4 Universities Use Social Networks to Engage Community

Students, alumni and potential college students network socially every day. They're on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. And they're talking about you.

That's right, you. These conversations about your university are going on with or without you. So you should jump into the conversation and start shaping it, advises Michael Kaltenmark, director of Web marketing and communications at Butler University.

Check out how Butler and three other universities join the conversation, create a team, show their personality, provide customer service and mobilize their audience.
 

Join the conversation

University of Wisconsin-Madison

About two years ago, the chancellor at University of Wisconsin-Madison developed a campus initiative that needed student support. But social media connections with students were almost nonexistent. While the university had a Twitter account, it streamed nothing but news content. 

"At that point, we realized we needed to make more meaningful connections to folks," said John Lucas, university relations specialist and institutional social media manager.

Lucas started managing the Twitter account and promoting the campus initiative, which succeeded. And once the university saw that success, the administration realized how instrumental social media could become on a number of different levels.

“We had been on Facebook and YouTube and Flickr and those for a while," Lucas said, "but I’d say Twitter in particular really helped us kind of open up to a philosophy of sustained engagement with our community.”

The communications staff members at both University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University in Milwaukee run the major social networking properties for their universities. And they view social media as an extension of their jobs.

Marquette University

Marquette adapts different platforms, different audiences and different means to accomplish its goals, said Tim Cigelske, communication specialist. 

"You just really have to understand and use the mediums for what they have to offer instead of just treating them like an email or a press release or anything else you might be doing,” Cigelske said.

Like other universities, Marquette has major umbrella accounts run by communications staff, but also has specific accounts that departments and colleges run.

For example, the admissions group starts a Facebook group each year for incoming freshmen. In that group, they can ask questions about campus life and admissions. And admissions counselors, current students and tour guides answer them.

A couple admissions counselors respond, even late at night and on weekends. And their efforts have made an impact.

One of the counselors has reached rock star status with incoming students. When the students she interacts with on Facebook come to campus for orientation and registration, they want to take a picture with her. And they send her messages saying that they were intimidated and scared. But she made the admissions process fun.

Butler University

When universities join social networks, they have to put themselves in the audience's shoes, said Kaltenmark from Butler University in Indianapolis. Ask yourself, "What does our audience want to know or hear about?" Then give it to them.

And at the same time, you need to show personality and take the time to read and respond to what people say. That's way more effective than spewing out spam or shoving press releases down their throat.

“If you’re not conversational, you’re just going to get overlooked," Kaltenmark said.

Syracuse University

Before Syracuse University hired Kelly Lux last year as a full-time community manager, the university's Twitter account streamed out press releases. Not anymore.

"We have decided that we’re going to engage with people," said Lux, the community manager for both the university and the School of Information Studies. "We’re not just going to be pushing out information because that’s not what social media is about.”

By interacting on sites including Twitter and the location-based network Foursquare, Syracuse has grown its brand awareness. And the New York university has done it with the help of students.
 

Create a team

In the fall, Lux hired eight or nine students to work on her social media team. But she didn't ask for applications. For the main university Twitter account, she handpicked students who actively engaged on Twitter and did more than just talk with their friends.

Because the students go to Syracuse, the university's stream has a life and vibe that really resonates with the audience.

"They bring a completely different feel to it just because of the fact that they are current students,” Lux said.

Occasionally a student freezes up and doesn't know how to respond to a tweet. Or someone says something that doesn't represent the university. 

But Lux treats these moments as learning opportunities. And once she talks through the situation with them, the lesson sticks.

The undergraduate and graduate students come from different disciplines, which adds a variety of perspectives to the accounts they manage. Three students focus on Twitter, a few are figuring out what to do with Tumblr, and one student manages Foursquare.

Syracuse is one of only three universities in the nation with a branded badge on Foursquare. And that's allowed the university to connect with alumni in its three satellite locations as well as in cities that host alumni events.

"We’re trying to engage our alumni wherever they are around the country, and hopefully around the world eventually,” Lux said.
 

Show your personality

At Butler, the university's mascot engages alumni, faculty, current and potential students the most through social media. But this isn't your ordinary mascot. This is Butler Blue II, a live English bulldog. And he tweets.

