It’s hard to overstate the benefits of user-generated content (UGC).
Per Entribe, 83% of consumers are likelier to buy from brands that share content from real customers.
In the context of higher ed marketing, those “real customers” are your current students. Get them to create their own content (and share it with you), and you can look forward to a ton of potential benefits, including:
- Increased brand awareness
- Higher engagement
- Lower content creation costs
Fortunately, the odds are in your favor because Entribe also found that 55% of Gen Z-ers want to be featured by brands on social media — twice as much as older generations.
Ready to start leveraging student content creators as part of your own social media strategy? Get inspired by these 10 real-world examples.
1. Amherst College: Share Day-in-the-Life Content
Arguably, the single biggest benefit of recruiting student creators is to give an authentic look at the life of a typical student at your school. This type of content is super effective because it:
- Educates prospective students
- Engages existing students
- Sparks nostalgia among alumni
In other words, it can help you generate results from all your key audiences. Good stuff!
Amherst College gives us the perfect example of a “day-in-the-life” Reel produced by a student content creator:
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Sure, you could attempt to shed light on student life by getting a bunch of students into a studio and interviewing them, but it wouldn’t be anywhere near as effective.
Not only would it be less engaging, but it’d also miss out on the benefits of this type of “on-the-move” content. For example, if Mia (the creator behind the above Reel) hadn’t been wandering around various locations while filming, she might not have mentioned how students can borrow gear for outdoor activities free of charge from the college.
Details like this might seem minor, but they’re the sort of thing that could persuade a prospective student that you’re the school for them.
2. Emory College of Arts and Sciences: Lean Into Gen Z Humor
Without wanting to state the obvious, higher ed marketers are older than current and future students.
This presents a challenge: your content preferences—not least your sense of humor—will likely be pretty different from those of the audiences you’re trying to reach and engage.
Teaming up with student content creators can help you overcome this problem (as long as you’re prepared to give them a decent amount of creative control). Because they’re part of your target audience, they’re best placed to understand what content will blow up or fall flat.
Emory College of Arts and Sciences clearly allows student creators to take the lead on creativity. Much of their content has a distinctly Gen Z vibe, such as this Instagram Reel promoting the school’s Impact Day:
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It features two Gen Z-friendly trends:
- Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso (AKA the sound of the summer)
- “What song are you listening to?” interviews, which have been all over TikTok and YouTube in recent years
As you can see from the comments above, this student-driven approach evidently resonates with Emory’s audience.
👉 Learn more: Instagram Reels 101: Everything Your Brand Needs to Know to Get Started
3. Vassar College: Jump On Trends Early
Leveraging student content creators also puts you in a prime position to join the conversation around trending social media topics before they become played out. Just like this example from Vassar College, which hopped on the “very demure, very mindful” trend created by TikToker Jools Lebron (AKA @joolieannie):
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At the time of writing, this Reel had notched up almost 800,000 views.
Why did this particular Reel perform so well? Because Vassar and their team of student creators got in at precisely the right time, sharing this post a full four days before the trend reached peak interest:
Four days may not seem like much.
But trends can come and go in a single day in the ever-changing social media landscape. And if you miss the boat, you risk looking out of touch.
4. University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Promote Internship Opportunities
Internships are an essential part of the college experience for many students, with research revealing that:
- 85% of students believe that people pursuing their type of career need at least one internship experience
- Nearly two-thirds of students with experiential learning opportunities say they were “very helpful” in preparing them for a future job, climbing to 86% for community college students
- 22% of students say the most important internship outcome is to develop career-specific skills
This tells us that promoting internship opportunities as part of your social media strategy is well worth it. Once again, this is a task best left to student content creators.
Here’s an excellent example, courtesy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln:
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Jazlynn talks us through a typical day as a marketing intern at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. It’s pretty inspiring (lunch under the sharks, anyone?), so it’s easy to see how this content would appeal to future students considering attending UNL.
5. University of California, Berkeley: Showcase School Facilities
No one is better placed to create authentic, engaging content about school facilities than the people who use them: your current students.
The University of California, Berkeley clearly understands this. Sure, the following Reel showcasing the school’s transfer student center might look a little more polished than the average UGC, but it’s still fronted by a student content creator:
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That’s a big deal given that consumers rate user-generated content as the most trustworthy content type.
Sure, a slick, professionally produced ad might look more eye-catching. But it’ll likely be less effective at “selling” your institution.
👉 Learn more: Leveraging Students to Support Higher Ed Social Media Initiatives
6. University of San Diego: Highlight Social Life
Naturally, financial factors greatly impact students’ choice of college.
But campus and student life-related considerations are a key part of the decision-making process too. Indeed, per BestColleges, 38% of students say “general student quality of life” is an important factor, while 10% say the same about a school’s party/social scene.
So these are some of the areas you’ll want to highlight in your social media content. Just like the University of San Diego does in this Reel:
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Practically speaking, this isn’t the sort of content you want your marketing team to create. They’ll kill the vibe. So it to your student creators instead!
7. Texas Christian University: Go Behind the Scenes on Student Accommodation
As a higher ed marketer, you can preach about how your student accommodation feels comfortable, stylish, and homey until you’re blue in the face. But what’ll really make an impact is behind-the-scenes content captured by real students.
Here’s an example, courtesy of Texas Christian University and its student creator team:
Not only does content like this help to show off the school’s student housing options, but it also encourages prospective students to think about how they’d style their own dorm room.
Which, in turn, helps them imagine life as a TCU student.
8. Pomona College: Highlight Student Employment Options
According to the latest figures from the National Center for Education Statistics, two in five full-time undergraduate students and three-quarters of part-time undergrads are in paid employment while enrolled in school.
So it makes sense to give future students an insight into the types of jobs they could find on campus.
Once again, the most impactful way to do this is through working with student creators, just like Pomona College did here:
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As a current student, Ty is the best person to share his favorite things about the job and discuss the day-to-day tasks it involves.
All of which helps to present Pomona as an institution that supports students in employment.
9. Penn State University: Celebrate Big Events
As a higher ed marketer targeting current and prospective students, part of your job is to build excitement around big moments in your school’s calendar. And few moments are bigger than the start of a new academic year.
What’s the best way to celebrate these key events? Simple: use content captured by your student creators. Just like Penn State did here:
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Because your audience is more likely to get excited about something if they can see people like them enjoying it.
This approach is far more effective than a generic “welcome class of 28!” message (or even a more professionally produced video using actors rather than real students).
10. Berry College: Share Aspirational Student Experiences
Sure, you want to give prospective students an authentic look at what it’d be like to study at your school. But, at the end of the day, you’re a marketer — so it makes sense to share some of your more aspirational student experiences.
And it doesn’t get much more aspirational than studying abroad.
Per education technology provider Terra Dotta, 72% of US university students want to join a study abroad program, with Western Europe named as the most popular destination.
Berry College took advantage of this by enlisting student content creator Audra to discuss her experiences of studying abroad in Italy as part of her communications major:
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Audra went on to create multiple Reels focusing on her time in Sorrento (before you Google it, be prepared to feel sick with envy). And, helpfully, she even shared some practical tips for finding overseas study opportunities:
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Want to learn how top higher ed marketers leverage student creators and UGC to hit their marketing goals? Register for one of our upcoming social media conferences.
Featured image by Pexels.
