7 top tips for schools and universities to maximise the impact of #throwbackthursday
Since first appearing in the late 2000s #ThrowbackThursday, or #TBT, has become a mainstay of social media, with people and organisations posting all sorts of throwbacks (past moments) such as recollections, photos, videos, and even documents, every week across all social media platforms.
Alumni organisations have jumped on this trend and today hundreds of institutions are regularly using the hashtag to highlight everything from past events, people, groups, right through to buildings and sporting successes.
The power of the hashtag is obvious, as of August 2022 #throwbackthursday had been used over 55 million times on Instagram alone, this may sound like a lot, but is dwarfed by the 594 million uses of #TBT on the same platform!
So why has throwback Thursday continued to thrive after so long in the notoriously fickle world of social media, where trends usually come and go in the blink of an eye?
Part of the reason is that it is great for both the poster and the viewer. The poster gets to share something they’re proud of (in the case of institutions, their history, or achievements) and for the viewer it boils down to nostalgia, people love to be reminded of the ‘good old days’, or even the ‘not so good days’!
This mutually beneficial arrangement means #TBT can be a brilliant force in alumni relations, development, and advancement.
How does #throwbackthursday or #TBT foster stronger relationships with your community?
By reinforcing the bond between the parties, it can really help grow audiences by attracting followers who aren’t interested in more current content
It can be applied to anything that has happened in the past
It gives organisations a near unlimited source of material to be sharing.
Whether you’ve never used throwback Thursday before or are a seasoned expert why not take a look at our top tips for maximising the impact of your #TBT.
7 top tips for schools and universities to maximise the impact of #throwbackthursday:
· Tailor by platform
Whilst there is nothing wrong taking a single piece of content and posting it across all your social media channels, different demographics are found more on certain platforms. By considering who you are looking to reach with your posts you can tailor them to be more specific to certain audiences and therefore increase their relevance. Looking to appeal to your Gen X and Millennial alum? They will most likely be on Instagram, whereas Baby Boomers are more likely to be Facebook users.
2. Select your content
Whilst images of old buildings, or events from two hundred years ago may well be interesting to people in a historical sense, you will find that audiences will be much more engaged by material that relates to their own experiences, in this case, the time they were with you.
A recent comment from our Linkedin page illustrating the need for content to be relevant to the experiences of your alum.
3. Make it relevant
Try and tie content to current events or news stories, this will help your posts have an increased reach thanks to the algorithms used by the social media companies. If you can’t find a link then why not associate your posts with an upcoming event, anniversary, or milestone within your institution, making sure you’re utilising #TBT to highlight your current activities, plans and goals.
4. Missed a Thursday
Why not use #flashbackfriday, or #FBF? These hashtags aren’t quite as popular but still give you the chance to get some old content out to your audience each week.
5. Add facts
Whilst photos, videos, and documents are great they really come alive with a proper description of what they are and where and when they’re from. Adding a short fact or piece of trivia to your posts will really increase their engagement.
6. Schedule in advance
The longevity of the hashtag combined with the fact that you will be using content from the past means that you can set up multiple posts to be scheduled over the coming months rather than needing to manually create posts each week.
7. Ask your audience
Ask your audience what they want to see more of! Be it drama performances from the 1960s to recent reunion events…
Make sure you’re asking your audience what they’d like to see in your future #TBT posts, this not only gives you ideas on what to share but activity in the comments of a post almost always means the algorithms share it more widely.
Follow these steps and you can sit back and watch the likes and comments roll in!
Once you’ve seen the power of #TBT why not make everyday a #ThrowbackThursday? SocialArchive® has been designed to give schools, colleges, and universities somewhere to not only save and organise their history, but specifically to make it easy to share with their audience, combining the power of social media with memories . By harnessing the power of nostalgia you can:
Generate new alumni engagement
Build stronger connections with those you’re already engaged with
Run more effective and targeted development and advancement campaigns.
We’d love to show you how this has been proven to work, so get in touch with us today to arrange a demonstration.