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A nationwide study released by Rival IQ recently revealed that Jackson State’s social media engagement is ranked highest among all other competing Higher Ed institutions in Mississippi. JSU is also the overall second highest ranked Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the country.
“Jackson State University is honored to be recognized as a leader in social media engagement among many of our peer institutions across the country,” says Alonda Thomas, associate vice president for marketing and communications. “This achievement is attributed to the dynamic content that our digital media team curates daily. The collaboration of our public relations, marketing, graphic design and digital media staff has been the key to our success to develop an engaging experience for our diverse audience.”
Rival IQ delivers analytics and competitive insights to help digital marketers make informed decisions, improve results, and better understand their competitors. The company’s social media analytics software used 353 D1 colleges and universities data from Facebook, Instagram and Twitter between June 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021.
“The past 12 – 18 months have presented both challenges and opportunities for our digital media team because we’ve had to adjust our social media program, says Spencer McClenty, director of communications— digital media. “Before COVID-19, the majority of our social media engagement resulted from our coverage of campus events. When the pandemic occurred, and events were canceled, we adjusted our strategy. We focused on virtual events and more positive stories of faculty, staff, students and alumni achievements.”
Social Media engagement rates help Rival IQ take audience size into account to see who’s really reaching the highest percentage of their fans and followers with social posts. These institutions are identified as the schools to beat.
“The virtual events we’ve produced have been sources of information and entertainment during these times, and the feedback we’ve received has been amazing,” says Kentrice Rush, digital media manager. “It’s such a great feeling when you see comments like, ‘This made my day,’ on something you helped to produce, and I hope we continue to give our students, alumni, and other constituents the content they’re looking for.”
Here’s a list of highlights from the Social Media Engagement Report:
- JSU is the top-ranked institution in Mississippi for social media engagement.
- JSU is the second highest ranked HBCU in the country for social media engagement.
- JSU’s overall ranking has improved from #57 to tie for #31.
- JSU’s Facebook ranking improved from #11 to #4.
- JSU’s Twitter ranking improved from #33 to #23.
- JSU’s Instagram account improved by moving up nearly 100 spots, from #234 to #138.
“We really appreciate the love and support we receive from our social media audience. Every reaction, comment and share contributes to this ranking and shows us how engaged our audience is with our content, especially during this pandemic,” says Rush.
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