It’s no surprise that having a social media presence is paramount to a student society’s success. Having content that is engaging and on brand can be tricky, so we’ve outlined 3 ways your club can stand out from the crowd and captivate your members’ attention.
Use images and videos
Research shows that posts that also have an image can receive up to 94% more views. Having visual content to accompany your posts makes them stand out – it catches the attention of people who are scrolling on social media and stops them in their tracks. This goes for everything from advertising an event and making club announcements, to sharing internship opportunities and promoting your sponsor’s deals.
Having said this, it’s important that your images and videos are relevant. For example, if you’re advertising an event and wanting to encourage attendance, don’t be afraid to post photos with people in them from your previous events. If you run an annual Trivia Night, share photos from your last Trivia Night of people having fun. If you’re promoting a club stall, share photos of your exec running the stall. As obvious as it might sound, people want to know that your society is a community and that real people are involved.
Videos are an extremely powerful tool on social media. A post receives, on average, more engagement when it contains a video versus when it does not. Create video covers for your events, or get your executive team together to film a promotional video for your new merchandise. Not only is it a great way to advertise what you’re doing, and engage your members, but it’s a great way to bond with your team and - most importantly - it’s fun. It doesn’t have to be fancy to be effective - even just standing in front of a camera and talking about how excited you are for the next event is engaging content. Take a look at this funny example from the UTS Society of Communications, this dramatic themed one from the UQ Economics Society, and this simple and wholesome charity video by the Sydney Arts Students’ Society.
Create strong visuals and graphics
If your social media post is full of information, having graphics to accompany the post is a great way to synthesise the most important points. You don’t have to be a Photoshop whizz or be the most creative person - platforms like Canva and Piktochart make creating visual tiles easy. They have pre-made templates to spark inspiration and are extremely user friendly.
Visuals also make important information easier for your members to remember. When getting creative with visuals, it’s also worthwhile putting some thought into a theme or some key colours you might want to use on a regular basis – this may include using your society’s colours or repeating a particular font.
Be professional, yet personable
Relating to your audience is important for any brand. For university clubs, your audience is not only your peers and other students, but your wider university community. This can also extend to organisations in the industry and sponsors. That’s why it’s important to adapt your language to who you’re wanting to target, while being both professional and personable.
You can also adapt your language when promoting events, depending on the type of event. If it’s a social event, use casual language and content. For example, if you’re running a fundraising barbeque or a sporting event, have some fun with it! Where appropriate, you can even use things like memes to get your members excited.
However, if you’re trying to promote a professional event, memes probably won’t be as accepted. It’s important to not only make your members interested, but to keep your sponsors and industry organisations happy. Stick to more professional language - your graphics and social media tiles should also reflect this, keeping in tone with the event.
