Anyone else have a phone album of 4,000 emotional support screenshots they actually never look at, or is it just me?                          

YouTube: The long and short of it

There are many institutions that have an impeccable social media presence on Instagram, LinkedIn and even TikTok — yet they just let their YouTube channel turn into a video-hosting platform for faculty lectures and Zoom recordings. Yes, you have to pick your priorities, and unless you have a massive staff (or RWJ Social helping you!), it feels nearly impossible to juggle so many platforms. Still, let’s move YouTube up on the priority list starting now.

Here’s why: According to Pew Research, 95% of teens are on YouTube, by far the most out of any other platform, and 20% of teens say they are “constantly” on it. 

Need another reason to make YouTube a priority? Embedding YouTube long-form videos and YouTube shorts on your institution’s website can help boost your Google search ranking. If you’re pressed for time and resources, here are a few quick tips to help bring your YouTube presence up to speed:

- Repurpose those Reels and TikToks you already have as YouTube shorts. Shorts are still relatively new, but as YouTube looks to compete with TikTok, the company’s prioritization of Shorts provides a huge opportunity. A great way to build an audience is to be an early adopter of emerging platforms and features.

- Spend a few bucks to boost your videos. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get more eyes on your YouTube videos, and it’s an easy way to meet prospective students and their parents where they are, increase your views on the videos you want more exposure on and get clicks to your website.  

- Optimize your videos on upload. Here’s a checklist to ensure you’re doing the most you can for your organic videos:

• Video title and description are SEO-friendly
• Website link in video description
• Video file name uses search-worthy keywords
• 5-8 tags that properly describe your video
• SRT or other accessible caption file
• Custom thumbnail

I’m sure many of you saw Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement last week that the company is testing Meta Verified, where subscribers can pay $15 a month to receive a verified badge and more visibility, among other perks. Sound familiar? My first thought was: “Is Meta really trying to copy Twitter right now?” I do think that these recent announcements signal revenue concerns among social media networks. In a way, this feels eerily similar to the news industry that tried to monetize a bit too late in the game when consumers were already getting their products for free (I was working in a newsroom when a paywall was implemented, and it is really where I strengthened my customer service skills; I lost count of how many times I had to tell our readers that our content, work and service to our community is worth paying for). My prediction: This shift provides a small boost in revenue for these companies, but there will be a lot of upset customers who refuse to pay.
Read more: Axios - Quality of life on the internet is coming at a higher price.

For those colleges and universities in colder climates, this is about the time of year when your students and employers are over winter. Lean into that sentiment and use this as a way to get some spring campus beauty in your feed. You can countdown until “campus is blooming again” while showing off your prettiest spring photo you’ve got or you use the photo to “add a little sunshine to your feed.” On LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, you can ask people to drop their favorite springtime campus pictures in the comments (this tactic might get you some good user-gen content for the future, too!).

My favorite moments at RWJ have been meeting with social media managers and specialists at various campuses and talking over their pain points, successes and everything in between. A little social media therapy is good for the soul. That is why we are launching Social Media Office Hours. Are you stuck somewhere? Just need an additional gut check or some advice on a strategy? I am happy to help talk it over. Your first session is on me, and you do not need to be an RWJ client to access this.

Around the socials

> Instagram launches channels
> Snapchat reaches 750 million monthly active users

> YouTube tests podcast management

RWJ Social helps higher ed institutions shape social strategy through a variety of services, including influencer engagement, benchmarking, monitoring and more.

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