About the Episode
About the Episode: In this enlightening episode, Allison Turcio dives into a transformative conversation with Maya Demishkevich about the innovative strategy of employee advocacy in higher education. Focusing on Carroll Community College's approach under Maya's leadership, they explore how faculty and staff can significantly amplify their institution's message through personal branding. This discussion not only sheds light on Maya's journey and insights from her diverse roles in higher ed marketing but also offers practical advice for colleges looking to implement similar programs.
How-Tos on this Episode:
- Build an employee impact initiative
- Empower faculty and staff to develop their personal and professional brands
- Evaluating success of employee advocacy strategies
The Role of Employee Advocacy in Higher Education
Maya Demishkevich highlights the untapped potential of faculty and staff as brand ambassadors. Unlike traditional marketing approaches, which centralize messaging through flagship accounts, employee advocacy decentralizes and humanizes the institutional brand. Maya uses the analogy of a night sky: while flagship accounts are bright stars, a constellation of employee-driven content creates a vibrant and diverse digital presence.
This approach amplifies visibility, fosters authentic connections, and builds trust with audiences. For institutions like Carroll Community College, where resources may be limited, leveraging employee networks offers a cost-effective way to engage with prospective students and community stakeholders.
Launching an Employee Advocacy Program
Carroll’s Employee Impact Initiative focuses on empowering faculty and staff to build their personal and professional brands while aligning with the college’s mission. The program starts with defining personal values, identifying target audiences, and creating content pillars for social media posts.
Key components of the training include:
- Personal Branding: Helping participants define their unique value propositions.
- Social Media Strategy: Training on LinkedIn optimization and effective posting techniques, including how to use tools like ChatGPT responsibly.
- Ongoing Support: Providing coaching and feedback to ensure long-term engagement and success.
Participants are encouraged to share their authentic experiences, making their content more relatable and impactful. For example, a faculty member’s LinkedIn post led to a valuable partnership that enabled the development of a new workforce program—an example of the tangible benefits this approach can deliver.
Measuring Success
Tracking the impact of advocacy efforts involves multiple metrics:
- Social Media Engagement: Impressions, shares, and profile visits on LinkedIn.
- Institutional Growth: Increases in followers and referral traffic to the college’s website.
- Anecdotal Evidence: Stories of partnerships, program developments, or community feedback resulting from employee posts.
Long-term outcomes, such as employee retention and deeper community connections, also reflect the program’s success. By creating a supportive environment for participants, Carroll fosters a sense of ownership and pride, strengthening institutional culture.
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About the Show: The Application is your playbook for the ever-evolving world of higher education enrollment marketing. This podcast zeroes in on the niche, often-unexplored areas of the field, delivering a potent mix of actionable insights, practical strategies, and cutting-edge perspectives.
Connect With Our Host:
Allison Turcio
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonturcio/
https://twitter.com/allisonturcio
About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Application with Allison Turcio is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows, too!
Some of our favorites include Mission Admissions and Visionary Voices: The College President’s Playbook.
Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.
Connect with Us at the Engage Summit: Exciting news — Allison will be at the 2024 Engage Summit in Raleigh, NC, on June 25 and 26, and we’d love to meet you there! Sessions will focus on cutting-edge AI applications that are reshaping student outreach, enhancing staff productivity, and offering deep insights into ROI.
Use the discount code Enrollify50 at checkout, and you can register for just $200.
Learn more and register at engage.element451.com — we can’t wait to see you there!
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