FRIdeas #4: How to do Better Social Media Video Marketing: Strategies, Tools, and Resources

There's an incredible opportunity for enrollment marketers right now, and few are taking full advantage of it. 

Over the coming months, digital ad spend could drop as much as 50% (thanks to COVID-19's impact on the economy).

And yet, digital content consumption is UP by 60% (thanks to social distancing).

Competition is down and attention is up...this never happens! Herein lies the opportunity.

I analyzed 50 school social media profiles this week to see what video content they were sharing...and I was VERY underwhelmed.

Except for this video from WVU, there was little-to-no compelling video content for existing students let alone prospects. 

Every enrollment marketer should be seriously considering a social video marketing campaign right now — and if you're not sure how to get started, this week's FRIdeas episode is for you. 

Don't have time to watch me share these ideas with you? That's a bummer, but I get it. Here's the TL;DW: 

• Meet your new best friend — Facebook Ad Library.  Facebook Ad Library lets you see ALL ad campaigns that are running and/or paused on Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram. Scope out the competition...and do it 10x better!

• Free social video marketing campaign idea #1: A #ThankTheHeroes campaign featuring alumni on the frontlines of fighting COVID-19 — this could be a university wide campaign (may allow you to pull from several different budgets!) or an undergraduate admissions campaign.

• Free social video marketing campaign idea #2: #ThisIsResilience campaign showcasing “grad school from home” — creative ways students are learning/studying/growing outside of the classroom. Have current grad students film themselves studying with their kids, or FaceTiming with professors...showcase the rawness of the moment as an opportunity to express the personableness of your program.

• Free social video marketing campaign idea #3: #AdmissionsUnfiltered campaign featuring “real talk” — the great, the good, the bad, the ugly of your school. Have a current student interview your admissions counselors over Zoom and ask honest questions like: Hardest question you’ve ever been asked on a campus tour? If you could make three changes to <your school> overnight what would they be?

• Audience profile like a champ with SparkToro. Sign up for tools like SparkToro to get a MUCH deeper understanding of where your audience lives (digitally, speaking) and use this data to inform your audience profiling strategies (share this info with your vendor partner if you don't run these campaigns out of your own office).