Meet #hesm pros to follow: Corie Martin (@coriemartin) from @WKU on social media success, challenges & tips

Corie Martin, Creative Web Services Manager at Western Kentucky University, is one of the 15 higher ed professionals who presented at the 2nd Higher Ed Social Media Conference (now available on-demand).

Corie will complete her Phd studies on the role of social media in collegiate recruitment and retention in 2015.

In this 3-question interview, Corie tells us about her most successful initiative with social media, her biggest challenge and shares some advice on how to cope with the 24/7 world of social media in higher education. Oh – and she also granted my request for a selfie!

1) What is the most successful social media initiative you’ve run over the past year?

We’ve done a lot with hashtag campaigns this year, both as standalone projects or to supplement larger campaigns. Over the summer we had two of note. The first, #HometotheHill highlighted the Class of 2018 and their preparation and move to campus for the first time. It was a great way to get our new students excited about moving to campus, but it was also a great way for us to crowdsource some content, easing the Move-In-Day burden on our busy university photographers and residence hall staff. Students shared their packing and moving experiences and we all got to share in their enthusiasm.

The second, #idrivewku, was a supplemental hashtag campaign that we used to promote Commuter Student Services at WKU, a new cross-collaborative initiative. We held a large welcome program event for commuter students and used the hashtag to create program awareness, to generate buzz around the event, and we used it during the event to facilitate a live Q&A feed during a student panel.

We also started Twitter chats with WKU Admissions counselors using #chatWKU and #wku19. These are still in their infancy, but are increasing in popularity with each chat. We hold them every other week and focus on specific topics relevant to incoming freshmen.

I’ve done a lot of research about the habits of our students and I hear from them that they want more from us on Twitter, so we’re working on a couple of concepts for current students as well. It’s tough though. Most of our students tell us they follow between 100 – 500 different accounts on Twitter, so it’s easy for our messages to become diluted very quickly. We’re working on a strategy to combat that issue.

2) What is the biggest challenge you face in your social media work? How do you cope with it?

There are two distinct challenges that I face each and every day. My primary challenge is not unique – we have a small staff and a lot of ground to cover each day. I could write the book on doing a lot with very few resources. Social media management is only one facet of my position, I have many other responsibilities and everything is a priority. Although technically true, I have never really considered myself a “party of one.” I have found that the best way to combat the pressures of having to be everywhere all the time is to utilize the expertise and resources around me. There are content producers everywhere, who are experts in their areas and are great at telling their own stories and at answering their own questions from students in social communities. It has taken a while to establish this collaborative culture on our campus, but now we’re getting there and we’re all better for it.

My second challenge is the changing nature of today’s student. They are drastically different today than they were just a few years ago. They use media differently. They communicate differently, but they are smart, curious, and creative. Then there is the emergence of the “contemporary student,” which includes those who are not simply 18-21-year-old residential students. These are adult learners, online learners, commuter students and place-bound students who attend one of our three regional campus locations, and more. No two communities are the same nor do they consume media in the same ways. Reaching various communities of students using tools that they use means a lot of research, strategy, and changes in messaging. It also means we use social media in different and unexpected ways. We have to be on top of our game all the time. I see this is kind of a fun challenge, and one I will carry with me always.

3) Social media work never stops. How do you maintain balance in your life & work given this constraint? Any tips, techniques or tools?

My job like so many others is 24/7/365. Social media never sleeps, and neither apparently do many of our students. Personally, I work full-time, I’m a full-time doctoral student, and I have two children and a husband at home. I don’t see any of this as work though. All of these facts about me comprise who I am, and I love what I do. Everything I do, I do by choice. I do a lot of my work after my kids go to bed, and sure, there are times when I’ve missed field trips or events during the school year. My family is incredibly supportive, and that support system makes all the difference. I know that I am providing an awesome example for my two daughters. I am teaching them that there is no task they can’t handle, nothing they can’t learn, and that they will get more satisfaction out of working hard and earning their way without excuses than if someone just walked up to them and handed them a golden opportunity on a silver platter.

The best advice that I could give someone seeking work/life balance is this: Create your opportunities and own them. Stay out of your own way. Learn to say no. I repeat: Embrace the “No.” It’s really hard at first, but it is empowering and liberating to allow yourself the freedom to choose your battles where you can. A lot of times we can’t do that professionally, so for me it manifested in dropping a few pro bono gigs and volunteer slots – at least until after I graduate, then I have promised my kids all bets are off.