From the Nominator

"Audiences engage with social media they like and trust. That trust is gained through showcasing authentic content that is genuine and vulnerable. Future students sit on the cutting edge of social media trends and can spot unauthentic content right away. 

Inspired by this content shift, the #MeetYU campaign was born. The theme was a pan-university initiative with all official University social media channels participating over a two-week period. Each area had students show their true student experiences from intramurals, research, clubs, campus life, experiential education, and regular days in the life. With a target audience of perspective students and a goal of increasing applicant conversion, this theme passed the posting keys to the current students, and had them create and share content, from their perspective and voice, on the various institutional social media channels. This was done through testimonials, takeovers, ambassadors, and influencers. 

With a focus on Instagram and TikTok, channels, current students created content highlighting the true student experience. York University Marketing selected and coordinated with diverse students from a variety of faculties and campus experiences to participate though takeovers and micro-influencers. Each participant was paid for their participation and also shared the content organically on their own channels. All posts from the many students who participated in the campaign added the hashtag #MeetYU and a customizable media template so our audience could discover other content to see other student experiences and recognize that it was part of the larger theme."

From the Judges

YU has taken an authentic approach to sharing the student experience with prospective students and others. The trust that they have in their creators is admirable and pays off in creating content that is real, human, and personable. Working directly with students is something that they have capitalised on and it has certainly paid off in creating fresh, current, relatable, and on-trend content. Others could definitely learn from their authentic and organic-focused approach.