Written by Grace Farrell
Over the past few years, university undergraduate admissions offices have undergone notable changes in their marketing strategies. Puget Sound Admissions' Instagram account used to be pretty formal, but lately it's seen more playful posts. Captions include jokes and emojis instead of academic, technical language. Videos with content like memes and jokes appear on his new TikTok page.
Shinara Alcantara, Puget Sound's assistant vice president for admissions marketing, said these social media changes are part of an intentional shift to better serve prospective students. This change began a few years ago when Alcantara arrived in Puget Sound and assembled her four-person team dedicated to creating a comprehensive plan to help her family navigate the college search process. It started when. Her team has already found success with her This is the Sound campaign, which won her two university awards, including a Gold Telly Award last May.
Alcantara's admissions marketing team focuses on engaging prospective students and their parents through consistent email, website maintenance, and print communications, as well as managing social media accounts. For example, they send regular emails to prospective students, first encouraging them to apply, and second, keeping Puget Sound on their radar. Alcantara's team prints brochures and brochures for admissions events like Puget Sound Bound and sends out acceptance packages, but they try to create content that appeals to each sense to get students excited about admission. has been strategically redesigned. However, these communication methods have not undergone as dramatic a change as social media accounts at the time of admission.
In addition to rebranding Instagram, Alcantara's team launched TikTok this fall in an effort to “meet students where they are,” she said. Part of this involves using emojis, slang, and changing the tone to more casual explanations to mimic the type of communication students would have with a trusted friend. The team also hired her three student staff to organize most of her social media content, specifically her TikTok. This results in more fun and inspirational content, which Alcantara says “helps convey her authentic Puget Sound experience.”
“The big change is that we've balanced out transactional type messages that require more information to be sent to students,” Alcantara said. Her team aims to make the content “more inspiring than just nagging you to apply.”
Alcantara emphasizes the importance of hearing directly from families about their experiences in order to meet students during the admissions process. The team works to keep up with new students and monitor changes in their attitudes toward college, including how worried they are about work results and their four-year experience at the liberal arts institution. That's what I'm aiming for. We hope these changes will continue to attract prospective students and grow our freshman class.
“Higher education is in a very difficult situation right now. We are doing everything we can to recruit students,” Alcantara said.
