Higher Education

How Georgia State University Built a Global Community of Brand Advocates

In 2017, the division launched #TheStateWay, a brand awareness campaign that reflects the University’s culture of experimentation and commitment to closing the achievement gap among all students.

“It plays off our university identity and defines how we set ourselves apart with innovations in our approach to student success, the classroom, our connection to Atlanta and in our research,” says Coniglio. “#TheStateWay is more than a tag line–instead it has become the way that our community encompasses the personality and difference at Georgia State. The State Way has become part of the lexicon here.”

#TheStateWay is just one component of Georgia State’s social storytelling strategy. The university also taps into the power of brand advocacy, using Hootsuite Amplify to make it easy for employees, students, and influencers to share on-brand content from their mobile devices.

“The busier the person is, the more they love it,” says Coniglio. “People at the director-plus level love it because they don’t need to sift through content on traditional social networks to find Georgia State stories. Strategic use of our campus influencers has brought more visibility to the university’s story.”

Amplify enables students and staff who weren’t previously posting on social media to become more active.

The Georgia State University team measures campaign success based on university rankings and third-party endorsements. So far, the #TheStateWay campaign has been a resounding success with improved year-over-year rankings, plus more than 6,500 social shares and millions of impressions across social networks.

With an innovative social media strategy and an active and growing community of brand advocates on social, Georgia State University is well positioned to inspire the leaders of tomorrow with the spirit of innovation.