The document provides an overview of how a university career services office uses social media to engage students. It discusses the benefits of using various social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and blogs to connect with students, share opportunities, and increase brand awareness. Tips are provided on best practices for each channel as well as ideas to encourage student participation and manage multiple accounts. Risks of social media are also addressed.

1. Engaging
Students
Through Social
Media
Presented by:
Araceli “Sally” Pérez-Ramos,
Manager of Communications & Online Programming
St. Edward’s University

2. About St. Edward’s University
• Private liberal arts university
• Undergraduate and graduate degrees
• Student population = 5,500
• Traditional-aged & Non-traditional student body
• Centralized Career Services Office
• Recent title change from Internship Coordinator to
Manager of Communications & Online Programming
• Currently managing the following on social media:
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WordPress,
Newsletter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+

3. How can Social Media Help
Career Services
 Learn about your audience
 Target audience more effectively
 Find new students and employers to expand your audience
 Receive instant feedback from your students’ perspective
 Increase website traffic and search ranking
 Sharing content is faster and easier
 Create meaning relationships with students and employers through social
media dialogue
 Increase brand awareness and reach for little to no budget

4. How Students Are Using Social
Media
– USA Today, July 14, 2015
• 68.6% of students used social media to find an internship
• Women had a higher likelihood of researching employers whereas men
were more likely to network and discuss internship opportunities on
social media

5. The Popularity Contest

6. When are the Best Times to
Post?

7. • Posting on your department
Facebook page may not
circulate into students’ feeds
• Join university Facebook groups
and post
• Develop events on your page to
engage students
• Remember – keep your
characters short and include
pictures & links
• Pictures & Links will increase
your audience reached
• You can pay to Boost post too!
Facebook

8. Twitter
Twitter users can:
• Find and add friends. Adding friends is NOT a
mutual relationship—they do not have to accept
you as a friend for you to be able to follow them.
• Find and follow companies, recruiters, students,
and fellow departments.
• Create a short bio—about one sentence in length.
• Share links to anything on the Web.
• Posts with pictures will always get more attention!
• Track “trending topics”—the most popular topics
of conversation on Twitter & how can they relate
to you? (i.e. #MotivationalMonday)
• When posting about internship and job
opportunities, utilize company handles to engage
employers
• Utilize hashtags to catch students’ attention (i.e.
#lifeafterseu, #stedwardsu, #seualumni) Remember: Hashtags are the key to
information in the Twitter-verse!

9. Twitter Vocabulary
Tweet: A short, 140-character message Twitter users broadcast to their contacts.
Twit/Tweeple/Tweeps: Nicknames for people who use Twitter- @seucareer, @stedwardsu
Retweet: A way to share another user’s tweet with your own followers.
@ Message: A way to mention or publicly message another Twitter individual.
DM/Direct Message: A way to privately message another Twitter individual.

10. Hashtags (#s): Denoted by a # in front of a
word, hashtags are a way to link your tweet
to an index of tweets on related topics.
Unfollow: This is when someone decides to
remove a Twitter contact.
Favorite: If you like a tweet, then you can
“favorite” it, and it will show up on your
“Favorites” lists on your profile. The person
whose tweets you like will also be notified.
Twitter Vocabulary
Lists/Listed: This is a way to organize the
accounts you’re following into categories. If
you make your lists public, other people can
follow them.
Trends: This is a list of the top 10 phrases
used on Twitter at any given moment.

11. Shortening Your Links
Since you only have 140 characters, be sure to shorten links to articles,
blogs, etc. Favorites used are:
For additional URL Shorteners, please click here!

12. Tweet Chats – Engaging Your
Audience Beyond the Posts
• Hosted by Career Services
Professionals
• Great networking
• Opportunity to exchange ideas
or concerns
• Topics change EVERY WEEK
• Find out about job postings
throughout the U.S.
• Learn about upcoming
webinars
• Make new friends every
Thursday night at 8 pm

13. Beyond the Twitter Posts

14. MONDAY
#InternPro 8 pm
#JobHuntChat 9 pm
TUESDAY
#CareerChat 12 pm
#InternChat 7 pm
#LinkedInChat 7 pm
WEDNESDAY
#TChat 6 pm
THURSDAY
#CareerServChat 8 pm
#EMChat 8 pm
FRIDAY
#HFChat: 11 am
Yes, There’s More
Chats!
And EVEN MORE
CHATS!

