2015 Graduation
Social Media Campaign
Carroll Community College Graduation 2015 Social Media Campaign
Challenge:
Support the college’s Commit to Complete strategic initiative.
Solution:
Develop a social media campaign for its 2015 Graduation Ceremony. Use social media to share the pride, joy and
excitement of graduating and as a source of supporting content for the college’s website via a social media story.
Goals:
Awareness: Increase impressions of posts related to student completion via the college’s graduation ceremony.
Engagement: Increase responsive engagement towards college created posts and proactive engagement from
audience posts, either by tagging, hashtagging or mentioning the college.
Story development: Use college and follower social media posts to create a social media story to embed in the
college’s website for the purpose of motivating students to complete their degree.
Promotion:
The following initiatives were implemented to promote the use of #carrollccgrad15.
Social media cover/header photos were designed, featuring graduates and #carrollccgrad15, and uploaded to the
following college social media sites:
o Facebook
o Twitter
o Google+
o LinkedIn (University Page)
Social media profiles were updated to include #carrollccgrad15 and the website url was changed to
www.carrollcc.edu/graduation, for viewers to easily obtain more information about the college’s graduation
ceremony. This information appeared in the following profiles:
o Facebook
o Twitter
o Google+
o LinkedIn (University Page)
o Instagram
Printed signs, similar to the social media cover/header photos, were designed and efforts were coordinated with
various college areas to display the signs at the following locations:
o Bookstore – a location where graduates sell back and return their textbooks
o Registration office – the cap and gown pick-up location
o Student Life end of year events – Study Break and Light it Up Luau
o Graduation rehearsal luncheon
o Graduation ceremony
Images, similar to the social media cover/header photos, were created for the college’s website home page and
campus TVs.
Stickers were created and placed on the cap and gown packaging, which stated:
#carrollccgrad15
Share the Experience
Bookstore receipts included the following:
#carrollccgrad15
Share the Experience
Hashtag (#carrollccgrad15) was added to the static image at the beginning of the ceremony’s live stream video.
Graduation Ceremony and Graduation Live Stream web pages included #carrollccgrad15 and the following click to
tweet message:
Congratulations, you did it! Enjoy your success and keep on learning. #carrollccgrad15
Social Media Activities:
Content focusing on graduates and the events and activities leading up to graduation, from the last week of classes
to the day of the ceremony, were posted on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, LinkedIn, Flickr and YouTube.
Some examples of such content include:
o Individual photos of the three President’s Excellence Award winner graduates with quotes, providing advice
to current and soon to be students – posted to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and LinkedIn
o Commencement speaker, Dr. James Cherry, photo and quote – posted to Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
Instagram and LinkedIn
o Three videos featuring faculty, staff and the college’s Executive Team expressing their congratulations to
graduates – posted to Facebook, Google+, Instagram and YouTube, which was primarily used to share the
videos with Twitter followers.
o Eight photo albums were created – posted to Facebook, Google+ and Flickr, which was primarily used to
share the albums with Twitter Followers.
o Video of the Nursing Program Director being pied was created into a GIF – posted to Facebook, Twitter,
Google+ and Instagram
o Hyperlapse video of students rehearsing walking into the ceremony’s arena – posted to Facebook, Google+
and YouTube, which was primarily used to share the video with Twitter Followers
o Shared content that provided helpful information for graduates, from sources like @HuffPostCollege and
@USATodayCollege - frequently posted on Twitter and occasionally posted to Facebook, Google+ and
LinkedIn
Live tweeting during the graduation ceremony
Actively engaging (i.e. liking/favoriting, sharing/retweeting/reposting and commenting) with public social media
posts where the college was tagged or mentioned via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Creating a social media story, Graduation 2015, using Storify, to share the fun, excitement and joy of student
achievement.
The story was shared through the following channels:
o Social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and LinkedIn
o Email: participating ceremony graduates, faculty and staff
o College’s internal website
Re-crafted the college’s Graduation (Commencement) Ceremony web page to include the benefits of completing an
associate degree, to support the college’s Commit to Complete strategic initiative, and an embedded version of the
Graduation 2015 social media story.
