UMC Social Media Strategic Plan

The UMC social media strategic plan was approved in this form in 2018. It guides content strategy for flagship accounts. Consider how your unit can incorporate university goals into its social strategy.

Objective

To deliver coordinated and consistent communication that advances the University’s mission through the University’s flagship social media accounts, using diverse, creative, and engaging content steered by University Marketing and Communications (UMC) in collaboration with units across campus; and to establish and share guidelines with other campus units that manage their own social media accounts.

Goals for Illinois State flagship accounts

Advance the mission. Demonstrate how the University prepares high-achieving, diverse, and motivated students to excel in a globally competitive, culturally diverse, and rapidly changing environment.
Promote Redbird pride. Increase pride, engagement, and foster community among university stakeholders by sharing content that facilitates connections with the University and reinforces shared values.
Engage and inform students. Assist student recruitment and retention by sharing content that differentiates the Illinois State experience.
Reinforce the reputation. Advance the University’s reputation by promoting its achievements, highlighting its role as a cultural resource for the community, and developing and protecting its brand.
Enhance the culture of philanthropy. Share compelling stories that demonstrate how private gifts provide the University with a margin of excellence, and celebrate those who support the University.

Strategies

Tell stories (text, photos and video) that highlight the individualized attention students receive in and out of the classroom.
Work with campus partners to share content that informs and engages prospective students and their families.
Reflect ISU’s diverse scholarly community by highlighting undergraduate, graduate, and faculty research.
Share content that routinely reflects the diversity of the student population.
Highlight impact that Redbirds have in communities around the world.
Share stories about successful alumni outcomes, including careers and personal passions.

Promote Redbird pride

Foster pride by highlighting university accomplishments, including academic honors, points of pride, athletics, student leadership, civic engagement, and other distinctions.
Elevate the visibility of educational, alumni, cultural, athletics, and recreational events and programs.
Encourage students, faculty/staff, alumni and friends to wear licensed Redbird merchandise each Friday.
Encourage alumni to reflect on and share their own ISU story. Highlight how campus life has evolved over the years.

Engage and inform students

Collaborate with units across the University and regularly monitor all key social media channels to amplify information about upcoming campus events and programs, and promote safe, healthy behaviors and choices.
Monitor and, when appropriate, rebroadcast student posts, tweets, photos, and videos.
Share official updates during campus emergencies, when appropriate, as directed by the Emergency Operations Center.

Reinforce the reputation

Promote faculty, staff, student, and alumni achievements, including those featured in external media outlets (in consultation with Media Relations).
Recognize students involved in civic engagement and leadership development opportunities.
Promote the University’s role as a cultural resource for the campus and surrounding community by amplifying information about events and other programs.
Promote the University’s expanding prominence in the Chicago area and other regional markets.
Propagate the University’s latest “Points of Pride.”
Monitor social media channels and, when appropriate, respond to posts, tweets, photos, and videos, or bring them to the attention of the proper campus unit.

Enhance the culture of philanthropy

Share information that educates the audience about the important role private gifts play in supporting students and creating a margin of excellence.
Celebrate those who support the University by making gifts of all sizes.
Working with the UA development team to promote content that supports the messaging of upcoming giving opportunities and campaigns.
Promote Alumni Engagement events and initiatives that engage alumni and friends with the University.

Strategic overview for each flagship account

Facebook

Audience

The University’s Facebook audience largely aligns with the platform’s demographic. The main difference is the split between the percentage of female to male followers on the University’s page. Facebook has an overall user base of 54 percent female to 46 percent male, whereas the University page has a 63 percent male to 36 percent female split.

The University’s age groups by percentage are as follows:

13–17: 1 percent
18–24: 19 percent
25–34: 31 percent
35–44: 18 percent
45–54: 17 percent
55–65: 9 percent
65+: 5 percent

The University’s audience is mostly located in Illinois, with the bulk of the following based in Chicago, Bloomington-Normal, Peoria, and Springfield.

Objectives

As illustrated by the demographic information, the University’s page reaches a broad group of Illinois State stakeholders. Messages need to serve the broadest possible audience while still engaging with followers and meeting the University’s strategic goals. Here are the University’s objectives for the Facebook page:

Build awareness of and generate goodwill toward the Illinois State brand.
Engage, entertain, and inform followers about activities and news related to the University.
Celebrate institutional, alumni, student, faculty, and staff successes and marks of excellence.
Drive higher enrollment, giving, and event attendance numbers.

