A 2016 interview with Professor H. Rao Unnava, Dean of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, describes the higher education “product” as a longitudinal experience. Therefore, students enroll, graduate, and later have an extended relationship with the university as alumni. How can social media play a role in building brand loyalty early in this longitudinal experience?
Incoming first-year students are generally higher in the brand loyalty hierarchy since they recently decided. However, other student groups have faced stresses and rigors in academic life and might be less excited than their first-year counterparts. So how can social media nudge first-years higher to the extreme brand identification category earlier and keep them there? The most straightforward answer is to shine the light on them. Here are ten ideas for shining that light:
Appeal Early to Ego – Congratulate students on their high school Instagram. Schools frequently make announcements of who is going where. Use them to congratulate!
Share Traditions – Pass on the history by sharing quick university traditions and stories. Instill that culture early on.
Start Building Team Pride – Provide a different game-day experience to first-year students. Differentiate to build value. Focus on providing an experience worth sharing.
Promote UGC – Give students assets to build their content, such as gif stickers for their class year freshmen IG templates, for them to share and start networking through a class hashtag.
Experiential UGC – Events such as welcome week and orientations provide opportunities for UGC. For example, a mascot can be present to join student TikTok. University pride backdrops and other fun photo elements can be placed for their content-creation use.
Deliver Key Information – Get them the information to find valuable resources they will need in their few weeks. This will also help position your social media as an information resource.
Student Highlights – What students from the incoming class stand out and why? Share their stories but make them short!
Merch Giveaway – Share campus apparel educate on school colors and other merchandise through a giveaway. Don’t forget to recognize the winner!
You’re In a Great Place – Drop the occasional mention of winning a ranking, award, or some other recognition by a trusted source. Don’t use smaller recognitions, as these can be interpreted as filler.
Connect with Alumni – Share the voices of your most prominent alumni supporters. Have them welcome the new class and share their #1 reason for university pride. Get students to visualize their future as alumni.
Brand loyalty efforts need to be nurtured and carefully planned throughout the student’s entire journey. What ideas do you have beyond the first-year students? How does academic life over time erode into that first-year halo effect? Good luck shining that bright light!
Roary The Panther - Mascot of Florida International University
Gifs are a great way to provide fans with branded content for UGC.