15. Create Your Own Tweet
Chat

16. • Host Department Group page
• Post about events, job
opportunities, internships, and
advice
• LinkedIn Blog
• Host specialized
workshops/webinars
• Utilize LinkedIn in online
programming
• Engage in more than just your own
LinkedIn Group!
• Highlight students posting articles
LinkedIn

17. Create Your Own Blog
• Utilize WordPress, Blogger,
Wix, or SquareSpace but…
• SEU hosts Wordpress for free!
• Create a calendar!
Benefits of a blog:
• Provides daily analytics
broken down
• Great tool to showcase
expertise
• Ask for guest bloggers, people
love to highlight samples of
their writing
Writers:
• Partner with Alumni office
• Students (soon to graduate,
interns, etc)
http://sites.stedwards.edu/seucareer

18. Using Instagram as Your Secret
Weapon
8 Tips to Increase Likes &
Following on Instagram
1. Have a theme – what’s your thing?
2. Post AMAZING content
3. Tell a story with your caption
4. Stick to a content schedule
5. Engage with your followers
6. Use your hashtags – but don’t
overkill it
7. Develop a branded hashtag
8. Use the explore tool to engage with
people outside your following
Apps to partner with Instagram:
PicCollage, Aviary, Pixsta, Overgram &
Instasize
Pablo by Buffer.com

19. Engage your Audience Through
Memes and Gifs
http://memegenerator.net http://giphy.com

20. Social Media Newsletter
Pricing Plans: Educator
Year Fee - $59
www.smore.com
• Engaged entire
university in naming the
newsletter
• Comes out every Monday
• Smore allows you to do
social media blasts via
Facebook, Twitter,
LinkedIn, Pinterest,
Google+, and mass email
• Subscribers can add
themselves to email list
• Able to embed on
university CAPD site

21. Track Your Hashtags
TagBoard is free
• Track hashtags for
Twitter & Instagram
• Will only show as a
collection
• Will not catch anything
other than hashtags
Storify is free
• Track hashtags on all
social media networks
• Create slide show, tiled
collection or scroll
• Will catch usernames
and hashtags

22. LiveStreaming: The Next Big
Thing
Meerkat (launched 2/27/15) & Periscope (launched 3/26/15)
• Setting Up a LiveStream
– Simply enter a title for your broadcast, tap the "Schedule" option, set the time
and add a photo.
– Your followers will get a notification you're planning a future broadcast. When
the time comes, the apps will alert you to begin.
• Both are only available for iPhone and Androids

23. Online Chat
• Program: ZoHo Chat
(free)
• Mirrored from Berkley
University
• Debuting Fall 2015
• Hours: 8 pm – 10 pm/
Monday – Thursday
• Student Career
Advisors will be
managing evening
shifts

24. Free to host up to 5 accounts
Ability to schedule posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, FourSquare,
WordPress
Track analytics for various social media accounts
Collaborate with others on scheduled posts
Can also monitor, post, and schedule from smartphone

25. Managing Your Twitter Posts -
TweetDeck

26. Ideas to Get Them
Engaged
• Provide incentives to have
them follow you
• Present social media at
freshman orientation
• Secure online ambassadors –
students, staff,
administrators
• Engage with other
departments to share
information
• Post interesting articles
outside of your department’s
activities
• Join campus Facebook
Groups – works miracles!

27. Get Your Fellow Departments Involved!
Student Academic Success Center
(SASS) Social Media Consortium
• Academic Counseling &
Exploration, Academic Support
Programs, College Assistance
Migrant Program, International
Education, Student Disability
Services and Career and
Professional Development
• Lead for departmental appointed
social media liaisons (10 in total)
• Trained liaisons on how to utilize
social media
• Meet quarterly to discuss new
initiatives, trainings, and
scheduled tweet chats

28. Risks to Consider
• What are the risks?
– Privacy implications
– Inability to succeed
• How to manage these risks
– Be professional at all times with these accounts
– Designate 1-2 people in office to manage accounts
– Be consistent
– Create a privacy policy
– User generated content
• Addressing student comments
• Remove comments that use bad language
• Don’t get mad with criticism
• Answer questions immediately
• Address complaints immediately

29. Whoa! That’s A LOT!
Remember: This is an
investment in your
department
– Standing students are your
best promoters
– Your online presence will
be seen by countless
others
– Students will follow you
because they want to be in
the know
– Social Media helps to
create a sense of
community
– Hire an intern to help you!
Most Important:
HAVE FUN WITH SOCIAL MEDIA!

30. Before You Take This On…
Ponder these thoughts:
1. Where should your focus be … beyond LinkedIn, Twitter,
and Facebook?
2. What specific activities should be considered?
3. What are the realities of managing multiple accounts?

31. Questions?
Araceli “Sally” Perez-Ramos, Manager of Communications & Online Programming
St. Edward’s University, Austin, TX
aracelip@stedwards.edu
facebook.com/seucareer
@sallyperezramos
@seucareer
http://bit.ly/HilltopScoop @seucareer
pinterest.com/seucareer
smore.com/u/seucareer