Social media audiences shift and evolve over time. This is particularly evident in Higher Education as prospective students become enrolled students and later alumni. In only four years, an audience for a university’s social media presence can completely change. Building upon my article on Figuring Out Student University Digital Communication Preferences, it is critical for academia to conduct research regularly in order to have the best chances possible in successfully connecting with its different audiences.
The foundation for a strategy
This is where marketing research becomes pivotal for social media leadership. Data must be gathered and analyzed to reveal where audiences’ preferences lie. This information is vital to building a winning social media strategy and optimizing it over time. Digital communication and marketing teams need to present this data to leadership as an opener to a formal strategy. The strategy will be built on the data gathered. By doing this social media leadership can foster trust and most importantly buy-in to the ideas presented in the strategy and future projects.
University leadership does not always have a deep understanding of social media as they are only users of the platforms. Unfortunately for this reason many will sort to vanity metrics and comments to gauge the health and effectiveness of social media efforts.
Insights are your friend
In conclusion, marketing research data along with content performance metrics are the key for social media teams to gain the trust of university leadership. More importantly, this data must be presented as easy-to-understand insights that truly deliver rich information quickly. Bridging the gap between numbers and insights is the most valuable skill a marketing researcher can have.
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