Social media is rapidly evolving, and one of the biggest challenges users face today is staying current with the latest trends, features and even algorithm changes. Here are some recommendations for staying up to date with the latest and greatest in the digital realm based on GBC’s social media team’s tactics.

Every week:

• Keep apps updated & pay attention to the platform themselves as they often have official accounts where they typically share new features or algorithm tweaks.
• Follow industry influencers. From LinkedIn to Instagram, our team follows a variety of digital marketing experts who actively share the latest from the major channels. We've linked a few of our favourites here:
  • Mosseri on Instagram Head of Instagram
  • Matt Navarra on LinkedIn Leading Social Media Consultant
  • Kudzi Chikumbu, global head of creator marketing at TikTok.
• Subscribe to one to three digital marketing industry newsletters as they're quick to send out updates and information on how you can incorporate them into your social media strategies.

Every month:

• Attend relevant webinars and workshops. Our team registers for approximately one webinar per month to help with inspiration and to provide fresh insights into how others are utilizing recent updates. 

• Complete a high-level competitor social media audit. Take a quick look at what others in the post-secondary are doing, along with the response from their communities.

Understanding the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR) is important for staying ahead in the digital landscape. More brands are leveraging these technologies to help support in various areas including customer service, using chatbots, as well as utilizing AI-generated content from prompts. Within the post-secondary environment, here’s how other institutions are currently leveraging these emerging technologies.

Improved customer service with the use of chatbots. Powered by AI, social chatbots are an exceptional tool for providing rapid responses to common queries. With their 24/7 availability, this can lead to an increase in customer/student satisfaction, outside of operating hours.

VR/AR Virtual Tours. With the help of AR and VR, there is a possibility to take interactive tours of campuses or labs from the comfort of your own home, potentially helping to boost enrollment.

Content Generation and Curation. There are currently multiple AI tools that can assist in the creation of new content, including graphics and videos. For smaller social media teams, this can be a game changer to efficiently produce more content.

Accessibility. AI can now support the captioning of video content within platforms like Adobe and can add them directly to your videos, ensuring content is AODA-compliant.

As a higher education institution, fostering a culture of perpetual learning and flexibility lies at the core of our mission, and this remains true even within the social media landscape. Let's explore some of the many ways that we can foster this continuous learning environment together.