On Thursday, USI’s Media Relations Strategist Kaylee Johnson gave a presentation regarding the impacts of social media on campus and how media can help grow USI’s outreach.
Johnson, an Evansville native, received her Bachelor of Science in Public Relations and Advertising in 2020 and then her Masters of Arts in Communications in 2022, both from USI. She started as a student worker in the Marketing and Communications Department before working her way up the ladder to her current position. Johnson’s presentation gave insight into what it is like to manage all of USI’s social media, along with the impacts of her role.
The symposium started with three TikTok videos: one being a “what people think my job is like” video, another a reality of what it means to be a media specialist and the final was a real video filmed by USI’s social media team, emphasizing the hard work that goes into filming a ten second clip for USI’s social media.
“People think that I come to work, I serve, I make a couple TikToks, I sit in my little pink chair in the corner, post a TikTok and then go home for the day. That’s really not what it’s about,” Johnson said.
A lot of work goes into the behind-the-scenes of content creation. Some of that might be finding logistics for filming–whether that be finding someone to video, captions or trending hashtags–but a lot of planning goes into how and when to post. Tracking engagement and planning with a content calendar is something Johnson says is crucial to a successful social media post. A target audience, for example, is something that is factored in during deciding where to post the content.
“For example, we’re not going to post a short-form video justifying the purchase of Chick-fil-A five times weekly using girl math on our Facebook or LinkedIn. Those audiences would be confused by this type of content, and our engagement would suffer as a result,” Johnson said.
She then compared this scenario to one encouraging students to use their munch money more often. “On those platforms where we have an older audience (Facebook and LinkedIn), we will likely have better engagement if we take a more straightforward approach to explaining what we’re trying to communicate.”
USI’s Strategic Communication department utilizes a multitude of different resources ranging from content platforms to AI. Sprout Social and Airtable are two of the platforms most often used to plan social media content for the department. Sprout Social offers a content scheduling calendar and the ability to track engagement across platforms. Airtable is most often used to aid the department in scheduling student worker tasks, such as when to film content. During her presentation, Johnson also touched on AI, a resource that she says can be looked down on in many other situations.
Johnson explained how she uses AI to brainstorm ideas. “Whether I’m developing new series ideas or drafting general captions, AI helps me generate a solid starting point,” she said. “From there, I tailor the content to fit USI’s brand voice and distinct personality on social media. While AI provides a helpful foundation, I never rely on it entirely. Everything still requires thoughtful editing and customization to align with our brand standards.”
The second section of the symposium was a Q&A, moderated by two students who prepared questions for Johnson. Audience members were also invited to ask questions as the segment moved along.
When asked about future plans for student organization takeovers and “Follow Fridays,” two of USI social media’s top performing segments, Johnson explained the importance of student involvement-oriented content and how the university hopes to increase engagement from on-campus organizations.
“If anybody ever wants to do a takeover, feel free to contact me,” Johnson said. “I am happy to do a takeover anytime. We really try to do takeovers to highlight different events on campus.”
The Shield asked how the department acts so fast on unexpected or important announcements. Johnson clarified that during planned, important announcements, the university usually has a press statement that is ready to be published with a “push of a button”. For unexpected and emergency updates and announcements, such as when a suspicious and unknown bottle was found on campus, Strategic Communication had to act quickly to inform students and faculty.
“Things like that have to be addressed quickly. So that’s really getting on the phone talking to your coworkers– your higher-ups– to decide what decisions need to be made to keep the campus community safe. Even though that was nothing, you are having to make that decision in a timely manner,” Johnson said.
Since 2022, USI has held annual social media symposiums, each with different speakers. The symposiums usually occur towards the end of March and offer insight to the impacts of social media in education.