Social media
Our social media teams can help you reach new audiences through organic and paid social media campaigns. These campaigns are typically managed through the University’s corporate channels on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and LinkedIn. Instagram and TikTok are also used to connect with student audiences.
These channels have a combined audience of over 1 million followers/fans and can be viewed via the social media directory.
Colleagues can learn the latest social media best practice by accessing the eLearning materials here.
Produce a social media video
The social media team also helps produce bite-sized research and news videos (typically edited in a square format, lasting under one minute and including subtitles), which are popular with audiences on social media. Some recent examples include:
- Effectively cleaning up UK waterways on X
- Manchester accent TikTok video
- Exploring research facilities in the National Graphene Institute reel on Instagram
“Marketing academic and research capabilities is not straight forward, it needs a constant interaction between the communication and marketing team and academics. The social media team in the Division of Communications and Marketing has been very helpful in enabling this interaction, and helping promote our research capabilities within the High Voltage Lab. Along with their help, we have now developed a very active LinkedIn page that highlights our research capabilities and allows us to target specific audiences. We continue to develop this page, and the learning outcomes of this campaign can definitely be applied to different areas within the University. I would recommend getting in touch with the team for a chat in regards to the different ways of promoting research, academic expertise and outcomes.”
Dr Vidyadhar Peesapati / Research Fellow, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
How to engage with external partners via LinkedIn - Vidyadhar Peesapati, Research Fellow, January 2021.
Generate research engagement with Reddit AMA’s
Reddit's Ask Me Anything (AMA) forum has been utilised to promote academic research at the University, ranging from discussions with the team behind the Cloudy with a Chance of Pain app, identifying ways to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food and insights from a nuclear fusion researcher.
The events, which can be delivered remotely over a couple of hours, attract questions from engaged audiences and can be used as part of a communications campaign to support a new research paper, or simply to raise your online profile. To pitch your research as a Reddit AMA subject, please contact the social media team.
- See AMA session with Prof Sarah Bridle - Identifying ways to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food
The session provided loads of really tough but excellent questions, gaining exposure for my work with new audiences. The AMA has exposed me to a new way of interacting with people online.
Prof Sarah Bridle / Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy
The AMA was a great opportunity to engage with a wide range of people and share our work in fusion. I received messages from people who I had not spoken to in years who really enjoyed it! The team was fantastic and was always available for support.
Dr Aneeqa Khan / Research fellow in Nuclear Fusion, School of MACE
“This was a great experience for me. Questions I received through the University’s X account were extremely interesting and I really enjoyed being able to interact with people to address their concerns over COVID-19, help their understanding of the immune system, and talk about many general things such as what might be good reading material for A level students. The social media team helped me with tips and tricks, including introducing me to an X management tool called Tweetdeck. Thanks to everyone involved – hugely appreciated.”
Prof Dan Davis / Professor of Immunology
Contacts
For more information or guidance on using social media at The University of Manchester, please email socialmedia@manchester.ac.uk or contact the local representatives listed below.
| Dept/Faculty | |
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Division of Communications, Marketing and Student Recruitment |
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Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health |
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Faculty of Humanities |
humcomms-webteam@manchester.ac.uk |
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Faculty of Science and Engineering |