Jes Scott, Social Media Coordinator at University of Victoria, is one of the 12 presenters of the 4th Higher Ed Social Media Conference.
In this 3-question interview, Jes tells us a success story, shares the most difficult parts of the job and discusses the required skills to thrive as a higher ed social media pro.
1) What’s your best social media success story?
At first, we focused on showing student takeovers from across the university.
One of the things that makes UVic different is our focus on hands-on, dynamic learning that happens outside of the classroom.
So, many of our takeovers showed students working in interested co-op positions, field work or exchange programs.
In the fall, we heavily promoted the account for orientation. Now on Fridays, we share snaps from many students showing what’s been going on during the week.
Over the past 6 months or so, our stories have received twice the number of views!
2) What are the 2 most difficult parts of your social media job and how do you deal with them?
I manage our university’s central accounts. My department (communications and marketing) produces some great stories, videos and photos. But I also want to amplify other voices on campus.
This might be promoting an event that helps students find employment. Or sharing photos taken by a student while volunteering with a club.
So, my biggest challenges are finding these hidden gems and coaching people in how to provide content to me in ways that work on social media.
3) What are the 2 most important skills to thrive as a social media pro in higher ed?
Networking: Building relationships with people beyond social media is so important. This could be as simple as meeting for coffee to meet someone new. Or it could be something more involved, like volunteering to support social media at a conference on campus.
Writing skills: Crafting short and engaging social media posts is so different than other types of writing. It’s also very difficult to balance wanting to get attention, but not be too informal or controversial.
I’ve also had to become less of a perfectionist and realize that not every tweet will be a masterpiece. I’ve become a lot faster at this, but it’s taken a lot of practice.
Follow Jes Scott for a day at work on Instagram!
You’re going to love Higher Ed Experts’ #HESM Instagram Takeovers where your higher ed social media colleagues share a day in their life.
Check out Jes’ 1-day takeover of Higher Ed Experts’ brand new Instagram account.
A conference for Higher Ed Social Media pros & teams?
The HESM conference has become a must-attend event for social media teams in higher education looking for new ideas and best practices.
Read below what a few of your higher ed colleagues who attended the past editions of the Higher Ed Social Media Conference say about the event.