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I mentioned Reddit in my digital engagement update last week. Reddit is literally the worst designed, most awesome social network on the web today. Seriously, it looks like something that I designed when I was an undergrad learning HTML in a random design class back in forever-ago.
However, Reddit is special. It's made up of the best, the worst, and the oh-so-super niche...and that's what makes it wonderfully valuable for higher education marketers, communicators, admissions pros, and a whole host of other functional areas. Reddit is for listening, learning, and cultivating.
According to Wikipedia (you know you use it on a daily basis, don't be a snob), Reddit is the 5th most visited website in the United States and is 13th for the entire world. In other words, it's a dynamic phenomenon that doesn't get nearly enough attention.
Recently, Liz Gross of Campus Sonar, posted an epic thread about Reddit (over on Twitter) from a presentation by fellow 'sonarian,' Stephen App, on The Enrollment Marketer's Guide to Reddit:
Campus Sonar is 100% dedicated to social listening...and Reddit provides plenty of meaningful intelligence for higher education.
Some of the highlight's from Liz's tweet thread from Stephen's presentation include:
- “The /applyingtocollege subreddit has 104,000+ members! 40,000 members are in the /gradadmissions subreddit.
- Enrollment marketers, you might be excited....so you want to get on Reddit and start promoting yourself. DON'T DO THAT.”
- “Introduce yourself to a moderator first so you follow the rules of engagement.”
- “When students announce to the internet that they're struggling with a decision on a timeline and know what they need to consider.....campuses need to be listening.”
- “Dip your toes in, FOR FREE. Search for the name of your institution on Reddit. Think about nicknames. You may find a subreddit, you may not. If you're location-specific, look for subreddits related to your geography.”
Stephen's entire presentation (thanks to Liz for sharing) is a masterpiece / homage to Reddit for anyone who works in higher education:
And, this is one of the reasons why I love the web (community, connection, and creativity), so I have to close this post with a shout-out to an awesome blog post by Joel Goodman of Bravery Media (that was inspired by a tweet from Stephen about Reddit).
Stephen shared, by way of Reddit, about how unhappy prospective students are with university websites:
Joel's follow-up blog provides 3 simple, actionable ideas for how to improve the student experience:
- Make essential content easy to find
- Make your website's content accessible for all users
- Get rid of black holes (digital journeys that lead to nowhere)
Thanks for reading...and thanks to Campus Sonar, Liz Gross, Stephen App, and Joel Goodman for providing insights that matter.
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