Higher Ed Social Media Best Practices for the 2025-2026 Recruitment Cycle

Current high school students have grown up in the age of technology and social media. With that comes a heightened sense of awareness to genuine content versus marketing.?

With so many players in the social media game, students have high standards on what they’ll spend their time engaging with. We know that it takes users a matter of seconds to engage with content, but what can those seconds mean to you?

In order to come across as genuine to prospective college students, you’ve got to be genuine. These students can smell fake authenticity from a mile away. Here are some tips to keep your socials fresh and authentic for the ‘25-’26 recruitment cycle.

Student Participation

We’ve talked about student participation before, but how exactly can you implement this into your social media practices this recruitment cycle?

Buy-in is key. Work closely with your admissions team to gain access to student ambassadors and tour guides, as well as those students who have the personality to shine on social media.?

Meet with those incoming students every semester to let them know you’re looking for student-driven content. Students love the clout of being featured on your university social channels.

Consider creating a social media ambassador program with regularly scheduled takeovers, if you haven’t already. Or add student-created content to your social media calendar, such as student-created reels on Instagram.?

Establish a fluent system of getting that content from them. Students are busy—you have to make it easy for them.?

You can provide examples of fun and successful student-created social media content to help them buy in.

Or even better, let them come to you with ideas. If your school shoots out a weekly newsletter to students, consider adding a form where they can input their content ideas. After all, they are most likely to know what prospective students want to see.

A Quick Response to Trends

Trends on social media are often over before they begin, giving institutions little time to respond. A solid social media presence from the university will give you the leg up when trends arise.?

Pay attention to what’s trending and see how you can fit it into your school story. The tail end of this summer’s trends include viral dances from Charli XCX’s album “brat” or the rise of? ‘very mindful, very demure’ from creator Jooles Lebron.

Example: a video of a student as they set up their dorm room in your institution’s newly renovated resident hall. They make extra sure that none of their items intercedes into their roommate’s space. Very mindful, very demure.?

Example: Your school mascot does the viral dance to “Apple” by Charli XCX to welcome students to campus.?

Since participating in social media trends on official accounts typically involves going through multiple rounds of approval, we’re usually a little late to the party. Especially with Gen Z and the arising Gen A, the moment a meme or trend hits corporate social media (yes, schools are included), that marks the end of the trend’s organic life.?

So if your social media team can hop onto a trend within the week of its entry to the cultural lexicon, go forth! If it’s been a few weeks since a trend went viral and you just now got the green light… probably best to pass unless you want to look ‘cringe’… as they say.?

Participating in these trends—when done successfully—opens you up to a larger demographic beyond college-aged students. Who knows? With younger and younger demographics on social media, trickling down brand awareness to these populations doesn’t hurt!

Finding the Sweet Spot with Your Audience

Finding the sweet spot when it comes to social media can refer to a few things. First, what type of image do you want to portray? Is your institution into highly-edited, polished social media posts? Do you prefer to show off everyday moments??

When it comes to being authentic, it is crucial to have a deep understanding of the perception people currently have of your institution versus what you want that perception to be. Disregarding either of those things can make you instantly stand out in a not-so-good way on social media.?

Take in the current social media landscape for higher ed institutions. What do you like? What don’t you like? How can your institution convey genuine moments and important information, all while staying relevant to the demographic at hand?

Each social media platform is going to cater to a different audience.?

Parents are most likely viewing your content via Facebook. They want to read captions, engage with other parents in the comments, and (if you’ve hooked them well), will probably go to your page to view your other posts. We suggest avoiding the urge to over-post on Facebook. Once a day is a nice cadence, but anything more, and your posts could seem annoying or spammy on someone’s Facebook feed.?

On the other hand, students will see your stuff mainly on TikTok or Instagram. You’ll have to capture their attention within the first five seconds to keep them watching. If done well, they may DM your post to a friend or watch a whole three minute video. Luckily with TikTok, posting frequently doesn’t equate to spamming. You can even use the same sound in different scenarios (if it makes sense contextually) if the sound is still popping off in popularity.?

There’s also been a rise of students referring to Reddit for their questions.?

Challenge: Search any question you have on Google. Is one of the autofill recommendations “Reddit”?

That’s because Reddit has become a trusted platform for honest opinions, answers, and reviews. With so much paid advertising on Google and fake reviews on sites, more users trust Reddit to have real people answering your questions with their real experiences. So keeping tabs on any pulses related to your institution on Reddit is a good idea.?

Even having some admissions counselors join more generic groups like r/college, r/collegeadmissions, or r/financialaid to answer student’s general questions (Hey! I’m a counselor at Parish University, and here’s how we typically handle that specific application question) makes you a hero by sharing your knowledge and advice with these nervous, stressed out teens.?

Whether you are looking to grow your social media presence this year or aren’t sure where to start, following the suggestions above can help your institution decide how to stay relevant, genuine, and helpful to prospective students in a way that best aligns with your institutional image and goals.

Navigating Social Media Strategy with The Parish Group

Social media and best practices change constantly. It’s important to stay up-to-date on the trends while also staying true to your institution and brand.?

If your college or university’s social media strategy could use a refresher, The Parish Group is at your service. Our social media strategists have served at a variety of institutions and can help kickstart your social media into full gear.?

For more information, reach out at [email protected] or call our office at 828.505.3000.?

Together, we do BIG things.?