Just before Halloween, I noticed an interesting Promoted Tweet show up in my Tweetdeck search column for “Emerson College”. It was from @LoyolaAdmission, the Twitter account for Loyola University of Chicago’s Director of Undergraduate Admission, Lori Greene.

I shared this finding on Twitter and quickly found that I wasn’t alone. Mallory Wood also saw the Promoted Tweet in her search column that includes “Saint Michaels College” and Rob Engelsman saw the same tweet in a search for “Ithaca College”.

From first glance, it looked like the Promoted Tweet was showing up in searches including the term “College”. I reached out to Lori Greene and Loyola University Chicago’s Admission Office to find our more about their use of Twitter’s Promoted Tweets.

Please note: Due to some of the restrictions Twitter places on sharing information about Promoted Tweets, Lori was not able to share specific information about their Twitter contract details or keywords used. 

Q&A with Lori Greene, Director of Undergraduate Admission at Loyola University Chicago

In general, how does the Undergraduate Admission Office at Loyola use social media to attract prospective students?

Lori: We use a variety of social media channels to help to reach students at different stages of the funnel. For example, our Class of 2016 Facebook page is for students who’ve been admitted to that class. The purpose of the page it to promote more engagement and interactions among the students, as well as to provide another method of passing along information about academic programs and different areas of interest. We have other Facebook pages for different audiences as well (prospective students, parents, transfers, etc.). Our YouTube channel has also provided us with a great platform to share information of what’s going on around campus via video highlights. We’re also becoming more active on Twitter and Flickr. Blogging has also been a great tool that’s starting to appeal to our various audiences as well.

When did you start using Twitter as a communication platform for Undergraduate Admission? How is the account maintained?

Lori: Our Undergraduate Admission Office has had a Twitter feed (@LoyolaUAO) for several years, which is mainly event-focused. I started my Twitter feed (@LoyolaAdmission) in early 2011 as a supplement to my college admission blog. I manage these accounts and also receive assistance from Loyola’s Enrollment Management Marketing team.

How have you been using Twitter to attract and engage prospective students? How did you develop your ‘voice’ for Twitter?

Lori: I think Twitter actually allows us to reach a larger audience than prospective students alone. I enjoy connecting with current and future students on Twitter, but it’s also been great to network with parents and other members of the higher education community. I try to tweet about topics that are relevant to all of these multiple audiences. I also make an effort to use Twitter as another way of sharing the information I write about in my blog.

How was the decision made to use Twitter Promoted Tweets to market to prospective students? What were your goals with this campaign?

Lori: Our marketing team has had some success with Facebook advertisements, and we thought it was a natural next step to try something similar with Twitter. I like how the platform allows you to both expand your network and also lets you target important messaging through promoted tweets. Ultimately, it’s seen as another way of enhancing Loyola’s social media presence.

What was the process like in working with Twitter? How long did it take to get set up and launch Promoted Tweets?

Lori: Twitter asks that we keep details like this under wraps, so I can’t really comment. Sorry!

What Twitter users did you target for the campaign? Or, what keywords did you use in targeting Twitter searches?

Lori: Again, we have a variety of audiences on Twitter, so we try to push out information that is relevant to each of them. Keywords vary and are determined by audience.

Can you give some examples of successes / failures you’ve experienced after launching Promoted Tweets? Was there an increase in @ replies? New followers? RT’s? Things you didn’t expect?

Lori: We’ve definitely seen a higher level of engagement on Twitter as a result of this promoted account. The most obvious success is that our list of followers keeps growing every day. Perhaps more importantly, though, is that I’ve received so many more retweets, DMs, and @ replies as a result of this campaign. It’s helped me connect with people more easily and start building relationships on Twitter.

If another school was thinking about using Promoted Tweets, what advice would you give them?

Lori: Remember to think about who your audience is, and make sure you’re tweeting information that’s relevant to them. Also, make use of the analytics information Twitter provides as part of this service. It will help you see what’s working and what isn’t, so you can fine-tune your campaign. Finally, remember that Twitter is all about engagement, and promoting your tweets alone isn’t going to help you build those relationships. You need to spend time on Twitter, commenting and connecting with people. That’s what social media is all about.

I want to thank Lori for providing some great insight on the use of Twitter and Promoted Tweets to reach out to prospective students. Are you aware of other schools doing this? What are your thoughts on the use of Promoted Tweets by higher education? Share your thoughts in the comments.

This post was written by Mike Petroff