A new home and a sea of new faces – the first weekend on a college campus can be overwhelming. But, Welcome Weekend provides the perfect high-energy introduction to life at Missouri State University.
To help welcome students – new and old alike – to campus for the start of the fall semester, marketing and communications worked with units across the University to promote the weekend’s main events.
Welcome Weekend gone mobile
This summer a new mobile-friendly Welcome Weekend website launched, combining the previously separate Move-In and Welcome Weekend websites. This new, integrated site features strong photography, videos from past events and a streamlined navigation.
- Received 34,424 pageviews
- Top pages included the Welcome Weekend homepage, the move-in landing page, the move-in process page and the full schedule of events
MSU Mobile also launched a custom Welcome Weekend section on August 1. This app section featured a full schedule of events, move-in information, packing lists and more.
- Logged 24,550 app screen views and 985 new installs
- Top screens included the Welcome Weekend landing page, the full schedule and the move-in landing page
Promoting Welcome Weekend
Communication about Welcome Weekend occurred across a variety of formats, including websites, social media and media relations. Highlighted promotions include:
- SOAR flyer about the Welcome Weekend app
- Homepage photos and promo button
- MSU Mobile app section
- Social media posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
- YouTube videos
- Instagram video series with President Smart
- Social media kit
- Real-time coverage of student events by web and new media staff
- The #FindYourPlace hashtag
Recapping the weekend
Social media promotions received high engagement before, during and immediately after Welcome Weekend.
- Post reach: 112,576
- 3,098 likes
- 270 comments
- 398 shares
- Total reach: 539,454
- 2,400 clicks
- 300 responses
- Total reach: 1.3 million
- 1,801 likes of photos
- 1,511 likes of President Smart’s videos
- Added 400 followers
Videos
- Move-In 2014: 658 views
- 60 seconds of Welcome Weekend: 6,937 views
- Bear Bash 2014: 75
Overall hashtag use
- Approximately 1,150 tweets
- 180 Instagram photos and videos