Chris Barrows, Social Media and Mobile Products Coordinator at New York University, is one of the 12 presenters of the 4th Higher Ed Social Media Conference.
In this 3-question interview, Chris 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?
The consistent growth of NYU’s #congratagradNYU campaign year over year has been our greatest success story.
You're in the big leagues now. #NYU2015 #congratagradNYU pic.twitter.com/MuLAWP1uYM
— New York University (@nyuniversity) May 20, 2015
The campaign could have easily capped out at this point – but instead – has continued to grow. I’m optimistic that this growth will continue to grow as we tweak and expand our actionable marketing efforts.
2) What are the 2 most difficult parts of your social media job and how do you deal with them?
Training varied skilled levels is and will always be a major challenge. Value must be provided for all who attend my training sessions globally and pre-training data is a critical component required for success.
In addition, the dark social taking place makes social listening more challenging. I look forward to improving my own abilities to discover where dark social is taking place in regards to the issues that need to be discovered more effectively.
3) What are the 2 most important skills to thrive as a social media pro in higher ed?
Relationship skills are the most important in social media. Without strong relationship skills, you’ll never truly understand what it means to be “social”. The technology will change, but one’s ability to build relationships will have a direct impact on the way one communicates with their audience.
In addition, flexibility is a must for all professionals in the field. You must be able to adjust on the fly – while keeping with the core strategic values that drive your social media approach.
Follow Chris Barrows for a day at work on Instagram!
Are you a fan of social media takeovers by students or alums?
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 Chris’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.
Tags: HESM16, Higher Ed News