3 lessons from Kent State’s multi-audience social campaign

Using pride to draw emotional resonance.

Appealing to multiple audiences through a single social media campaign can be challenging.

“Managing social media in higher education is like juggling multiple audiences all while trying to tell stories that actually matter,” said Deanna Stevens Ulrich, director of digital content at Kent State University. “You can’t just mimic the latest trend.”

Designing content that works for all these groups is tricky because their needs and perspectives differ, she said.

Stevens Ulrich recently led a campaign ahead of commencement that showed former students doing cool things out in the world. It was designed to meet multiple audiences during the height of graduation celebrations.

Speaking next month at Ragan’s Social Media Conference, Stevens Ulrich said  what social teams need to know to successfully execute a multi-audience social strategy.

Define a clear purpose and prioritize the goal

Before creating content, Stevens Ulrich always asks, “What is this meant to accomplish?”

“I always keep the goal in mind,” she said. “When I’m coming up with content ideas, first things first, I’m thinking about what we’re trying to do.”

For the campaign, the goal was to celebrate graduates while reinforcing outcomes for prospective students and families. This was accomplished through a yearbook-style highlight carousel that showcased graduates doing cool things.

“With commencement coming up, we wanted to welcome our newest group of alumni,” Stevens Ulrich said. “But we also wanted to show what’s possible after you graduate.”

She said the campaign was meant to work for:

• Graduates, as a recognition moment
• Alumni, as a reminder of the value of their degree
• Prospective students, as a preview of real success

Social teams should start with a one-sentence goal for every piece of content. Tie it to business, brand or audience outcomes before worrying about the format or platform. What message do you want to get across? Who will it serve? What do you want to achieve?

Optimize for the behavior you want

The team used a swipeable Instagram carousel designed like a digital yearbook. Each slide paired a photo with a short explanation of the alumnus’ accomplishments. It included recent graduates as well as notable students from years past.

One slide featured an astronaut wearing a Kent State sweatshirt in space. Another highlighted a former baseball player now playing with the Savannah Bananas.

 

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A post shared by Kent State University (@kentstate)

“It made people want to keep swiping,” Stevens Ulrich said. “They wanted to see who was next.”

The post generated more than 4,500 likes.

Pick formats that reinforce the behavior you want, whether that’s time spent, shares or engagement. Kent State’s priority was people spending time looking at each slide and lingering on each former student’s journey, Stevens Ulrich said.

Find an emotional commonality

Kent State’s campaign emphasized school pride, but in a real, tangible way, Stevens Ulrich said.

“There’s a level of pride in being a Golden Flash,” she said of the university’s icon.  “That sentiment ties prospective students, current students, alumni and families together.”

The emotion of pride was rooted in actual achievements like succeeding in sports, science, entertainment and entrepreneurship, she said. These are things everyone can get behind and show the versatility of the school’s programming.

Decide what you want people to feel when they see or hear your message. Anchor emotion in concrete examples. Show, don’t tell when possible, and highlight others’ experiences in their own words. This makes your story resonate without feeling promotional, Stevens Ulrich said. This could be done through student interviews, a video series or an image. But there should always be a visual element that helps create emotion.

Share and credit. It may pay off.

After publishing, many former Flashes shared the content themselves. The post was reshared by actor Grant Gustin, known for The Flash, whose wife attended Kent State. His reshare was one example of reach that expanded organically, Stevens Ulrich said.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” she said. “But that’s when you know people feel connected to it.”

Create posts that make stakeholders want to share on their own. Tag them, credit them and give them something worth amplifying, she said.

“Not every post is going to achieve that,” Stevens Ulrich said. “But what matters is understanding why something worked and then trying to build off of it.”

Register here to learn more from Stevens Ulrich and other industry experts during Social Media Conference March 9-11 in Orlando, Florida.

Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at courtneyb@ragan.com.

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