Reputation has never been more important, even for a university that has repeatedly won the ‘University of the year’ title and is home to some of the largest student numbers in the UK. Ambition lies at the heart of the community at NTU and continued growth in reputation and rankings is firmly within their sights. A core component of this growth is to enhance visibility of the university’s research by increasing advocacy with academics, improving engagement and leveraging strong academic networks to reach wider the research community at a global level. The university laid the foundations for this through the launch of their new Re:search Re:imagined campaign in March 2021 to celebrate the incredible work of NTU staff, researchers and students who are working together to crack complex issues and disrupt the research landscape. With daring research and distinguished academics on their side, NTU needed a partner to aid their academics to become part of the movement. The Brand Education became this partner, working with NTU to engage academics, offer insight and support with techniques to give them the confidence to start publishing themselves on social media, with some impressive results.

A strong foundation for the campaign was set at an institutional level, with a commitment to challenge the status quo of research as just writing papers and proposing new ideas. The  Re:search Re:imagined platform had a clear message; the university dared to think differently, they wanted to disrupt the research landscape and find the answers to the questions that really matter. The campaign formed part of the wider objectives for the university to:

• Solidify reputation – raise the profile of NTU as a high-performing university delivering real-world impact and underlining NTU researchers as experts in their field
• Demonstrate breadth and quality – showcase the research being delivered by the academic community
• Strengthen participation – increase public engagement of research

With a clear vision for research visibility and reputation, the Communications, Admissions, Marketing and Student Recruitment team (CAMs) were challenged to bring this to life by obtaining academic support for research dissemination and launching the research reimagined campaign to relevant audiences. TBE were brought on board to help engage the diverse academic community of authors and equip them with the knowledge to maximise their social footprint and share their expertise. In order to achieve this we quickly established the priorities required at an individual academic level:

• Confidence – to get online, enhance research profile and network
• Relevance – to master and maximise the nuances of each social platform
  • • Efficiency – to manage time and get results without sacrificing other priorities

The challenge was clear, there was a bountiful pool of researchers and content to share, but we needed to offer training workshops to engage relevant parties and equip them with the tools to confidently share their stories.

Our approach ensured the workshops delivered were as unique as the academics that would attend. We carefully designed two sessions in partnership with NTU (with each reflecting the experience of the audience) and undertook a thorough approach across planning, delivery and aftercare phases to define key objectives and ensure that these were met.

With the planned workshops set to deliver more research visibility, amplified reach, greater voice and brand building as well as funding, collaboration and partnership opportunities, it was no surprise that colleagues from across the university committed to the process. Sessions were opened by Diane Bailey (Pro Vice-Chancellor – Research and Innovation), attended by internal leaders across the Communications, Admissions, Marketing and Student Recruitment (CAMS) team, including Nicola Vassallo (Associate Director of Brand and Marketing), Helen Breese (Public Relations Manager) and supported by Emma Leech (Director of Marketing and Communications).

Both workshops incorporated a blend of internal speakers and external specialists to ensure there was an array of experiences and examples to inspire attendees. Each speaker was hand picked based on their background in raising awareness of research and building reputation on social media to ensure their expertise. Topics included practical insights and content strategies to get research noticed, how to expand and utilise networks to build reputation, how to address challenges around social media ethics and codes of conduct and how different social media platforms can be put to best use.

With no limit of attendees the workshops were incredibly well attended with 268 academics joining the process and representing specialisms from across the university. Recordings were also circulated following the event so those that were not able to attend were still able to feel the benefit of the insights and techniques shared.

Our mission was to help equip the academic team at NTU with the skills and confidence to promote their research using the social media platforms available to them. Success was immediate with 27 academics posting during the session, but the ultimate impact was far greater and long lasting. In the three months leading up to the workshops NTU utilised social listening to set a benchmark against which uplift could be measured in the following quarter and the results were striking:

Furthermore the posts that received the most engagement utilised many of the techniques covered in the workshops including positive terminology, images, shared links and tagged accounts to help amplify their message.

Delving deeper into the post workshop surveys the correlation between the session and the ultimate impact became clearer with 80% of beginners and 100% of advanced attendees answering that they would be posting their work on social media following the session. Another insight from the survey included 80% of respondents stating the workshops were either very useful or extremely useful and citing the selection of speakers, format, content, advice and strategies as the key reasons for this.

The personalised approach, underpinned by real expertise, paid off at both a personal level (as measured in the survey) and institutional level (as measured in the social listening). But don’t just take our word for it, hear straight from  NTU’s team and academics on their experience with The Brand Education:

“The Brand Education is epitomised by expertise, versatility, and an innate understanding of how social media intersects with today’s HE landscape to influence reputation. NTU and The Brand Education worked together to further consolidate the impact of our externally facing Re:search Re:imagined campaign, by developing bespoke sessions with researchers and academics to increase internal advocacy and campaign engagement by encouraging them to promote their work across social media and ultimately increase our share of voice across digital platforms.

The Brand Education’s approach to developing, implementing and running the social media sessions was intelligently nuanced, accommodating all levels of ability and experience. Using a range of in-house and guest speakers, they delivered two empowering sessions (one for beginners, and one for advanced-level users) that really encouraged engagement. The workshops broke down barriers, inspiring our researchers to understand that their stories and achievements needed to be shared and also to see the benefits of raising their profile.

This collaboration has announced our research campaign to new audiences around the world, with a significant uplift in social conversions and shares of #researchreimagined. We want to maintain this momentum by continuing to work with The Brand Education and are currently scoping further collaborations to engage our broader NTU community”.

If you are interested in equipping your academics with the techniques and confidence to grow their social presence and your reputation, get in touch with us here at The Brand Education, we deliver tailored packages that drive results.