Twitter may not get the same love as other social networks, but don’t let the rumors fool you. The social site has over 330 million active monthly users, which is a four percent increase from last year. Another bright spot in the Twitter community is its diversity. Over 40 languages are supported, and nearly 80 percent of users are international. For colleges and universities that are looking to expand their reach, Twitter is the channel to support this growth.
What comes as a challenge is knowing how to use Twitter for higher education marketing recruitment. With the ability to post 10-15 tweets a day compared to one or two posts on Facebook or Instagram, Twitter has a very different landscape. How can you cut through the noise and reach your target audience?
Let’s discuss the ways that you can use Twitter to promote your institution and reach students who would make a great addition to your higher education programs.
Deliver Great Content
To be successful on Twitter, you must have some decent content to deliver. This content can come in any form such as videos, images, links to articles, blog posts and more. I highly recommend having a content marketing calendar planned out in advance so that you have a reliable and varied assortment of content to pull from.
Use Hashtags
Hashtags have a home on Twitter. They are used to categorize and organize information. A post you could have made last week will show up in a hashtag search, giving users a more well-rounded image of your school. According to research from Buffer, tweets with hashtags receive twice the engagement than those without hashtags. But, there is a limit. Tweets that use more than two hashtags show a 17 percent drop in engagement.
Reinforce Your Message
If there’s one thing that sets Twitter apart from other social networks, it’s the ability to share your message multiple times. If you do this on Facebook, you run the risk of looking spammy. On Twitter, you can share the same content multiple times – even on the same day! Of course, it’s best to tweak the post and share at various times of the day so that you reach a new audience.
Be Active and Engaged
Research shows that all metrics increase when you are active and engaged on Twitter. Aside from posting content, you should spend time each day reading other people’s content, replying to tweets and mentions and sending direct messages. The more effort you make to interact with others, the more opportunities there will be for engagement, both online and offline.
You won’t solve all of your recruitment shortfalls by using Twitter, but you can certainly help some of them. A solid higher education recruitment strategy involves content marketing, outreach, advertising – and a bit of Twitter.
