YouTube is a valuable marketing tool for higher education and allows institutions to send a message about the voice of their campus. Is your school using YouTube effectively? Follow these tips to ensure your higher ed institution is creating useful content, engaging with users and providing a pleasant user experience, and getting the most out of the content that is created.

YouTube for Higher Education: Tips for Creating and Sharing Video Content

Creating valuable content

What types of videos should you make? With higher education, there are many options.

• Guided tours of your campus and/or department
• Guided tours of housing accommodations
• Testimonials: students, alumni, staff
• Student services interviews
• Tips for incoming students
• Facebook Live events
• FAQs video

Tips when filming

Remember that a user will subliminally connect the quality of a school’s video to the quality of its programs. Be sure to create videos that are clear to see and hear, and choose backgrounds and shooting locations wisely.

• Choose well-lit locations
• Record videos with a minimum of 1080p resolution
• Make sure the camerawork is steady: use a tripod
• Beware of background noise that can distort
• Test the sound and lighting before filming all of the testimonials
• Get plenty of b-roll footage (footage of the campus, buildings, etc. to play while a person is narrating or providing a testimonial)
• Brand when possible: have people giving testimonials wear a shirt with the school logo, or place students near a sign with the campus name.

Tips when posting

Posting content is an opportunity to improve your school’s SEO. Don’t miss this opportunity.

• Video title should be within 70 characters
• Use keywords in the title if possible to improve SEO
• Use proper tags: YouTube provides suggestions when uploading
• Make sure the video description is clear in the first 100 characters: this is what is shown when sharing on social media.
• Feel free to use the rest of YouTube’s allotted 1,000 characters for the description: this is a good place to use keywords and link to the other sites and social media accounts

More tips for producing quality video content

• Include closed caption for a better user experience: YouTube makes this process simple
• Always include a call-to-action (Book Now! Learn More!)
• Remember that call-to-actions can now be included throughout the video using YouTube’s “cards” (this helps catch the attention of users who do not watch the entire video)
• Create YouTube playlists for an easier user experience. For example, make one video focusing on each program you offer and then make a playlist called “Our Programs.”
• Get mileage out of your content: share on several platforms! Embed on your institution’s website, share links on PDF versions of flyers, include the link in email signatures, and share on social media.

For more information about producing quality content for your higher education institution, contact Lastarria Media.