In an effort to enhance alumni communications and better engage with alumni, the Alumni Association has recently increased its use of social media. Since early April, we have made consistent efforts to share information with and engage alumni through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
To give the social media outreach focus, I developed three initial goals to guide the Alumni Association’s social engagement. They are:
- Improve presence across social media channels (i.e. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) to help renew alumni’s awareness of the Missouri State Alumni Association.
- Foster an online community that encourages participation and interaction of members and spurs Missouri State pride in everyday life.
- Develop meaningful relationships online that set the stage for future engagement offline (e.g. participation in MarooNation events, participation in campus activities, support of the Missouri State Foundation, etc.).
Facts by social network:
Our efforts to enhance alumni communications have led to growth in the number of users on the Alumni Association’s social media accounts, with the greatest advancements being on Facebook.
Facebook:
- Likes have gone from 1,286 to 7,109, an increase of more than 550%
- Weekly reach has gone from 1,285 to 55,605, an increase of more than 4,300%
- Demographics:
- 41% male, 59% female
- Users range in age from 13- 55+, largest user group 25-34
Twitter (newly created):
- Followers have gone from 0 to 150
- Average of 14 combined retweets, mentions and favorites per week
- Demographics:
- 50% male, 50% female
- Users range in age from 18-54, largest user group is 25-34
LinkedIn:
- Followers have gone from 6,585 to 6,842, an increase of about 4%
- Engagement has remained steady at 4-5 discussions per week
- Demographics:
- Two largest groups of users are senior level employees (27%) and entry level employees (25%)
- 66% of users located between St. Louis, Springfield and Kansas City
Future plans
Our drive to enhance alumni communications is both a short-term and a long-term goal. Continual improvement of the Alumni Association’s presence on social media will remain a focus.
Moving forward, we hope to find opportunities to partner with other University departments to help them promote alumni focused events and activities they host. The vision is to help increase alumni’s awareness of campus activities they can get involved with – from department reunions to career fairs. If your department is hosting an event that you would like help promoting to alumni please let us know.