Dr Corie Martin, Digital Marketing Director at Western Kentucky University, is one of the 12 presenters of the 5th Higher Ed Social Media Conference.
In this 4-question interview, Corie tells us about managing social media demands, a learning outcome, the role of video in social media strategy and chimes in on Snapchat.
1) How do you manage the demands on your time and focus inherent to social?
This year I have relied heavily on two key elements to help me manage my time and focus: content calendars and strategy meetings with our internal news and marketing team as well as the group we call our “Marketing Super Users,” all key influencers across campus. Calendaring has been crucial to helping us stay on task with our monthly thematic content and communication workflow.
Each week our internal team meets to look for coverage opportunities across campus. Monthly we meet with our Super Users to share ideas, go over upcoming events and to plan how we can crosspost or promote our collective outreach efforts. It truly takes a village.
2) What is the most useful thing for your social media work you’ve learned over the past 12 months?
This year we religiously implemented a content calendar. We had loosely used it before, but we absolutely rely on it now. It has helped us grow, find holes in content coverage, and calendars keep us focused and on track. The beauty is that social media is fluid, so if something doesn’t work the first time, you can tweak it and try it in a different way. We have been able to play with timing and creative in an effort to get our campaigns to be the best they can be.
3) What role does video play in the social media strategy of your school?
Video is everything to us right now.
We have a new president who is a huge fan of a very specific type of video, so we have had to change our strategies to include much more video coverage than ever before. In the past we really didn’t have the resources we needed to produce quality video pieces on the fly. This year we have made it work by using video more strategically, and our engagement numbers are growing.
4) Snapchat is still somehow controversial in higher ed. Do you think schools should invest time and resources on this platform?
I think Snapchat is like any other medium, it only works well with time and effort.
We have had most success with stories told in the student voice. We recently implemented a #WKUStudentSquad social media ambassador team and we allow them to takeover our Snapchat account during student events.
A heavy sales (“recruitment”) message really doesn’t fit the medium. We have also had great adoption rates of geofilters we used during very specific special events (graduation or orientation). We consider geofilters a great investment where it comes to engagement, though ROI is hard to determine. You can’t necessarily tie use of a geofilter back to enrollment, retention, or graduation rates. Is it worth it to do it just because people like it, or is it a better idea to use a medium that is more directly tied to one of our strategic initiatives, like recruitment? THAT is the question!
A day in the life of a higher ed social media pro: Dr Corie Martin
Are you a fan of social media takeovers by students or alums?
Dr Corie Martin took over Higher Ed Experts’ Instagram account for a day on November 6, 2017 as part of the Higher Ed Social Media Conference Speakers Takeovers where your higher ed social media colleagues share a day in their life.
A conference focusing on higher ed social media?
The Higher Ed Social Media Conference is a must-attend event for higher ed social media professionals and teams 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 experience.
Tags: HESM17, Higher Ed News