With more than 200 organizations on the SMU campus, it can be difficult for one organization to stand out against the rest. With the barrage of emails students already receive on a daily basis from SMU, most people just ignore this type of outreach.

That being said, many SMU organizations have started utilizing social media both to reach out to potential new members and to update current members on upcoming events.

While most college students have a decent understanding of how social media works, it’s not enough to simply create the accounts. It’s crucial for these organizations to update all of their social media accounts on a frequent basis. Three examples of SMU organizations that have this down are the SMU Alternative Breaks Program, Student Foundation and Program Council.

The SMU Alternative Breaks Program has accounts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Their twitter account is updated every two days, and many of their tweets link to their Facebook page, which is great for attracting more followers to that account. Their Facebook page has 540 likes, a significantly greater number than their Twitter followers. The Alternative Breaks program also has an Instagram account which they use to post photos during breaks to update their followers on the work their members do on their trips. They also update the account during the school year to post about meetings and fundraisers.

“Our social media following has increased a large amount and has been an essential tool in making a difference in our outreach,” said Gloria Yi, co-director of the SMU Alternative Breaks Program.

SMU Student Foundation is another organization that has used social media to keep students in-the-know about the various events they coordinate. Their Facebook page is where they have the most likes/followers. There they post everything from funny pictures of their student leaders to special videos of past events. They also use the account to post about upcoming events. Student Foundation does a great job of making their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts align.

Finally, SMU Program Council does a great job updating its Facebook and Twitter accounts, and it also has an Instagram, which isn’t updated as frequently. With over 1,000 followers on Twitter and 700 likes on Twitter, Program Council does an excellent job at posting photos, links and graphics about upcoming events. Their posts tend to be straight to the point and informative.

These social media accounts have ultimately helped many on-campus organizations gain awareness and support among students.