14 #hesm pros share their biggest work challenges and coping strategies

Social media is all about the people, especially in higher education where our ultimate mission is to engage our great communities around learning and professional growth.

That’s why I’m so excited by the 2nd edition of the Higher Ed Social Media Conference (now available on-demand). It’s been such a fantastic opportunity to work with 15 amazing social media professionals from 15 different institutions of higher education located in the US (9 States) and Canada.

They are all very passionnate about social media, but they are humans too (like us) and face many issues in their social media work.

That’s why I asked them about their biggest challenges and the strategies they use to cope with them.

Stephanie Hatch Leishman, Social Media Strategist at MIT

What is NOT challenging about working with social media at a university is that there is an unlimited amount of great content that can be produced and a lively audience to engage with.

What IS the biggest challenge is the fact that I often have to get out of my comfort zone to make content and engage with key audiences. This means that the biggest challenge in my job is a good challenge. It stretches me.

I have stood in a line with hundreds of students a decade younger than me in order to document a Logarhythms concert. I’ve waited under the sun because I wanted to get to the Baker House Piano Drop early enough to get a good angle. When I get in the social content mindset, I realize that I’m stretching myself to do strange things, like lie down in the middle of the Infinite Corridor to get a good angle for the Quarter Mile, stand in bushes to get a good view of a class contest, or climb into the construction area of a wooden frame of a roller coaster to interview two students in hard hats. I even made my own giant Pi symbol, carried it around campus, and took photos of it – all by myself – in order to adequately celebrate Pi Day.

I guess the best way to cope with the challenge of getting outside my comfort zone has been to embrace it.

Rachel Esterline Perkins, Associate Director of PR and Social Media at Central Michigan University

The biggest challenge is meeting the expectation of real-time information while balancing quality of content.

Before posting content, I always take a second to review it thoroughly to help ensure accuracy and prevent errors.

Tony Dobies, Senior Writer at West Virginia University

The biggest challenge is finding enough hours in a day to accomplish everything.

Currently, I not only serve as the main social media voice of our university, but I am a writer, as well, so I have to multi-task on most days.

In a perfect situation where we have ample resources and time, we would all have the opportunity to research, concept develop, set goals, manage, engage and report with social media. It just doesn’t happen that often.

To cope, I focus on the things that are most important to us as a university – delivering on our goals and engaging our key audiences. And, maybe most importantly, I have two awesome interns who help with the day-to-day social media work, which allows me the freedom to look at the big picture and how we can plan for the future.

Lori Packer, Web Editor at The University of Rochester

Getting a handle on how big the whole institution’s social media presence actually is, and helping offices, departments, schools, and units with their social media goals (and wishing that more departments, schools, and offices were using social media to provide a real service, not just as a communications platform to blast out their one news and events promotions).

And I don’t really cope with it. I do a lot of sighing :-)

Andrew Smyk, Program Coordinator at Sheridan College

My biggest challenge with social media is finding the time to create and post content as well as having to deal with a constantly changing social media landscape.

The social media channels are constantly changing in terms of type of content being viewed and platforms. It takes time, research and some experimentation to deal with the changes and find how to implement the next round of initiatives. The dynamic nature of the web and social media, and finding out what makes for engaging content is a challenge but worth the effort and rewarding.

Dan Zaointz, Special Projects Coordinator & Marketing Professor at Seneca College

Leaders and senior executives continue to see social media as something they feel obligated to do, struggle to find the time for and view it as offering little in the way of return on investment.

I help them to see the potential opportunities in social media engagement by highlighting some of the possible benefits such as intelligence gathering, promotion of thought leadership and strategic relationship building.

Tiffany Broadbent Beker, Web Developer & Social Media Coordinator at College of William & Mary

The biggest challenge is the temptation to be everywhere at once.

YikYak, Ello, Snapchat, Tumblr, LinkedIn new offerings… there are new social media outlets popping up all the time and the struggle is between the “Fear of Missing Out” and finding enough time to devote to each account to generate quality content and interacting with the audience there.