Blue's caretaker, Kaltenmark, wanted to maximize the impact of the live mascot.

“When social media came around I’m like, 'Oh, this is a dream, this is a gift. I can give this dog a true voice and personality now.'"

Over the past few years, Blue has built up a loyal following on Twitter. And now his social media presence has become an asset to the university. While the university Twitter account is informative and somewhat engaging, the English bulldog's account grabs attention and holds it.

"Blue is the icing on the cake," Kaltenmark said. "He’s the account and the one that’s keeping people interested and engaged and coming back.”

And he's not just engaging Butler's audience. He's also attracting high school students, grandmothers and everyone in between.

By giving Blue a voice and personality, Butler has received exposure that it may not have gotten any other way.

When Butler played Virginia Commonwealth University in the Final Four last month, a host of VCU fans followed Blue and retweeted his stuff because they thought he was funny. Butler won the game, but VCU fans still follow Blue.

While other universities have mascots and might tweet for them, most don't have a live dog, Kaltenmark said. And if they do have a live dog and don't tweet, they're missing out.

Provide customer service

Along with showing your personality, you need to show students that you're listening to them, Lux said.

“Make sure that you’re responding to people and looking at yourself as A. customer service, and B. news and information,” Lux said.

Syracuse had two huge snowstorms this year, and both times the university needed to make responding to students a priority. The first time, the campus didn't close, and students complained about it. The second time, the campus did close, and students wanted to know if they could go to places on campus. 

Throughout both of those storms, Lux responded quickly to their complaints and questions on Twitter. And that's something that universities need to do whenever a situation like this comes up and students want answers.

"They may not know where to go to ask these questions," Lux said, "but they know that we’re there and that we will respond to them.” 

At University of Wisconsin-Madison, the staff behind the main Twitter account answers questions and solves problems as well. By responding, you show that you know campus history, can answer more difficult questions and point them to resources about controversies, Lucas said.

For example, a few students asked why the chairs weren't out yet on the terrace. The weather was in the '60s on Wednesday, and students wanted to sit in the sunburst metal chairs on the iconic union terrace that overlooks water.

Lucas sent a quick email asking someone at the student union where they were. Then he responded to the students who asked and sent out a general tweet with an update. 
 

Mobilize your audience

Now that Marquette has built a loyal, responsive and engaged audience, the university can put the audience to work, Cigelske said. Each year, the university celebrates National Marquette Day, a worldwide day associated with Marquette pride and basketball. And Marquette set a goal of engaging alumni and increasing alumni donations. 

On social media platforms, the university set a goal of engaging alumni and increasing alumni donations. On Facebook, Marquette promoted a photo contest around Marquette pride and helped fans find a game watching party near them.

In one day, the university's Facebook page had 60 different postings from Honolulu to London. And through the campaign, Marquette raised $17,000.

“One thing that people don’t do enough is ask their audience to participate or to do something,” Cigelske said. “I think that’s the whole point. You need to have some sort of call to action, otherwise you just have 15,000 fans who don’t do anything.”

In addition to asking them to donate to the university, you can ask them to like another page or serve in the community. Cigelske cautions that you can't abuse that privilege or do it too much, but the whole point of building an engaged audience is to spark action of some sort. 

Butler has successfully communicated with and engaged people through various platforms, Kaltenmark said. Now the university wants to focus on driving action.

“The idea is, 'OK, we’ve successfully communicated and engaged people with these accounts, with these mediums,'" Kaltenmark said. '"Now let’s be strategic about what we say and what people do as a result of what we say.”

From a marketing standpoint, he wants to get people back to butler.edu for whatever reason. Other actions could include, "attend this event," "buy this," or "donate."

Final thoughts

Through social media, these four universities have joined the conversation, created a team, showed their personality, served their customers and called their audiences to action.

As a result, they've built a loyal, engaged audience. They've shown students that they'll respond to their questions and concerns. And they've mobilized their community.

Lucas from the University of Wisconsin-Madison says, “I think it’s really done more for communications with students than anything that we’ve done in our office in the last decade.” 

Resources:

• Marquette University social media (includes social media guidelines)
• Butler University social media
• University of Wisconsin-Madison Twitter account (scroll down on home page)
• Syracuse University Foursquare, Twitter account