Content

Facebook wants to host content that keeps users on the platform for as long as possible. Facebook’s algorithms highly prioritize live, photographic, and video content and tend to restrict content with links that lead users off the platform. The University is increasingly working to create stories that have more photo galleries, videos, and GIFs included in them.

The University avoids using images with text in them as they go against web accessibility standards. The University rarely shares images, memes, or GIFs from non-Illinois State related users. Facebook users tend to react negatively to content that does not directly relate to the page they follow. The University avoids viral content that is not tied to its stated objectives so as not to devalue the brand.

Posting frequency

Research has shown that posting more than twice a day can hinder the overall reach of a page’s posts. Research has also shown that a Facebook page should post content at least three times a week to keep an audience engaged. Based on this data and the need to reach multiple audiences, the University shares one to two posts on Facebook daily. When there are two posts scheduled, one is set for the mid-morning and the second for the mid-afternoon. The timing of these posts correlates with times research has shown there is higher social media usage. Posting about similar topics on the same day is avoided to keep posts from cannibalizing each other.

Voice

The Facebook audience is the broadest the University serves on social media. The University strives to maintain a friendly, conversational tone. The University encourages followers to ask questions and otherwise engage with the page and their fellow Redbirds about the content that is shared.

Analytics

Each month, UMC produces a report analyzing the previous month’s performance. The report shows successes and failures and helps with general plans for future content. The University primarily track the growth rate, number of engaged users, and the most engaging posts. Facebook’s native “insights” page is used to gather this data and then share it through a report generated on Google Data Studio.

Growth strategy

In addition to growing its Facebook presence organically through the posting of interesting and relevant content, the University utilizes Facebook’s native advertising suite. Facebook Blueprint is an online tool that allows users to learn about running ads through both Facebook and Instagram.

Instagram

Audience

The University’s Instagram audience is young and primarily female (67 percent). The audience’s largest age groups are 18–24 and 25–34, who together make up 67 percent of the audience. Users older than 55 make up approximately 6 percent of followers.

Objectives

Based on the demographics of its followers, the University’s primary goal on Instagram is to reach prospective students, current students, and young alumni. Here are the main objectives:

Build brand awareness and goodwill.
Engage and grow the audience.
Create stories letting users know about events and activities taking place at Illinois State.
Share engaging images of campus, featured individuals, and events.

Content

Instagram is a visual medium first and foremost. For the feed, the University shares photos and short videos that give users a glimpse into what is happening at Illinois State. Analytics show the best posts are photos of campus, athletics-related material, and videos of the Quad. The University has also been sharing short, looping videos and has seen high engagement from them. Links to events and stories on the platform are shared via Instagram Stories.

Posting frequency

The University posts three to five times per week. For Instagram Stories, the goal is to have at least one slide up a day during the work week. Stories are primarily used on the weekend for event coverage/live content. University followers are most active in the evening, so the account begins posting in the afternoon. If multiple posts are shared a day, they are spaced out by at least a couple hours.

Voice

To create content Instagram users want to see, the University has a lighter tone than it would on other platforms. On Instagram stories, the account is much quicker to share memes, gifs, and stickers than the University would on Facebook or Twitter. Humor and puns are used when appropriate, hashtags are used frequently, and users are tagged whenever possible. Even still, the University takes great strides to not come off as overly irreverent about the brand and avoids chasing the newest viral craze. Posts about academic success and research are generally presented as originally written in the News system.

Analytics

Each month, UMC produces a report analyzing the month’s performance. In it, successes and failures are noted as well as general plans for future content. Growth rate, average number of likes, and average number of comments are the main numbers gathered. Instagram does not offer as robust of an analytics backend as Facebook does, so much of this material is gathered manually. Information on demographics and growth can be obtained for business account users on the application itself.

Growth strategy

The University has allowed the account to grow organically by posting content relevant to young alumni and current and prospective student audiences in a manner consistent with the social media channel’s best practices.

Tik Tok

Audience

The University’s TikTok audience is young and predominately female (79%). TikTok mostly attracts prospective and incoming students with a few young alumni in the mix. Most active users on this platform range from ages 10-29 (62%).

Objective

The main objectives are to provide content and resources that reach current and prospective students for opportunities within the University.

Content

TikTok is a short-form video platform. Content is produced around TikTok trends and sounds that can be used to promote campus life, collaborations with other units, events, and news occurring at the University. The type of content published on TikTok is lighter in tone while utilizing TikTok’s algorithm to reach the University’s targeted audience.

Posting frequency

The University posts three to four times per week. Content is posted during the weekday to highlight campus events, student life, admissions, and more. Campus collaborators at UMC, Admissions, Student Affairs, Alumni Engagement among other departments and units assist in how much is being posted on the platform.

