Tapping into the festive season is a great way to have some fun with your communications, get creative with your unique selling points and exercise your tone of voice in a fresh environment.
Hitting the right mark between professionalism, inclusivity and holiday cheer is a tough nut to crack. That’s why we want to shine the spotlight on five universities who are totally sleighing this year’s Christmas communications.
Read on for inspiration on how you can make Christmas communications work for your school, university or professional learning community.
Don’t force Christmas onto your communication schedule, co-workers or student body. If there is no fitting and appropriate way to mark the occasion on your digital channels, simply sit it out.
A bland happy holidays post will do nothing for your social engagement or other KPIs, while trying to give unrelated content a Christmas spin will ultimately fall flat. Posting about a Christian holiday in an international setting such as a university may even make some students feel marginalised.
If you are going to engage with this time of year (or any holiday), go at it from the ground up thoroughly, thoughtfully and creatively.
Let’s get into it…
An excellent example of making Christmas your own is this multifaceted event put on by the AUB Innovation Studio, part of the Arts University Bournemouth.
The Innovation Studio and by extension the Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) are showing their creative edge, an ability to think differently about an established idea and industry connections all while presenting themselves as industry leaders.
Collaborating with a speaker from the University of Birmingham is also an excellent opportunity to show goodwill and spread the word far and wide.
We couldn’t possibly write a blog post about higher education and yuletide content without mentioning the shining star atop the worldwide educational Christmas tree - the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.
Open lectures have something of a winter tradition in the UK and abroad, started in no small part by the Royal Institution. These series of annual open lectures are now a highlight in our national Christmas experience (on a par with the Queen/King’s speech and bad jokes in crackers), and have been inspiring young people in science since 1825.
Here the Norwich-based university offers another excellent chance for children to become fascinated with science and sociology. Combined with a beautiful image of Father Christmas himself visiting their unique campus, this really stirs the higher educational Christmas spirit.
There’s no avoiding the fact that it’s been a tough year for a lot of people and students are no different. That’s why we raise a cup of Christmas cheer to the University of Manchester for launching a £9 million cost of living support scheme for students.
Building on an initial programme of well being and financial assistance, the initiative will provide further support for students over the winter months.
Read more about the University of Manchester’s excellent initiative here.
The communications team clearly couldn’t wait to start posting pictures of their beautiful campus Christmas tree on their Instagram grid. But while the University of Essex are ready to have some fun with their online community, there’s a more important message to be made via their Sustainability Team for internal purposes.
The Big Christmas Switch Off is their way of reminding students and staff to prepare buildings and university spaces properly for the holiday season. Including switching off lights and heating to save energy.
The University of Essex is a great example of keeping things light on your public facing communication channels, whilst being responsible and friendly when communicating internally.
This time of year offers ample opportunity to connect with your student body and potential learners in a fun and engaging way. It shows you’re not afraid to let loose a little with your communication strategy and show the personal side of your university or platform.
Need some last minute assistance creating the perfect Christmas content for your school or university? Reach out to Words On Brand.
