5 Things College Student Activity Coordinators Need to Know About Social Media

I wanted to share a video I just posted on YouTube – it is from a talk I recently gave in Las Vegas to student activity coordinators from around the country on how to use Social Media to improve their campus organizations.  The following clip is the 5 things that activity coordinators need to know about social media and the impact it can have on their student organizations if the right strategy is implemented.  Enjoy!

For more information on bringing Tom Healy to your campus to speak on social media, check out a list of his programs HERE!

Campus Activities: 4 Reasons to Incorporate Social Media Into Your Student Organizations Marketing Immediately

For some of you, the first website you check every morning is Facebook.  For others, you have no interest in this social media craze and already have your hands full with the pile of daily emails you receive.  Regardless of which side you lean towards, you must realize one very important thing – social media is here and it isn’t going away.

So what is social media?  It is simply real people having conversation online, through websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Blogs.  As use of these sites continues to grow substantially, especially by the students on your campus, it has become essential to incorporate social media into your marketing efforts.

As an undergraduate, I was heavily involved in student activities as an IFC President and Vice President, treasurer of my fraternity for two years and held leadership positions on a variety of councils.  I wish we would have had these social media tools available to us because we could have made a much larger impact on the university community.  Fortunately, I am able to advise student organizations across the country on how to use social media to carry out the mission of their organizations; using these tools the right way leads to huge results for organizations.

The great thing about social media is that it is very easy to use and costs absolutely nothing!  Let’s take a look at the 4 major reasons why you need to incorporate social media into your marketing efforts immediately:

Social Media is Not a Fad
It is here and it is here to stay.  Businesses are investing millions of dollars into these initiatives because they know how powerful a well-developed social media strategy can be for them.  Student organizations are just like a business – goals are in place and there is a mission that needs accomplished.

People Listen to People
14% of our country trusts advertisements, while 78% trust the recommendations of other consumers.  Students are exponentially more likely to attend an event that a friend recommends on Facebook versus an event they see advertised in the paper or flyers they see on campus walls. Why invest money in advertisements and flyers when Twitter posts from students are free and more effective?

People Are Talking About You Right Now
As you are reading this, students on your campus are putting up Facebook statuses about the campus event they are attending, the activity meeting they have this evening or the council position they are running for.  These conversations are going to happen with or without you – they key is to make sure your organization is part of the conversation!

Social Media is Becoming Critical For Any Organization
Millenials are spending 16+ hours per week online and 90% of them have social media accounts with an average of 53 friends.  The goal is for your organization to have a presence in these online communities.  Also note that students don’t care about advertisements, they care what their friends think.  If their friends are talking up your organization and programming, they will be much more likely to attend than they will from the ad in your paper.

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Tom Healy’s “Done-For-You Social Media Workshop” shows student organizations how to use their social media accounts to create campus awareness, recruit new members, increase attendance at events and accomplish their overall mission more quickly.  APCA schools are entitled to a FREE keynote talk from Tom Healy when they bring this workshop to campus.

Contact Tom Healy:
(p) 623.239.4096
(e) tom@reachyourvision.com
(w) www.reachyourvision.com