Best of CASE District II Award
 

Institution: York University

Title of entry: Social Exposure: York University's Top 30 Under 30

About this entry: York University’s Top 30 Under 30 program, piloted in 2021, is part of a larger strategy to improve engagement with young alumni, build York’s institutional reputation and foster York pride. The initiative was stimulated by the results of a 2019 alumni survey that made clear that young alumni (age 29 and younger) are significantly more dissatisfied with, and disengaged from, the university than other alumni. With 50,000 (14%) York alumni under the age of 30, this finding could have considerable impact on York’s reputation and ability to fundraise in the future.
To reach this group of social media savvy 20-somethings, a two-pronged communications strategy was developed. One was an organic content campaign using our established communications tactics and channels (email, social media, website) and the other was a paid, targeted campaign to appear on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Budget traditionally used for print media advertising was repurposed and the creative was developed in collaboration with York’s central marketing team. An email featuring the campaign was also sent to Maclean’s magazine subscribers, reaching parents and other influencers. The university’s media agency of record, Wavemaker, was engaged to implement the campaign using our creative.
The paid campaign had a total reach of more than 1.3 million people, and more than 5.5 million total impressions. Organic content was widely shared amongst university partners, further amplifying the impact. Student Recruitment and Admissions highlighted the Top 30 campaign in York’s digital handbook promotion, attracting 230,000 unique page views.