Voice

The platform brings storytelling on a different level with the growth of endless niches and subcultures for users to explore. Self-expression, humor, and relatable experiences have become the focal point of the platform. The content created using TikTok trends are on the playful and humorous side than other official University accounts.

Analytics

UMC produces a monthly report analyzing post performance. TikTok’s growth rate is analyzed through the number of likes, follows, and content produced on the account.

Growth strategy

Because TikTok is a video sharing platform similar to Instagram Reels an d YouTube Shorts , UMC cross - promote content on both Instagram (Reels and Story) and TikTok to maximize efforts in content creation and promoting followership. The account grows organically through trending hashtags and sounds relevant to current and prospective student audiences while maintaining an appropriate online presence. Aside from using TikTok trends to attract an audience, the University actively engages with users and their videos by commenting, liking, and sometimes reposting if the user’s content is appropriate.

Twitter

Audience

In general Twitter attracts a slightly older demographic than Instagram and a slightly younger one than Facebook, though it trails far beyond both in total audience size. With 50,000+ followers, the flagship account’s audience is comparable in size with its peer institutions and comprises a variety of key stakeholders including alumni, students and staff, students, friends of Illinois State, media, and institutional accounts representing groups on and off campus. The University’s following is predominantly female (60 percent) and based in Illinois (65 percent).

Objectives

Over the past year, the University’s Twitter account has experienced a sharp decrease in tweet impressions from the previous year. The platform has also been in flux for most of 2022 due to internal turmoil following its conversion from a public to a private company. For these reasons and the lack of a clear alternative with a similar size audience, the University has chosen to stay on the channel but decrease the frequency of posting on the platform to observe its trajectory and decide how it wants to proceed in the future.

These are the main objectives of the account:

Provide timely updates to students and faculty/staff about campus news, traffic, emergencies, etc.
Offer general customer service for the University by engaging with stakeholders, including alumni, students, and prospective students and their parents, who may have questions or concerns.
Provide an ongoing conversation about the University and the things happening on campus.
Build awareness of and generate goodwill toward the Illinois State brand.
Engage, entertain, and inform the account’s followers.
Celebrate the University’s successes and marks of excellence.
Drive higher enrollment, giving, and event attendance.

Content

Twitter began as a channel best suited to report time-sensitive news. It is now used in a variety of ways depending on the user. Experts share commentary and engage with followers. Celebrities promote their activities and brand. Athletic teams highlight stars and provide running commentary of competitions. The University uses a variety of content to meet its strategic goals outlined above due to the wide range of people and institutions who can be found on the social media channel.

Twitter allows for some versatility in postings, though almost all of the University’s tweets include a multimedia element to better attract notice. The University tweets story links, photo galleries, polls, videos, Twitter threads (linked tweets elaborating on a theme), and GIFs. To a lesser extent, the University also posts live videos and does live tweeting from events such as important athletic contests and major campus events. Through retweets the University amplifies the voices of various units across campus and external sources that share positive news about the University.

Posting frequency

The University tweets between two to four times a day with about half as many retweets, from roughly 7 a.m. into the evening hours, taking advantage of peak hour usage. The University has pulled back on posting frequency due in part to the instability of the platform.

Voice

Illinois State utilizes a conversational but professional tone when tweeting, integrating hashtags and Twitter handles where appropriate to gain followers and to extend the reach of posts. UMC’s social media coordinator edits all tweets to maintain the integrity of the institution’s voice. Even though there has been discussion that Twitter will allow much longer posts in the near future , UMC prioritize s creating tweets that are concise. The University strives for clarity and uses links, multimedia, and threads when appropriate to expand on the original message. When appropriate, a lighter tone is taken when engaging with prospective students, current students, and alumni with heavy use of relevant hashtags.

Analytics

Using Twitter’s native analytical tools, the University tracks impressions, overall engagements, retweets, likes, and link clicks, impressions per tweets, and engagement rate. The social media team also tracks which tweets are gaining traction, which type of content is drawing the most and least engagement, and which tweets are leading to clicks. Tracking the latter also informs the University’s strategy in promoting online content such as stories and videos. Numbers vary by month, but the University garners an average of 2,700 impressions per post with a 1.5 percent engagement rate.

