Great Social Media Idea: Alumni Snapchat Takeover

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called... Snapchat. (Sigh. Still doesn't seem real that Prince is gone.)

I'll be the first to admit I'm too old for Snapchat, or at least too old to intuitively "get" it like I can other (i.e. older) social media platforms. But there's no denying Snapchat's importance, particularly if college and high school students are a key demographic for your social media work.

So check out this really great alumni takeover idea from Bentley University's social media team. And like so many things that come out of the #hesm folks that work out of marketing and communications offices, it's super versatile and useful for departments across campus like alumni, admissions, career services, etc.

Super fun, right?

This is a fantastic way to do outreach to current students about what life is like after graduation - especially great showing how the alumni network has helped them with jobs - and to involve some young, eager alumni who want to stay connected and help out. Showing alumni in cities all over the country, working at cool jobs, being independent... it's powerful stuff for current (and prospective) students.

And while I particularly like the alumni takeovers, there are also two videos in this playlist of "event" takeovers from service activities like Habitat for Humanity, which is also a fun and fresh way to cover events like this. I know from first-hand experience that sometimes it can be really difficult to get the tone right when highlighting service activities... it's never a good look to brag about volunteering, you know what I mean? So something like this - which is on the ground, unpolished, and straight from the students - works really well. Show, don't tell.

Great stuff, Bentley! Something tells me more than a few colleges will pick up on the alumni takeover idea.  :)