It’s the most wonderful time of the year in Ann Arbor!
Welcoming students back to campus is one of the most thrilling moments of each year for UMSocial. With all of the excitement, many members of our communities experience an array of emotions. It is exhilarating and exacting all at once for many members of the community, meaning that it is immensely important that we balance communicating important resources with sharing photos and videos of students moving into their dorms.
One of the pillars of our #WelcomeHoMe social communications strategy was a welcome back video that we posted on the eve of the first day of classes. The video, which featured two of U-M Social’s student interns, centered around the numerous paths a Wolverine can take while at the university and featured several U-M schools, colleges, and stakeholders. Paired with fast-paced music and a dance montage, the video encapsulated the energy on campus and the excitement for the new school year.
It’s necessary to navigate this time carefully to ensure that details aren’t getting lost in the feeds and that everyone in our Wolverine community feels included in the content that we create to represent the campus experience. From a welcome video to set Wolverines off on their path to families participating in TikTok trends to amplifying important information about the campus experience to bringing everyone together through the famous block M pride, we showed off the Michigan experience and identified innovative ways to involve everyone in the process.
@uofmichigan Our Wolverines kept it moving today! 🚚 #UofM #UMich #Michigan #Moving #CollegeLife
@uofmichigan These Michigan families moved in their Wolverines today and had some emotional messages for them 🥹 #UofM #UMich #Michigan #Moving #CollegeLife
♬ Emotional, uplifting, cinematic, background(1116644) – MaxRecStudio
Our entire month of August was dedicated to the anticipation of students returning to campus with enthusiastic posts across all social media platforms, creating a virtual environment of excitement for the new academic year. We collaborated with a wide array of communicators, social media leads and other campus colleagues to create brief narratives about different schools and colleges, inventive programs and aspects of being in the Ann Arbor area. Some of the most popular posts included a 10/10 photos trend, highlighting sustainability efforts, and showcasing U-M schools and colleges.
Capturing the captivating atmosphere around the university, we framed content ensuring that everyone from families to alumni to faculty, and of course students, were able to participate in the fun. Among the numerous pieces of #WelcomeHoMe content were photos of move-in, interviews with parents and students, coverage of Convocation, Festifall, the Block M class photo, and the first day of classes.
These posts cultivated an environment that had our community thrilled to welcome the new academic year. With 9,817,687 impressions, 439,700 engagements and 3,090,216 video views, the impact has been clear. The comment sections have been full of joyous messages, well wishes and reflections of Wolverines’ memorable experiences.
To wrap up the first week of classes, maized-out Wolverines packed into the Big House for the Michigan Football home opener. The anticipation from students guided our lead-up to the game, and the support, shouts, and signing (Mr. Brightside, of course) from the student section allowed us to show the world what the experience is all about.
@uofmichigan The @Michigan Football student section Maized Out and rocked the Big House all game long! 〽️ #UofM #UMich #Michigan #GoBlue #StudentLife
