When communicating online, contacts want to feel like they are talking to a ‘real person’ rather than a robot. If we pay more attention to community management, we can increase our reach and attract new followers. Of course, good community management also has a positive effect on optimizing our online reputation and increasing brand awareness.
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We will pay more attention to answering questions that we receive on the feed and privately. Any user who asks a question should receive a response within 24 hours instead of having to wait for a couple of days.
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We will no longer respond to questions only but also to comments and photos that are shared with us or in which we – as the University of Groningen – are tagged. This way, we will start the conversation, lower the threshold for followers to contact us, and provide the best customer care.
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We will facilitate opportunities that make it easier for followers to connect and help each other. For example, we will set up Facebook groups in which current and future students can easily get in touch with each other.
The ultimate objective is to reduce the amount of incoming questions because we will have created a better awareness of what is going on and because followers will be better able to help each other. On the other hand, we will increase our engagement rate, which will make us more visible on social media platforms, thereby increasing our reach.
3.0 Target audiences of the University of Groningen
As the University of Groningen, we communicate with various target groups, both ofline and online. We will first map out the demographic characteristics of these target groups before zooming in on the social media platforms and the target group-specific information linked to them.
# Future students
The group of future students is very diverse. Not just in terms of age, but also in terms of cultural background. We can distinguish between future Bachelor’s students, who are 16-22 years old, and future Master’s students, who are a little older: 18-25 years old. Moreover, some of these students are from the Netherlands, while others live outside the Netherlands – either within or outside Europe. Students who are interested in following a Bachelor’s degree programme are mainly active on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Students who are looking for a Master’s degree programme can be reached through Facebook.
The use of social media platforms is very important for this target group. Through various channels, we can reach new people who might be interested in studying at the UG.
# Current students
A large target group of the UG are current students. These students generally fall in the 18-24 age group. Seventy-five percent of our current students are from the Netherlands, while 25% have an international background. Both audiences follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and are less present on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Students like to be active and involved with the UG. We can tell by the high engagement rate on the platforms on which these students are active, compared to other groups.
We consider our current students to be a connecting factor when it comes to reaching new students. They can act as UG ambassadors who enjoy sharing their experiences of our University’s content with their own network. It is therefore necessary to stay in touch with this target group, and to offer them support where necessary.
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# Alumni
According to our database, the UG had 144,126 alumni as of 2018. Our alumni are predominantly of Dutch nationality (followed by Chinese, German, and Indonesian). Most of them live in Groningen and the surrounding areas; are aged 20-29 and 30-39, followed by 40-49; studied at FEB, followed by the faculties of Arts, Behavioural and Social Sciences, Medicine, and Law (which is also reflected in the stats); and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, or doctorandus (former Dutch combination programme). Of the alumni, 8.22% (11,853) have donated to the University at least once. 4.52% are couples/live together as partners.
Our social media goal for alumni is to get them involved and engaged with our content on both the alumni social media accounts and on corporate social media accounts. Since our alumni range in age from recently graduated young professionals to pensioners, we engage with them on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Eventually, their engagement should act as a gateway to, for example, donating to the Ubbo Emmius Fund or signing up for further courses or training offered by the UG.
# Academics – within and outside the UG
A broad and international target audience consisting of professors, lecturers, and researchers. Most of them are quite active on Twitter and LinkedIn, but they may also be active on other platforms such as Instagram. Our goal is to inform them about what’s going on at the UG in terms of science and research and to engage them in projects.
# Staff
Within this group, we can distinguish between our current staff and potential staff. Our current UG staff (January 2019) is 42% female, 58% male (academic staff) and 59% female, 41% male (non-academic staff). Our academic staff is 40% international, 60% Dutch. Of the non-academic staff, 6% are international. Our goal is for our staff members to engage with our content—they should be our brand ambassadors. Our current staff members follow us on all platforms they use. Senior (research) academic staff are likely to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Younger staff and support staff are expected to follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
Our potential new staff members, both Dutch and international, are a broad audience. Our main goal is to recruit these new staff members with content based on our Employee Value Proposition. The UG’s recruitment and engagement focus is mostly on (senior) academic staff, with an additional focus on female
academics. Most academics are from a slightly older demographic. Academics are active on LinkedIn and Twitter, as well as a range of more specific platforms like ResearchGate.
# Media and journalists – national & international
Press and media are important target groups. Our content currently consists mainly of news items about research or corporate policy, to profile the University of Groningen.
# Politics and management – local, regional, national & international
This audience is of great importance because of the effect on our corporate reputation. This group is not at all homogeneous. As a public institution, the way these stakeholders view and value our organization should be mostly positive because we depend largely on government funding. Several politicians follow our work quite intensively through social media.
# Groningers, Frisians, and inhabitants of North Netherlands
The UG has been here since 1614. We have an intensive relationship with the City (of Talent) and the Northern region (Groningen, Drenthe, Fryslan). We want to show the inhabitants of the Northern Netherlands what the University can mean for them and this region, and how they can interact with us. We pay attention to specific news on our social media channels, and try to engage with the Groningen and Northern audience. For example, we do not often post in English.
# Businesses and business relations
Since valorization has become more and more important, the UG is investing in corporate relations. This audience is also of great importance because of the effect on our reputation. They engage with the UG specifically on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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4.0 Current situation of the UG social media channels
Now that we know which objectives we have in mind for the UG’s social media channels and which target groups we generally deal with, we can take a closer look in this chapter at the corporate social media channels we manage. Below, we will outline facts & figures, target group-specific information, and our plans for the coming year.
4.1
