development page when they want to make a gift, that may not be the best place for your social wall. Rather, put it on a page that you know gets a lot of alumni traction.
  3. Do you have enough activity to warrant implementing a social wall? If you’re going to launch a social wall that pulls content from student and alumni accounts, then it’s imperative to have the infrastructure and strategies in place to stimulate more content. Most higher ed institutions cannot take a “sit back and watch” approach. You need to cultivate social media activity through social media ambassador programs, signage on campus, student interns, and cleverly crafted marketing campaigns.

Once you’ve answered these questions and you are confident in your social media presence, your next step should be to research social media wall tools and determine how they might support your office’s engagement and fundraising goals. From boosting online engagement to bringing non-social media users into the conversation, content curation via social walls could be a powerful way to amplify your institution’s brand and mission.
0 Comments

Welcome Weekend!

9/6/2016

0 Comments

 
Summer tends to be a slower time for interesting news to post to our alumni bases… no athletics events, no student achievements, less faculty activity. But, come August, there is a new influx of great activity and events, worthy of liking, posting and sharing. Of course, first is freshmen orientation/move-in/welcome weekend. Many schools are now going above and beyond in capturing the excitement of this weekend. Here are some examples from across the country. Share with us what your alumni association or development department did to commemorate the big weekend!

Loyola University Chicago
Picture
​Loyola welcomes its new students and has some great pictures on their website showcasing the process.

Dartmouth
​Dartmouth took a fun approach to welcoming its freshmen with a video focused on giving students advice on what to pack for "first year trips" which is part of Dartmouth's orientation.

Fordham
​Fordham created a very unique look at what it must be like for first year students. had a series of videos that played off the fact that for those who are not local, going to Fordham is not just about going to a new school, but also about the experience of living in New York City. The school created videos where they asked other New Yorkers, not necessarily associated with Fordham, what advice they would give to those living in the Big Apple for the first time.

Duke University
Picture
Duke highlighted its convocation with some great photos paired with powerful quotes from the event. And, the school also made a video featuring the convocation paired with an infographic on the new class of 2020.

The College of Charleston
College of Charleston had perhaps the most coordinated and deep campaign surrounding their students’ return. There were multiple campaigns to create engaging content and to motivate action on the part of students and alumni.

#Cougarwelcome was a  day of giving campaign tied to the return of students. The campaign featured photos and video, and tied in the pineapple, a universal symbol of welcome and one that is prevalent in the south. Alumni, staff and students were encouraged to write a message of advice to students on a printed-out pineapple, and used the hashtag #PassThePineapple to encourage more interaction online.

The College also had two other campaigns that created some great social content for them. In one campaign, using the hashtag #ThinkBig, the school set up a giant chalkboard outside and encouraged students to write what one thing they would like to accomplish before they graduate. The school was then able to make a very engaging video out of the students writing their notes.

Separately, the school also took around a large picture frame branded with the school’s mark and the date of the first day of classes and simply took photos of students, staff and professors, and posted the album onto Facebook.

​Brown University
Picture
Here is a great photo from Brown capturing the excitement around a local campus tradition, and showcasing how technology is affecting that tradition nowadays, with all of the cameras out!

Class of 2020 Photos
Picture
Picture
The “Class of 2020” group photo has become an iconic rite of passage at many schools as you can see above from the University of New England and Gonzaga University.
​
What examples do you have of great welcome weekend campaigns? Share them with us!
0 Comments

      Sign up for updates!

    Submit

    Join the LinkedIn Group

    Picture

    Archives

    October 2020
    March 2018
    July 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.