The Hope College Snapchat account was started in fall 2015 as a way to engage our students in personalized story telling. Since the account started, Public Affairs and Marketing has been working to increase its number of followers by creating engaging stories with unique content that showcases different aspects of our campus community. Our audience is primarily students so our content is geared towards them as well as our alumni and prospective students.
Being a high school student during the rise of Snapchat has given me a better understanding of the various features Snapchat offers. Each snap can last a maximum of 10 seconds, and a series of snaps can be combined to create a “story” which can last up to 24 hours. There are an array of photo filters to choose from, color options, variations in text formatting, and the decision itself to use photo or video for a snap. Utilizing these features, we have the exciting challenge to create stories that are not only fun to watch but also give our students and prospective students a behind-the-scenes look at our campus community.
Examples of our Snapchat stories include Visit Days, the Pull, Nykerk, Homecoming, athletic events and other special events happening around campus. Campus offices and student groups are invited to “takeover” our account on Tuesdays, or during special events, to engage with our followers and to promote their events and activities. Learn more about Takeover Tuesdays.
Groups that have taken over our account include Dance Marathon, The Hope College Alumni Association, Nykerk Cup Competition and The Panhellenic Council. Interested in taking over our account for a day? Let us know!
Once a story has run on our account for 24 hours, an archive is uploaded to the Hope College YouTube channel. Check out our Snapchat playlist below and make sure to follow us for live event coverage.