My take on club marketing
Startup Laurier is a campus club that aims to inspire students to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions through events, programs and other initiatives. I joined in 2018 as a Director of Brand Communications making graphics and other promotional materials which led me to working up to VP of Marketing in the following year. Seeing the immense value Startup brought to aspiring entrepreneurs, I was determined to elevate our marketing to reach and resonate with more students.
The Problem
Infrequent posts
The page exclusively posted promotional material for our events, introductions to the team, or hiring posts. In total, there were 25 posts in 2018. There was an average of 2 posts per event.
Low engagement on social media
With a lack of diversified content, there was little to engage with on our Instagram. Each post cumulated an average of 56 engagements.
Repeated formula
The marketing plan for every event usually consisted of an event page, followed by a main event graphic, and graphics featuring the workshops or speakers of the event. We rarely strayed from this formula.
Startup Laurier’s feed 2018
Content Marketing Strategy
Seeing the value our events brought students, I wanted our Instagram to place for students to learn effortlessly and continue to be inspired. My content strategy revolved around microblogging and a recurring series.
#FOUNDERFRIDAYS
A weekly series that shines a light on today’s great entrepreneurs to inspire our audience with their stories. We selected the stories of entrepreneurs that we may not have heard of, but have impacted our lives in meaningful ways such as Sal Khan from Khan Academy.
Our first #FounderFriday post.
A special #FounderFriday post featuring student entrepreneurs at Laurier.
MICROBLOG
Inspired by @thechrisdo’s engaging and eye-catching style of microblogging which consist of using multiple images to convey bits of information regarding a certain subject. My team and I collaborated on these microblogs.
PUTTING 1ST YEARS AT EASE
One of the first microblogs, generating over 3 times as much engagement as last years average. A post that advised nervous first years and brought back unforgettable memories for upper years from this notorious project (New Venture).
NETWORKING SIMPLIFIED
Targeting first years with little to no experience networking resulting in a 30% increase in engagement.
DABBLING IN VIDEO
HubSpot reported that social media videos have 48% more views. As a feature for our Entrepreneurship Week content, I made a video highlighting today’s greatest entrepreneurs that started from nowhere to spark hope in aspiring student entrepreneurs.
Breaking the Mold with Experiential Marketing
During every brainstorming meeting, I asked my team “What is something different we can do?”.
I was adamant on innovating at every chance we got to avoid getting stuck into a cycle of repeated marketing strategies. So we decided to take a stab at experiential marketing for our flagship event, Entex. The theme we decided on was “elevating your vision” as a link to the 2020 new year. The theme was represented through our designs with an eye chart.
With a magnifying glass, 2 velvet ropes, and our poster taped onto a stool, we created a mini pop-up exhibit situated in the middle of Lazaridis Hall.
The exhibit ran for several days. It drew in many confused passersby and generated a ton of buzz for the event.
AFTER THOUGHTS:
A card on the side of the stool with a QR code would have been a clearer CTA and could have driven more conversions.
Below are some other graphics I made for hiring, promotion & more!
Fun and inspiring new years post.
Program testimonial to promote Project YOU.
Teaser graphic for our new event.
President introduction to promote hiring.
The Results
By the end of my VP term, we were able to achieve:
57 total posts on Instagram compared to only 17 the previous year
43% increase in engagement per post
Dozens of comments of praise for our marketing efforts from other students
Nomination for VP Marketing of the Year
My VP term was an incredible learning and growing experience. Despite my term being cut short due to COVID-19, I’ve been able to gain so much knowledge about content creation, event marketing and leadership from it. None of our achievements would have been possible without my amazing teammates, Connor, Mai and Ellen. Startup has been a great journey for me and it’s not over yet — I’ll be returning to the club as a VP of Operations in the fall!
#StartupLove
