Turning Trends into Tours: How Bowling Green’s Social Media Drives Enrollment

About the Episode:
In this episode, Allison talks to Brianna Blackburn, Assistant Director of Social Media Strategy at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), about how social media can be a powerful driver of enrollment. Brianna shares her strategies for turning TikTok trends and Instagram posts into measurable enrollment outcomes and how her team has built a thriving online community of over 350,000 followers across various platforms. As a Gen Z-er, Brianna offers a fresh perspective on how to balance creativity with intention to engage prospective students, current students, parents, and alumni in a way that feels authentic and fun.

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Key “How-Tos” You’ll Hear in This Episode:

1. Engage Prospective Students with Social Media Trends: Learn how to leverage trending sounds, viral challenges, and popular content formats to create engaging posts that attract and resonate with your target audience.
2. Optimize Social Media Platforms for the Enrollment Journey: Discover which platforms are most effective for prospective students and how to create a tailored experience on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube to meet their needs.
3. Build Collaborative Campaigns Across Teams: Understand how to work with admissions teams, video production teams, and influencers to create consistent and engaging social media campaigns that align with enrollment goals.
4. Balance Multi-Generational Audiences on Social Media: Find out how to create content that appeals to multiple generations, from Gen Z to parents and alumni, without losing your brand’s unique voice.
5. ‍Measure the Impact of Social Media Campaigns: Learn how to track success through key metrics like engagement, comments, and shares, and how to pivot when certain strategies aren't working.

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How Does Social Media Impact Enrollment at BGSU?
Brianna explains that at Bowling Green State University, social media serves as the first touchpoint for many prospective students. With platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, BGSU reaches Gen Z and Gen Alpha where they already are. The university treats its social media as a digital front door, ensuring prospective students get a seamless, informative, and engaging experience right from the start.

Social media also plays a vital role in bridging the gap between students and admissions. By acting almost like "digital admissions counselors," BGSU's social media team interacts with prospective students in comments and direct messages, providing personalized responses and assistance. Collaborating closely with admissions counselors, they ensure a consistent message across all platforms, extending their reach to parents and grandparents—key decision influencers.

Additionally, BGSU keeps a close eye on social media trends, adapting their content strategies to align with what’s popular among students. From linking to scholarship applications via Instagram comments to showcasing campus life in fun, interactive ways, their approach is dynamic and data-driven.

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What Social Media Campaigns Have Made the Biggest Impact?
Brianna highlights BGSU's "Beaches You Promise" campaign as one of the university's most successful enrollment initiatives. By combining organic posts with paid social media ads, the campaign struck a balance between engagement and driving prospective students toward action. What made it effective was the seamless integration of the campaign’s messaging across both organic and paid content, ensuring that the same story was told regardless of where the student saw the post.

A unique approach that worked well for BGSU was staying nimble and capitalizing on viral trends to enhance their enrollment campaigns. For example, during the Super Bowl, BGSU would tie in trending content with enrollment deadlines or other calls to action. This kept the content light, engaging, and relevant while still driving students toward applying or visiting campus.

Brianna also discusses a particularly creative series of campaigns modeled after popular home-design shows like Selling Sunset, MTV Cribs, and House Hunters. These campaigns showcased the BGSU campus in a fresh and entertaining way, resonating with prospective students and alumni alike. Layering this with an influencer campaign featuring Trent Miller from TikTok brought in additional engagement and set BGSU apart from its competitors.

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How Does BGSU Balance Content for Multiple Audiences?
Social media marketing in higher ed requires balancing content that appeals to prospective students, current students, alumni, and parents. BGSU’s campaigns, such as their MTV Cribs-style campus tours, manage to connect with different audiences by evoking nostalgia for older generations while keeping the content fun and relevant for Gen Z.

Brianna emphasizes the importance of understanding the audience on each platform. For example, TikTok might be aimed more at prospective students, while Instagram content may target parents or alumni through more polished, “highlight-reel” visuals. However, even TikTok’s demographic is broadening to include parents and grandparents, so BGSU's strategy involves a mix of content that can resonate across multiple generations.

Ultimately, Brianna and her team aim to create content that builds a sense of community and invites participation from all audience groups. Whether it’s alumni commenting on a nostalgic post or prospective students engaging with a mini-mic series, BGSU’s social media strives to bring everyone into the fold.

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‍About the Show: The Application is your playbook for the ever-evolving world of higher education enrollment marketing. This podcast zeroes in on the niche, often-unexplored areas of the field, delivering a potent mix of actionable insights, practical strategies, and cutting-edge perspectives.

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Connect With Our Host:

Allison Turcio

https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonturcio/

https://twitter.com/allisonturcio

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About The Enrollify Podcast Network: The Application with Allison Turcio is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows, too!  

Some of our favorites include Mission Admissions and Visionary Voices: The College President’s Playbook.

Enrollify is made possible by Element451 —  the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

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Element451 is hosting the AI Engage Summit on Oct 29 and 30. Register now for this free, virtual event.The future of higher ed is being redefined by the transformative power of AI. The AI Engage Summit brings together higher ed leaders,  innovators, and many of your favorite Enrollify creators to explore AI’s impact on student engagement, enrollment marketing, and institutional success.

Experience firsthand how AI is improving content personalization at scale, impacting strategic decision-making, and intuitively automating the mundane tasks that consume our time. The schedule is packed with real examples and case studies, so you leave knowing how to harness AI to drive meaningful change at your institution.

Whether you’re looking to enhance student outcomes, optimize enrollment marketing, or simply stay ahead of the curve, the AI Engage Summit is your gateway to the next level of higher education innovation. Registration is free, save your spot today.