Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s retention rates have reached an all-time-high in the Spring semester, which leaves me to wonder how much of an impact an online presence has on enrollment rates.
The NSU Office of Marketing and Branding received an award of Excellence in Online Presence during the Chamber of Commerce Go Natchitoches Awards program on Feb. 26. The Natchitoches Chamber rewarded NSU Marketing and Branding for “strong visuals and engaging content across digital and social media platforms,” according to nsula.edu.
I believe the strong social media presence of NSU has allowed for the university to portray an image that largely appeals to prospective students as well as keeps current students engaged.
The official NSU Instagram, @nsula, currently has 25,600 followers. While this may seem like mediocre numbers when compared to a celebrity’s social media following, I do not believe that this is a small number of people by any means.
Further analytics of NSU social media includes over 3 million impressions across platforms, more than 1.5 million video views on TikTok, a 15% increase in audience engagement compared to the previous year and a growth in follower count by 20%, according to the NSU Office of Marketing and Branding.
The large number of people taking in NSU’s content are not only clicking at a meaningless screen but rather are seeing a portrayal of NSU which is specifically designed to appeal to them.
Among their content plans are visuals, which consist of high quality images and videos like student achievements and alumni spotlights. The marketing office also creates informational posts that consist of graphics announcing university closures, events or updates, and they also produce interactive content like polls in their social media so that followers directly give feedback. These are some of the examples provided by the NSU Office of Marketing and Branding.
According to The Clinton Courier, 92% of universities and colleges in the United States use social media to utilize data-based and analytics-driven marketing to drive engagement and reach potential students.
This is because social media marketing models allow universities, or any business, to continuously make targeted and intentional posts in an attempt to increase conversation surrounding the given topic. Whereas within traditional marketing, such as billboards or ads, it’s more one-and-done. Comparatively, social media allows for two-way communication and gives businesses the chance to directly see audience feedback, which is also known as analytics-driven marketing.
Therefore, when it comes to marketing a university, the intent is to make targeted posts based on analytics you receive from your targeted audience: the current and potential student body.
According to Vision Point Marketing, a study done by Education Dynamics found that 16% of prospective students began their school selection process by following institutions on social media and 42% of respondents said they turned to Instagram to find official university-owned accounts.
Additionally, having a designated marketing team to create engaging content, ensure communication with audiences and measure success through analytics allows for a boost in engagement and adds value to the university in the perception of the audience, according to The Clinton Courier.
So, NSU’s marketing team does the same for our university. In fact, according to the NSULA Marketing and Branding, the sole responsibility of Amy Lee, NSU director of marketing and branding, is to strategize ways to promote NSU programs and oversee the creation and production of print and online materials that target prospective students. “Furthermore, the Office of Marketing and Branding coordinates marketing campaigns, integrating research, advertising, promotions and public relations efforts to strengthen recruitment and retention initiatives,” the website explained.
This is where, what I like to call, the “NSU image” comes in. The “NSU image” is the profile of NSU which has been created based on the specific design choices, photography styles and posting strategies of NSU’s Office of Marketing and Branding via social media. The “NSU image” is also just the various ways in which NSU is marketed to the public audience.
This image created by the specific choices of Lee and the Office of Marketing and Branding has created an idea of NSU, which seems to have made a quite successful appeal to students. These choices also are exactly why NSU Marketing and Branding has been directly acknowledged for “strong visuals and engaging content across digital and social media platforms.”
Social media can be used in a strategic way to connect with a certain demographic by portraying a certain image, and NSU Marketing and Branding have reached prospective students through compelling content.