Growth strategy

Even though Twitter hasn’t been stable throughout most of 2022, the Illinois State account continues to show steady growth. The University uses a variety of strategies to increase its following, thereby expanding the reach of its tweets and messaging:

Run advertising campaigns to attract new followers, especially in August and January when new students arrive on campus.
Include hashtags and Twitter handles when appropriate in order to expand the reach of tweets and spread awareness to potential followers.
Engage with users by retweeting, liking, and replying to relevant tweets.
Post content relevant to many important stakeholder groups, particularly students and alumni.
Promote the Twitter account in online and print materials.

Audience

LinkedIn attracts a professional and highly educated audience. The University’s page has 150,000-plus followers. About 90 percent of the University’s followers are listed as alumni with nearly 70 percent of the audience based in Chicago (45 percent) or Central Illinois (25 percent). The highest job category for the University’s followers is higher education, but there is strong representation from the insurance industry and other business-related fields such as sales, finance, and marketing. Over a quarter of the University’s followers work for entities with more than 10,000 employees.

Objectives

Based on the nature of LinkedIn and the University’s following, the main objectives are to provide content and resources that connect with alumni, career-minded prospective and current students, and potential recruits for university jobs.

Content

The University shares career tips and resources, points of pride, student and alumni success stories, online and print stories showcasing scholarship and civic engagement, and other posts promoting the value of a degree from Illinois State.

Posting frequency

The University posts or shares content about five times a week.

Voice

Illinois State utilizes a more formal, but still conversational, tone on LinkedIn compared with the one used on other social media channels. This matches the audience and the channel, which is primarily used by professionals and college students as a career networking tool. LinkedIn content is much less focused on the “social lives” of followers; therefore, the University rarely shares more light-hearted content that would be common on Instagram or Facebook.

Analytics

The University tracks metrics on its non-job ad related posts. Specifically, these include impressions, clicks, various forms of engagement (comments, shares, etc.), and click-through rates. The University also uses LinkedIn’s native analytical tools to spot trends among visitors to the University page and to gain a sense of the overall follower demographics.

Growth strategy

The University has allowed the account to grow organically over the years, by posting relevant content, by maintaining a brand-appropriate presence through LinkedIn various changes, and by engaging with followers who comment on the University’s updates.

YouTube

Audience

Illinois State has maintained a YouTube channel since February 2014, but only recently UMC has worked to build it into a destination for the existing and potential social media audience. Why? YouTube isn’t just a video platform, it is the second-largest search engine in the world (only surpassed by fellow Alphabet product Google). People are getting information about Illinois State University from YouTube already. Illinois State University should do what it can to ensure users are getting accurate information from students, faculty, and staff. The best way to do so is to dominate the search term “Illinois State University” and its synonyms on YouTube.

YouTube is also a platform that has strong metrics in a demographic UMC struggles to reach with its current slate of platforms: young men. As of this writing, about 54 percent of YouTube users are male, with advertisers putting most of their efforts to reach the coveted 18-34 year-old demographic. Contrast this with Instagram, which heavily tilts toward a female audience (67 percent).

The current demographic breakdown on the University YouTube is a near 50-50 split, with 49 percent of its viewers coming from 18-24 year-olds. 25-34 is next largest at 28 percent.

Objectives

The larger, overriding goal is to turn the currrent YouTube channel into an active social media destination. The University plans to do so by pursuing these smaller objectives:

Create videos highlighting the student experience at Illinois State University.
Highlight individual students through the Redbirds Now day in the life series.
Create informative, enjoyable videos about popular campus destinations, history, and traditions.
Identify upcoming stories in the editorial calendar that could be improved with a video component.

Content

The University creates both longer vlog-style videos and YouTube Shorts to reach the targeted audience, who will be searching for information about the student experience at Illinois State.

Posting frequency

The University will post one full-length video and two shorts a week, on average. Posting frequency will increase as more resources are devoted to video content.

Voice

Of the existing social media platforms, the YouTube presence most emulates Instagram in tone. UMC takes a lighter, more humorous approach when appropriate, but will not go as fully into irreverent content it does on TikTok. Videos about academic success and research are generally presented as originally written in the News system.

Analytics

Each month, UMC produces a report analyzing the month’s performance. In it, successes and failures are noted as well as general plans for future content. For YouTube, UMC primarily tracks subscriber growth, video views, and video watch time, among other metrics.

Growth strategy

UMC is producing many videos that can double as YouTube Shorts for Instagram and TikTok, and cross-post those when appropriate. Shorts are algorithm-friendly, and sharing as many as possible will give us more opportunities to lead people to the longer-form content. UMC will also run promotional material on the other social media platforms throughout the year to inform users about the YouTube channel and urging them to subscribe for the latest and greatest from Illinois State.