Boston University School of Social Work
This graduate school needed a marketing and communications manager to strategize their digital marketing, grow the school’s reputation, streamline recruitment efforts, and improve their website.
Boston, Massachusetts
Website: https://www.bu.edu/ssw/
Marketing & Communications Manager
As the Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW) MarCom Manager, I worked with a small team to amplify the diverse voices of our faculty, alumni, and students; grow the school’s public reputation; and recruit future Master of Social Work (MSW) students to 4 different programs.
Summary
Managed projects across teams and schools to achieve BUSSW’s marketing goals
Wrote news stories about the school, faculty, and alumni to grow the school’s reputation & attract prospective students
Redesigned key webpages to improve user experience, increase applications, and satisfy KPIs
Grew the school’s social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn
Created an email nurture campaign from scratch to improve enrollment rates
Instituted and designed a weekly news roundup email for staff and faculty that grew faculty involvement in marketing and promoted a positive work culture celebrating the School’s work
Communicated the School’s 30 year strategic plan to internal and external audiences
Worked with the School’s PR Agency to place student and faculty op-eds and interviews in publications such as The New York Times, CNN, The Boston Globe, and Nature
Promoted equity and inclusion initiatives, such as the School’s free, publicly-available module, “Understanding Structural & Institutional Racism”
Developed and implemented a content repurposing strategy to increase reach and efficiency of content marketing efforts
Edited video recordings of events to improve the viewership experience post-event
Managed and reported analytics to teams with varied statistical experience via Google Analytics, CRMs, and platform analytics (Facebook, MailChimp, etc.)
- Web Design & User Experience (UX) IMprovement -
Identified and improved key web pages’ design and user experience, resulting in an average lead generation increase of 18% year-over-year.
Worked within restrictive website capabilities to improve BUSSW’s web design, leading to a 20% increase in traffic year-over-year on key web pages
Case Study: Master of Social Work Web Page Redesign
This landing page was essential to starting the prospective student’s journey toward applying for an MSW, but a bland, text-heavy landing page deterred users from learning more about BUSSW’s offerings. By adding visual images and a more dynamic design, I increased traffic to this page by 40% and retained more users on the website.
Case Study: Equity & Inclusion Web Page Redesign
BUSSW is a leader in Equity & Inclusion in education. As the 2020 racial reckoning caused more and more institutions to incorporate E&I practices into their missions, the School needed to reflect that leadership in their digital marketing. I redesigned a robust page that highlighted BUSSW’s E&I strengths.
Case Study: Strategic Plan Web Page Design
The School’s 2050 Strategic Plan was originally an internal document that needed to be translated for an external audience. I re-interpreted the plan by designing a section of the website, breaking down complex goals, action items, and implementations into an easy-to-understand overview. These pages were cited by Dean candidates and alumni donors as a deciding factor in getting involved at BUSSW.
- Content Marketing & Copy Writing -
Collaborated with recruitment team and student ambassadors to create student blogs, which drove prospective student interest and increased applications
Summarized faculty research in layman’s terms to grow the School’s reputation, increase awareness of faculty research, inspire prospective students to apply, and encourage funding
Interviewed faculty and alumni before writing pieces that amplified their work
Edited, optimized, and published articles written by others on the MarCom team
Case Study - Student Ambassador blogs
My strategy led to one of our most successful student blogs to date: “5 Self Care Myths I Unlearned While Earning My MSW”
First-person student perspectives are the most popular content request from prospective students. I took a hands-on approach to managing the student ambassador project by:
Using analytics to determine the most popular topics students had discussed on the website in the past, then using those topics to help brainstorm new blogs with the recruitment team.
Putting together a content calendar for ambassadors to choose the topic that worked best for them
Coordinating with team members and ambassadors’ busy schedules to ensure blog posts went out on-time
Editing and optimizing student blogs to meet BUSSW’s copy standards
Repurposing popular blogs on social media and in email marketing campaigns.
Click on the Articles Below to Read More of My Work
In addition to creating news articles for BUSSW’s website, I also wrote and collaborated on copywriting for the School’s two centers: The Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health (CISWH) and The Center for Aging & Disabilities Education & Research (CADER).
Click on the Articles Below to Read My Work
- Email Marketing -
Created three nurture email campaigns for each BUSSW program to improve inquiry-to-applicant conversion and streamline recruitment efforts.
Designed a weekly email, dubbed “The News Roundup” that shared new articles, web pages, and social media produced by MarCom with staff and faculty to improve internal communications.
Maintained a quarterly newsletter to BUSSW alumni to grow the School’s community and increase donations.
- Social Media Marketing: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, & Instagram-
BUSSW’s social media was the third highest driver of traffic to their website, after organic search and paid advertisement. I built off of their existing strategy to create a more consistent and noticeable brand voice, design, and legacy.
Here’s a look at the posts I designed for BUSSW’s Instagram. I used the School’s brand colors to create a bold, iconic feed that represented our identity as a community of changemakers.
Crafted social media posts for news stories, faculty events, and dean messages that catered to our unique audiences on Facebook, LinkedIn Twitter, & Instagram
Designed monthly Instagram posts advertising prospective student info sessions
Repurposed news articles, web pages, event recordings, and podcasts into social media content
Presented reports on social media engagement and growth.