Does your 2025 social media plan employ the talents of student ambassadors? Well, it should! Your students probably know the interworking of your campus better than you do. And, let’s be honest, they also keep up with the trends better. Having a handful of students to help curate your authentic brand, voice and image is critical to your social media presence … and its success!
The following are some tips and strategies for hiring and retaining effective student ambassadors.
Your Ideal Ambassador
Focus on soft skills over hard skills. Most of the abilities a student ambassador requires can be taught. So having video editing skills may be nice but not a requirement. It’s more important to have a student who is excited and has genuine enthusiasm about your institution. They will be a better fit and generate better content, especially if they are open to learning, have creativity, and can work independently.
Keep in mind that on social media, and really across your entire marketing strategy, students want to see people who look like them. Representation matters, especially to Gen Z. Showcasing your school’s unique student body and emphasizing its diversity should be at the forefront of your social media presence.
Students want to see people who look like them.
Also, make sure you are inclusive of students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Not all your students or incoming students have access to the same equipment, so requiring a portfolio may limit some students from applying. Instead, if your budget allows, have a few pieces of equipment you can loan them. This levels the playing field and allows students to have the same opportunity when applying.
You also want students who are good storytellers. A good student ambassador is the kind of person who captures the attention of other students in a genuine way. So have your potential recruits tell you a story, and evaluate if it is linear, engaging or surprising. More times than not this type of natural ability to relay a story will cross over into their content creation.
Another thing you should consider is what year they are in and how that will translate to the other populations on campus. A freshman will have a new perspective on the school, compared to a junior who may be seen as having all the knowledge and information. How long are your contracts? Are they only for a year? Or do you plan to follow a student’s entire journey? These are important to your story as a school and translate to how your audience may view them and connect.
Cultivating Reliability
Establishing trust is essential to setting your student ambassadors up for success!
Create a weekly meeting to check in with your students on the status of their projects and create a work schedule that aligns with the classes they are taking. Remember, this is supposed to be a fun learning opportunity for them, not another thing to stress out about.
Have impromptu conversations with your students.
Have impromptu conversations with your students, ask them about their lives and keep them up to date with information regarding the school. This will help establish a bond between you and your students. Because the students feel comfortable, they can sometimes be more willing to create out of the box ideas that pay off big time.
Have an open Zoom policy. It’s a hybrid world we all work in, and your students are no different. Make sure they know you are available to them whenever they need it.
Keep their responsibility actionable. Set clear expectations for their role and how you measure success when it comes to content efforts. If you work with a team of students, it can be beneficial to have weekly meetings to bring everyone together for an update on ongoing projects.
Instilling Brand Perspective
For the success of your social media strategy, it is important for everyone to be on the same page. Share the overall goals of the department with the students and inform them on how the goals are measured.
A good student ambassador is the kind of person who captures the attention of other students in a genuine way.
The goals typically should stem from the overall campus strategy. Include your brand pillars in the messaging and content your team is producing. Be sure the brand perspective is being used as a jumping off point.
Have students assigned to the different messaging you are creating for targeted audiences. This includes student, parent and alumni perspective. Create a roadmap on how your department communicates with these different groups and let the students use their own experiences to reach them.
Giving Them the Tools
If you are just getting started, here are some of our favorite tools your students can use.
Procreate: Procreate is an advanced painting app created for mobile devices. It is meant to work in harmony with iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. It gives you the feeling of real-world drawing with the power of digital art.
Canva: Canva is an Australian graphic design platform that is used to create social media graphics, presentations, posters, documents and other visual content. This is really simple to use and meant to help people with little graphic design skills to create awesome graphics. They also have a free version which is great!
Adobe: Everyone knows Adobe with its suite of design tools including: Indesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. This may be something your school is already using, so take advantage of it.
OpenShot: OpenShot is free video editing software that works for Mac, Windows, or Linux. All video creators are welcome here. The software offers unlimited tracks you can incorporate for background videos, audio galore, and sick effects.
Unibuddy: Unibuddy actually highlights ideas for training ambassadors, from making sure they are empowered with the right knowledge, to giving them the skills to effectively use any digital tools they might encounter.
Empowering Students to Do What They Do Best
Student Ambassadors and the content they generate showcase your institution’s culture brand, and values in an authentic, meaningful way. The whole idea of using students and capturing their moments as real-life brand champions is finding the sparkle through the eye of the student.
Gen Z grew up with phones in their pockets.
Remember, your students are Gen Z natives; they are the generation who grew up with phones in their pockets. These kids know technology and the internet like the back of their hand! Learn to trust their natural instincts for trends and pop culture and allow them the creativity to branch out in their content creation. Encourage them to think independently and watch the magic unfold.
You hired your student ambassadors, established trust, taught them the brand perspective and equipped them with the tools to be successful. Now get out of their way and see your analytics flourish!
Capture Social Media Advertising
Don’t let your social media advertising be outdated and ineffective. Influence your future students where they go to be influenced by connecting with them based on their interests and demographics. Capture’s social media advertising tools and expertise let you engage your audience through highly targeted social media ads that increase your brand awareness and generate inquiries and applications. Contact us today to find out more!
