Project Overview
I served as a Student Director of New Student Orientation at Baldwin Wallace University from October 2022 to October 2023. The primary focus of this role was to train orientation leaders, but I was tasked to expand our social reach to students on and off campus. I created an Instagram account that gained over 400 followers in the first couple of months.
The account was used to feature the staff and student at their orientation sessions. I also used it to give live announcements and post about daily events. The end of this project came with me training the next year’s Student Directors on social media content creation. I taught them how to use Canva, a content calendar, and best practices for posting.
My Responsibilities
Capturing Content
I worked closely with the team to capture pictures and videos to post on Instagram. The goal was to feature the team having a fun time with students and everyone being excited for their time at BW. A lot of content was captured using a selfie stick to show the entire group of students. I worked with other students on the staff to produce engaging content and would take videos or pictures throughout the orientation sessions to keep the story updated.
Content Creation
After capturing content I would typically work in Canva to put all the photos together or edit them as part of a graphic. I had to follow BW’s brand guidelines with color and would sometimes add extra colors for the different color groups. I had to get posts approved by the Director of Orientation and after a couple of months she gave me the go ahead to post without getting approval because I had gained her trust from the previous work I had been doing.
Content Distribution
All content was distributed directly to Instagram or scheduled ahead of time. After posting, I would repost to the story and share additional information if necessary. I made sure to follow the analytics closely with event related posts to predict if it would be highly attended by students or not. We used ten different colors for different orientation groups, so I tried to show a new color group with each post to have a variety of people shown on the page.
Tools and Apps Used
Canva was the primary tool used in content creation for this project. Most of the posts were graphics created for Instagram. I focused on using pictures taken by myself or a photographer. I only used CapCut for one reel, but it did will, garnering over 2,500 views.
Google Drive was used to create a content calendar that was used to keep track of a posting schedule. It was also used to create docs for post ideas and themes. Some content was edited in Davinci Resolve for videos. Most videos ended up only getting posted to YouTube instead of Instagram. Meta Business Suite was used to schedule certain posts if they had to go out at a specific time.
Results
Social Media Growth
By recognizing the power of social media in today’s digital age, this initiative aimed to build a platform where new students could find valuable information, engage with orientation leaders, and feel a part of the university community before even stepping foot on campus.
Regular engagement and interaction with the follower base and orientation leaders provided valuable feedback, enabling continuous improvement of the content and overall strategy to better meet student needs. Toward the end of the project, there was a heavier emphasis on event promotion. I was able to expand the social media outreach by creating and maintaining content.
Content Strategy Coaching
I developed and led a training time for incoming Student Directors focused on social media content creation. This included hands-on assistance with using Canva for creating visually appealing content. It also included the strategic use of a content calendar for planning and consistency, and best practices for engaging with an online audience and scheduling posts.
This transfer of knowledge ensured that the New Student Orientation program’s digital engagement efforts would continue to thrive and I still provide assistance or advice when needed.
Community Engagement
I made deliberate efforts to feature a diverse range of staff and student stories on the Instagram account. This not only highlighted the multifaceted nature of our university community but also ensured that incoming students saw reflections of themselves in the what was being shared, creating a sense of belonging and anticipation. This was important for the program as a whole and I made sure to reflect that through social media as well.
Analytics
