UMSocial launched our first Snapchat Geofilter Campaign in January of this year as students were returning to campus for winter semester, and it was a huge success. To capitalize on the popularity of the campaign, we have decided to expand it for this upcoming semester! We are thrilled to announce that we created seven new custom geofilters and brought them to campus for the upcoming school year!
Our new filters are accessible in brand new locations such as North Campus, Michigan Stadium, and university residence halls. There is also a geofilter exclusive to Welcome Week 2015. The varied location availability of these filters creates excitement within the community to find the exact location and time where each filter can be used. Geofilters add an interactive element to the visual storytelling that Snapchat affords; allowing users to not only share what they are doing, but where they are doing it. By expanding the Geofilter options on campus, we are broadening our account’s capacity to showcase exciting campus narratives in real time.
We have recently begun a weekly feature in which we create a story covering a noteworthy arts or cultural event every Thursday. These stories provide a behind-the-scenes look at these events and spaces, highlighting many diverse intellectual perspectives around campus. In addition to this standing feature, we create several other stories throughout the week, documenting significant events and initiatives across campus.
Presently, our ‘UofMichigan’ Snapchat account has 8850 followers. In the first half of 2015, our follower growth rate was 50.8%. Moreover, our weekly stories consistently receive over 4.5K views apiece. We believe that our account’s combination of dynamic event coverage and interactive, user-generated content creates optimal opportunities for engagement. By working with multiple student organizations and university departments, we hope to showcase the breadth of excellence and innovation in our community.
The growth and evolution of our Snapchat is a wonderful success story. Our innovation on the platform has positioned us as a leader in Higher Education Social Media and we will continue to refine our strategy and utilize Snapchat in new, exciting ways. We hope you enjoy the new Geofilters and continue to snap along with ‘UofMichigan!’
