Ideas, insights and inspirations.

I wrote a blog about Instagram and higher education a couple of years ago, and I think that it is a good time to revisit how universities can make the most of their Instagram presence. So, without further ado, here’s a quick Q&A with me, about Instagram in the higher education space. Q: Why should my institution care about Instagram? A: Because your prospects and current students care about Instagram. According to a social media survey by RBC Capital, 73% of 13- to 18-year-olds surveyed said that they had an Instagram account. SEVENTY-THREE PERCENT. If 73% of the prospects you’re trying to reach are standing in a room, shouldn’t you also be in that room? Teens care about Instagram and they’re actively engaging with the community every day. In a CNBC article about social media trends and teens, one 18-year-old is quoted saying “I feel that Instagram is still the most-used social media platform for people my age, and pretty … Continue reading

Posted in:

Snapchat had a rough year. With Instagram and Facebook stories moving in on Snapchat’s territory, Snapchat saw a drop in active user growth from 17.2% to just 5% this fall. Snapchat introduced stories in 2013. And they owned the market for daily image and video stories until August of 2016, when Instagram introduced their own story feature. There was a lot of initial backlash from users when Instagram stories launched last fall. It felt like Instagram had stolen something that was unique to Snapchat and users weren’t eager to switch platforms. But, as with most products and innovations the Facebook parent company has released over the years, users grew to love Instagram stories. This fall Instagram boasted a whooping 300 million daily users, trumping Snapchat’s 173 million. How will Snapchat rise above the tide in 2018? On Wednesday Snap, Inc. announced a major redesign to the app, an effort to differentiate themselves from other social media apps. One major change, … Continue reading

Posted in: ,

The title of this blog, “Find Meaning in Your Social Media Analytics” is kind of broad and could probably be interpreted in many ways. Upon coming across the blog title, one might think it was about discovering a secret way of distilling all that unruly social media web traffic into coherent and meaningful data reports. Others may think it is a blog about some new age digital strategy that will help you find your inner social media analytics chi that simplifies the way you look at clicks, likes and impressions. Although these ideas sound great and might be topics for future AHA blog posts, this one is simply about how to help you locate and find meaning in the social media analytics tools provided in your Facebook and Twitter accounts.  So let’s get started with this simple road map and light overview of the Facebook and Twitter analytics platforms that may help you make more sense of why you are … Continue reading

Posted in: , ,

Most of us use our personal social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for just that reason – simply being social. It’s an effortless way to catch up with old friends and for keeping tabs on family – you know, the “My goodness, look at how your kids have grown” moments. At one time or another many of us have also used social media channels for posting videos of our accomplishments, our kids, vacations and yes, the awesome water skiing squirrel. Even social media assets in the marketing and business realms serve social purposes with the goals of gaining business and notoriety within our manufacturing, higher education, financial banking or other fields of commerce. Most social media channels are online billboards for boosted digital ads in which a company’s message is displayed to targeted audiences. In many firms, social media is the supporting cast to marketing websites or blogs and if you have an energetic and focused social media … Continue reading

Posted in: , ,

So now that 2017 is in full flap, let’s jump right in and get that bird tuned up and singing on key. Here is some Twitter 411 to help with your social media marketing this year. This information is general knowledge and commonplace among social media marketers and Twitter jockeys everywhere and is not part of some secret social media cabal or in this case… flock.  So go ahead and take full advantage of these tips and information to make your manufacturing marketing or higher education social media campaigns fly higher this year. Definitions Impressions: Number of times users saw the Tweet on Twitter. Engagements: Total number of times a user interacted with a Tweet.  For example clicks anywhere on the Tweet which include: – retweets – replies – follows – likes – hashtags – embedded media – profile and more Engagement rate: Number of engagements divided by impressions. Followers: People who have chosen to follow your Twitter account and … Continue reading

Posted in: , ,

It used to be that a face-to-face meeting and a classic hand shake was all it took to seal the deal. Nowadays, manufacturing marketers realize that it takes a bit more to land a lucrative contract and is why digital is playing such a large part in manufacturing marketing strategy. According to The Content Marketing Institute (CMI), digital content marketing which includes social media, video and email newsletters has become the fastest growing segment of results driven manufacturing marketing and sales. In 2015, CMI told us that manufacturing content marketers relied heavily on the following three digital marketing channels: YouTube was the top social media tool for manufacturing content marketers in 2015. Manufacturing content marketers named the following social media platforms the most effective for their 2015 campaigns: So this year, hop on the manufacturing marketer trend wagon by elevating your social media, video production and e-newsletter output. Learn more about manufacturing marketing strategy and how to improve lead generation … Continue reading

Posted in: ,

Does anyone feel that the current crop of social media apps and tools resembles the produce section at your local supermarket? There are so many social media channels to choose from and just like fruit and vegetables, you need to choose the right ones for a delicious dish. Core social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are the standard bearers and like the lettuce in a good salad. Some social media tools such as Instagram and Pinterest share the same premise but function with a different flavor and heat like all of those colorful peppers in a green grocer’s case. Have you ever noticed those weird shaped alien looking fruits and vegetables like Buddha’s Hand or Romanesco? They look really cool but you just can’t find a good use for them yet… sort of like the social media tool Chirp. Then there are various types of hybrid fruits like the the pluot (plum and apricot) and tangelo (tangerine and pomelo) … Continue reading

Posted in: ,

Most people draw a clear line between conventional marketing of products and services, and social marketing, which broadly defined applies marketing principles to change human behavior in order to improve health or benefit society. But what happens when you bring a social issue forward that almost nobody knows even exists — one that goes to the very heart of an American ideal as old as the Declaration of Independence. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. True in countless respects, but not when it comes to gauging a child’s future academic success. Some children simply are born “gifted” or “talented” — and that wealth of talent spreads equally across all segments of the American population, regardless of race, religion, geography or family income. Researchers count about 3.4 million academically gifted American school children in grades K-12 who happen also to be poor. Here is where the story gets interesting. Year after year, grade after … Continue reading

Posted in: , , , , , ,

It’s simple. It’s about people, their stories and their relationships. It’s about compelling storytelling. It’s about telling stories with great photographs, great videos and intriguing ideas. If you follow these three guidelines with your social media, you will be very successful. Learn more about our social media marketing services.

Posted in:

According to Inside Higher Ed, “About two-thirds of high school students use social media to research colleges, and more than one-third of those students use social media to help decide where to enroll.” So why do colleges and universities post unsharable content to social channels that are designed for sharing? Posting the merits of your curriculum, class schedules and holiday wishes for your current students has a certain amount of utility. But is that content, which could easily be relegated to a page on the University’s main site, being shared with prospective students? Probably not. Social media is about people. People use it to post pics of themselves and friends. People use it to promote their righteous cause. People use it to find righteous causes to support. So it’s no wonder that posts about inspirational alumni, professors and community leaders get passed around much more than a post about summer scheduling. The University of Pittsburgh recently shared a tremendous story … Continue reading

Posted in: