Update on strategic positioning for June 2022 | MarComm prepares for the year ahead

If you’ve read my blog, you know that I’m excited about this time of year for two reasons—for all of the celebrations that happen and for the beginning of summer! It’s always a delight to see eager graduates receive the diploma they have worked so hard to earn. I imagine that some of these individuals will have a little time this summer to recharge and regroup before embarking on the next stage of their life journey. For MarComm, the summer months are a time for our team to prepare for the next academic year.

Commencement Takeover

Another fantastic DU Commencement is part of our history and we are extremely proud of every one of our students, staff, and faculty who made this year a success. Communications and coverage of the events was a group effort. You might have seen our Newsroom coverage as well as multiple social media posts over the weekend. To top it all off, the Thursday before the event, we dedicated an entire edition of The Bridge to Commencement and compiled all the Newsroom articles, social media posts, and commencement history all in one place to make it as easy as possible for faculty and staff to find the attendance information they needed. In addition to this year’s event recap, we also launched our first social content series—connecting with graduates to ask their favorite memories, advice they would give their first-year selves, and who they would like to thank.

Social Impact on Newsroom Reach

Sharing the latest newsroom stories on our DU social media channels has and will continue to boost traffic to the DU Newsroom. Posting #DUNewsroom recaps about the most recent two commencement ceremonies generated an uptick on LinkedIn and Facebook generated sessions and page views. Our Sprout analytics indicated that the top five DU Newsroom posts in the same timeframe were commencement recaps. Commencement-related content drove a 39.3% social increase in traffic from the previous week.

RadioEd Returns

This fall, you’ll be able to hear the third season of RadioEd on your favorite listening device, and we are excited to examine the coming year’s hottest topics with some of the best thought leaders DU has to offer. The hosts—and the branding—might look a little different for the new season, but we will still have the same laser focus on storytelling to highlight talent and expertise at the University. RadioEd content will be distributed on all of DU’s branded social channels, but any amplification—either through shares or native content—will help your featured faculty or staff member and their expertise reach a larger audience. If you enjoyed the podcast, leaving a five-star review will also boost the episode’s potential reach.

Spanish Translation Update

MarComm hired its first ever Bilingual Writer in March. After three months, we have partnered with the Access and Transitions programs under Student Affairs & Inclusive Excellence, Facilities Services, Human Resources & Inclusive Community, and more to help Spanish-speaking staff, Spanish-speaking parents of DU students, and the DU community to better understand the information they need to know.

Our bilingual writer has been working on a resource guide with information about an online tool that auto-translates necessary DU websites to help employees translate not only DU information but as much online information as they desire. We have helped translate event information for parents to celebrate their students' accomplishments, and we have also been translating information in The Bridge and DU community email messages so that Spanish-speaking employees stay up to date on DU’s news. Recently, we helped Event Services make consent forms for summer camp programs at DU more accessible for parents. Additionally, we launched Spanish ad sets in the For the Difference campaign in collaboration with the marketing team! We’re setting the foundation for much greater things to come, and we are excited to see where future partnerships in our bilingual efforts take us.

I hope you will engage with our team if you have suggestions for RadioEd guests, takeover editions of The Bridge, or other creative ideas on how we can best share DU’s story in the coming year. We look forward to collaborating with you!