Each year at Manchester Met, we celebrate the success of our recent graduates at ceremonies taking place across two weeks.
On social media, we don't just cover the action. We bring together our entire community to recognise this momentous occasion and reflect on the journey our new graduates have taken.
It's important that each year's coverage feels fresh and unique, so for 2024 we explored new concepts which would resonate with our growing audience.
Aims
1.
To celebrate the successes of our Class of 2024 graduates and bring people together to recognise their hard work.
2.
To ensure new graduates still feel like part of the Manchester Met community after their ceremony.
3.
To create excitement not just for our current cohort, but for future graduates.
Ahead of the ceremonies, we wanted to build hype amongst our new graduates.
Each year, we receive hundreds of photos and videos from our new graduates. This inspired us to develop a video documenting the best places to take photos at Graduation.
We used footage from the previous year's ceremonies to highlight four of the best outdoor spots for capturing content. Photos from past graduates were included to add a peer-to-peer element.
As a result of this video, we received positive messages from our Class of 2024 as well as an increase in tagged social media posts.
This year, we wanted every graduate to unleash their main character energy.
To encourage new graduates and their families to capture content, we rolled out a red carpet at selected ceremonies. This was unannounced ahead of time, giving a sense of exclusivity.
Due to the red carpet's popularity, we published a video on the first day of Graduation showcasing our new graduates posing for the camera. The video received over 33,000 views, inspiring us to use the red carpet at more ceremonies and building excitement amongst new graduates.
Our most popular video took less than five minutes to make.
We captured a lot of content throughout our ceremonies, from cap tosses to family photos. Rather than let this content go to waste, we explored how we could repurpose it.
We discovered a viral sound on Instagram Reels, which was simply an overexaggerated blinking sound. Using this, we created a meme poking fun at how fast our students' university experience can feel.
This second-long video has been viewed over 20 million times, racking up 373,000 likes. The simple yet relatable message resonated with students at Manchester Met and beyond.
Results
141
Posts and Stories
22M
Impressions
513k
Engagement
Our Class of 2024 coverage saw a 1,394% increase in impressions compared to 2023. Our total impressions remains the highest of any Manchester Met graduation.
This success can be attributed not just to leveraging viral content, but to putting graduates and their families at the centre of our output. We wanted every single attendee to not only feel special, but to have their moment in the spotlight.