In the end, I realize that effectively engaging with the fans and followers I have on our existing accounts, rather than spinning off onto the dozens of one-off communities is the best use of my time. Don’t get me wrong, I will still keep an eye on all those other networks and what they’re saying about the institution but until we add a few more hours into the day, the focus is going to be on the channels where we already are.

Julie Winch, Social Media Director at Emory University

The hardest thing I have faced since working in Social Media has been making sure I know everything that’s going on, in order to promote it.

On a college campus, we all know there are a million things happening on a small and large scale. To overcome the occasional disconnect, I make sure I’m very well connected with the various departments across campus, and keep a VERY close eye on our events calendar to make sure I don’t miss anything. Building relationships is more important than you can ever imagine when it comes to social!

Angi Roberts, Information Services Manager at the University of Guelph (Ontario)

I can’t decide if the biggest challenge is
1) the number of hours required to make social media communication and marketing successful, or
2) trying to get colleagues to buy in and understand its value.

Sandra Ordonez, Assistant Director of Social Media at St. John’s University

The biggest challenge is to develop content that is engaging.

In order to cope with this challenge, we restructure our social media strategy each semester. We revamped our Instagram plan this year and increased the number of followers by 55%.

Corie Martin, Creative Web Services Manager at Western Kentucky University

There are two distinct challenges that I face each and every day.

My primary challenge is not unique – we have a small staff and a lot of ground to cover each day. I could write the book on doing a lot with very few resources. Social media management is only one facet of my position, I have many other responsibilities and everything is a priority. Although technically true, I have never really considered myself a “party of one.”
I have found that the best way to combat the pressures of having to be everywhere all the time is to utilize the expertise and resources around me. There are content producers everywhere, who are experts in their areas and are great at telling their own stories and at answering their own questions from students in social communities. It has taken a while to establish this collaborative culture on our campus, but now we’re getting there and we’re all better for it.

My second challenge is the changing nature of today’s student. They are drastically different today than they were just a few years ago. They use media differently. They communicate differently, but they are smart, curious, and creative. Then there is the emergence of the “contemporary student,” which includes those who are not simply 18-21-year-old residential students. These are adult learners, online learners, commuter students and place-bound students who attend one of our three regional campus locations, and more. No two communities are the same nor do they consume media in the same ways. Reaching various communities of students using tools that they use means a lot of research, strategy, and changes in messaging. It also means we use social media in different and unexpected ways. We have to be on top of our game all the time. I see this is kind of a fun challenge, and one I will carry with me always.

Tyler Thomas, Social Media Specialist at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln

My biggest challenge currently is educating groups across campus about the best practices and then actually implementing said practices.

Many individuals who manage social accounts have many additional responsibilities and aren’t always aware of the best practices for each and every platform.

To cope with this issue, we’ve launched a weekly email that discusses the latest social media updates, trends and social happenings across campus. We are also planning on having our first social media specific workshop for on campus social practitioners.

Katherine Hasenauer Cornetta, Assistant to the Dean of Students for Programs, Communications & Technology at Boston University

The biggest challenge is trying to share best practices, give suggestions and get everyone within our division on the same page when it comes to social media.

I am trying to organize us better, do regular check-ins and be assertive about our brand voice.

Alicia Nestle, Assistant Director-Multimedia and PR at Nazareth College

The biggest challenge I face is all the different hats I wear in my work as a public relations professional, which includes social media.

I recently attended a conference where Deirdre Breakenridge was one of the keynote speakers. She put up a slide titled the “PR Hybrid Professional Chart of Responsibilities” and I almost fell out of my chair!

In that chart, she diagrammed everything I’ve been feeling. So often, my biggest challenge is feeling like I never get to do anything 100% because I really have to divide my time and efforts between the many projects and responsibilities I have.

What about YOU? What’s your biggest challenge? How do you cope with it?

I would love to compile a few more tips from the community on this page. Please, don’t be shy and share yours by posting a comment below!

And, if you want to learn more from these great higher ed social media professionals, make sure you get your team a pass for the Higher Ed Social Media Conference (now available on-demand).