Generally, from June to March, the web page has little to no useful content. The completion benefits and story gives
the page a useful purpose that can be used in conjunction with the college’s future Commit to Complete events and
activities.
Results:
Total post impressions grew 231.29% and total overall engagement grew 197.73%, based on May 11 – June 9, 2015 and
May 11 – June 9, 2014 data. When comparing data during the same time periods, new Twitter Followers grew 115% and
new Facebook Page Likes grew 43.24%. Over 94% of Twitter hashtag clicks were for #carrollccgrad15.
Additional data on Media Views and URL Clicks, Google+ Post Views, Facebook Photo Album Engagement and Storify are
included below.
Post Impressions
(Number of times users saw a post.)
May 11 – Jun 9, 2015 May 11 – June 9, 2014 Growth
25,305 31,591,
Facebook 56,896 124.84%
8,750 18,540,
Twitter 27,290 211.88%
NA – University page 28,636
LinkedIn 28,636 created in Sept. 2014
34,055 78,767,
Total 112,822 231.29%
*Data not available for Instagram and Google+.
Overall Engagement
(likes/favorites/+1, shares/retweets and comments)
May 11 – June 9, 2015 May 11 – June 9, 2014 Growth
849,
Facebook 1,281 432 196.53%
29,
Instagram 73 44 65.91%
37,
Twitter 44 7 528.57%
40
LinkedIn 40 NA – University page
Google+ 3 created in Sept. 2014 2,
1 200%
957,
Total 1,441 484 197.73%
Page Likes/Followers
Twitter 2015 2014 Growth
May 11 978 786*
June 9 998 783 23,
Total New Followers 20, -3, 115%
20% -.38%
*Data was not available for May 11, 2014. Third party product was able to provide data starting at May 12, 2014.
Facebook 2015 2014 Growth
May 11 2800 2336
June 9 2853 2403 16,
Total New Page Likes 53, 37, 43.24%
1.85% 1.54%
Twitter Hashtag Clicks for #carrollccgrad15 Hashtag Clicks for Percentage of
Total Hashtag Clicks #carrollccgrad15 Hashtag Clicks for
#carrollccgrad15
May 11 – June 9, 35 33 94.23%
2015
*Hashtag data clicks was not available for Facebook, Instagram or Google+.
Media Views and URL Clicks
(Number of times media was viewed and urls were clicked.)
Media Views URL Clicks
May 11 – May 11 – Growth May 11 – May 11 – Growth
June 9
June 9 June 9 June 9 2014
2015 2014 2015 17 242,
1,423.53%
Facebook 4,096 1,035 3,061, 259
127 16,
295.75% 12.60%
Twitter 460 54 406, 143
751.85%
* Data not available for Instagram, LinkedIn and Google+.
Google+ Post Views May 11 – June 9, 2015 May 11 – June 9, 2014 Growth
Post Views 1,135 372 763,
205.11%
Facebook Graduation Photo Album Engagement
(Likes, Comments, Shares and Tags)
Total Number of Total Number of Percentage of
Engaged Photos Engagement
Posted Photos 63 61.16%
35 32.41%
Graduation 2015 103 28.75%
Graduation 2014 108
Growth
Storify Analytics (as of April 10, 2016) Link Clicks (from social media sites, emails and
Views internal website)
331
1,021
Carroll Community College Site References
Facebook
Twitter
Google+
Instagram
Storify: Graduation 2015
Flickr
YouTube
Graduation Ceremony web page
Signs
SGO Leadership Banquet Selfie Wall Sign Graduation Ceremony Sign
Bookstore Signs 2
Bookstore Signs 1
Social Media Cover and Header Photos
Facebook Cover Photo
LinkedIn Cover Photo
Twitter Header Photo
Google+ Cover Photo
Instagram Post
Miscellaneous Promotions
Bookstore Receipt
Campus TVs and Website Home Page Image
Cap & Gown Packaging Stickers
Graduation (Commencement) Ceremony Web Page
Live Video Feed Web Page
College Internal Website Announcement Posting of Storify: Graduation 2015