Abby Meyer, Social Media Specialist at University of Nebraska Medical Center, is one of the 12 presenters of the 4th Higher Ed Social Media Conference.
In this 3-question interview, Abby 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 the beginning of the 2015 school year, we launched our on-going community hashtag #IamUNMC.
It was important that we established a hashtag unique to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, as there is a UNMC located overseas that is unaffiliated with ours, and #UNMC content on social media is a mix of both institutions. We wanted our community to use this hashtag when socially engaging and sharing about their daily lives at UNMC. In order to influence this behavior, it was crucial that we heavily promote it through multiple outlets, both online and offline. We developed this content stream to curate all #IamUNMC content from Instagram and Twitter, which is featured on our main homepage. We used #IamUNMC life-size frames at university events, such as campus BBQs and new student orientations, and encouraged students to take their photo with the frame and share it with #IamUNMC. We distributed #IamUNMC stickers and magnetic frames to continue to spread the word.
We included the hashtag on many of our own Instagram photos and tweets, and awarded swag bags to students who included it on theirs, and continue to do so.
A photo posted by Nichole Schafer (@nischafermd) on
A year later, over 1,500 Twitter and Instagram posts have been shared so far with #IamUNMC from students, staff, and faculty members.
With a student population of 3,800, we defined this university-wide engagement initiative as a success in its first year. Consistent exposure of #IamUNMC through these various methods was essential in order to educate our community about the purpose of this hashtag and why they should integrate it into the content they are already sharing. #IamUNMC has also been a helpful tool for us to listen to the overall social conversation about UNMC, and curate user-generated content to share on our primary accounts.
2) What are the 2 most difficult parts of your social media job and how do you deal with them?
Community management can be a challenging part of my job working in social media at UNMC.
We are a professional health sciences academic institution, focused on educating future health professionals. Our hospital partner, Nebraska Medicine, resides on our main campus, offering amazing clinical opportunities for our students and faculty. There is a misconception in the Nebraska community though, that UNMC is the hospital, when it is technically the university. In normal conversation, calling the hospital “UNMC” is not a big deal. But on social media, we often get positive and negative comments and reviews on UNMC’s social platforms about the hospital’s care from Nebraska Medicine’s patients. It can get confusing when there is so much overlap between UNMC and Nebraska Medicine, but Nebraska Medicine has their own social media presence and team. So community management can be a challenge as I strive to make it clear who UNMC is through our social platforms. Fortunately, I am able to deflect many comments from patients to Nebraska Medicine’s team, but I always emphasize the difference between both organizations to these misguided individuals.
Furthermore, we also receive regular inquiries about our academic programs through UNMC’s social media accounts. This can be stressful because as social media community managers, it’s easy to assume that our response should be immediate. But I often don’t know the answer to these questions from prospective students, and in order to accurately respond, I must seek assistance from others on campus. It’s definitely acceptable to tell those who inquire for more information about your university that you are gathering details and will respond soon. This lets the individual know that your school isn’t ignoring the inquiry, but cares to take the time to collect the right information before responding.
Before UNMC, I worked at advertising agencies and a video production studio. These work environments naturally lent themselves to consistent creative concepting, as brainstorming was usually built into every social team meeting somehow. Working in UNMC’s PR Department now is a bit different, as it is structured much more like a newsroom with most members focused on writing internal stories and press releases about the university. Staying up-to-date with the latest social and digital trends has helped me stay inspired, as well as observing what other higher education institutions and brands are doing on social media. Coaching others in my department about how to brainstorm social media content with me has been an amazing experience too. Even though it may not be their area of expertise, educating them about social platforms and trends can help them understand how to collaborate and brainstorm with you.
3) What are the 2 most important skills to thrive as a social media pro in higher ed?
Unfortunately, social media is often a small part of many professionals’ jobs in higher education, as they may be expected to manage college or department accounts without much experience.
I’ve learned that patience is an important skill needed to thrive as a social media professional in higher education if advising these individuals is part of your position. As the only professional working specifically in social media at UNMC, educating others on campus about social best practices is part of my job. This responsibility can call for a significant amount of patience, as others’ prior experience with social media can greatly vary. Many individuals may not use social media in their personal lives, so the idea of social content development and management does not come as naturally as it does for others who use it frequently. It’s crucial that these smaller social accounts still adhere to your brand’s social guidelines in order to project a consistent image for your university, so your patience and guidance as their mentor is very important.
Time management is also a crucial professional skill needed to thrive in this industry. It’s easy to be pulled in several different directions at once when working in social media at a higher education institution, especially if you are on a small team. Many tasks in social media are brief compared to long-form projects like video editing. It is so important to have a strategy in place as to how you will tackle these tasks effectively and efficiently, as they are all key to your university’s social media plan, but easy to lose track of.
Follow Abby Meyer 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 Abby’s 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.