Post Performance Report: Universities acing social media

We’re back with another installment of the Post Performance Report (PPR)—a series where we compile and analyze social media posts and campaigns inspiring us, and break down what makes them so genius. We don’t just examine the flawless creative execution of every post or campaign, but the brand impact, too.

Ah back-to-school season. On social, the ritual is marked by shopping hauls, first day of school snapshots and RushTok deep dives. For university social teams, it’s primetime to reach incoming students. From welcome week highlight reels to campus tours, the right content sets the tone for the student experience, while also fueling recruitment efforts, fundraising and alumni engagement.

Here’s our lineup of higher ed institutions making the grade on social during the back-to-school season, and key takeaways you can apply to your own strategy.

MIT: Serialized stories on YouTube

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a top-rated university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school is well-known for its achievements in STEM, and is celebrated globally for its prestige. MIT’s social team has crafted a YouTube strategy that reflects the institution’s reputation, weaving together its academic achievements and stories from life on campus.

On their YouTube channel, MIT has playlists dedicated to university news, student projects and innovative findings from its research programs.

They also have video recordings of their podcast, Curiosity Unbounded, and feature channels of different MIT organizations and schools—including their alumni association, school of engineering and student life sector.

All of MIT’s YouTube content underscores its commitment to academic prowess and innovative research. Yet, video subject matter is clearly tailored to distinct audiences. Videos in the “From around the institute” playlist are catered to prospective and current students, while the “MIT news” and “Mold it. Make it. Bend it. Break it.” playlists speak to the academic community at large.

MIT’s approach to YouTube is part of a larger strategy to amplify their research and reputation, helping them secure major honors and maintain a healthy pool of top applicants.

The play: Up against regulatory limitations on other networks, universities are turning to YouTube to build out their video content library. To build your presence on the network, take a cue from MIT by publishing long-form video series that focus on your university’s core strengths and values, while still following SOSEO best practices and understanding the nuance of YouTube’s algorithm.

For example, if your university is focused on amplifying your athletic department, you could launch a long-form video series about your program’s coaches, players and sporting event traditions.

University of Auckland: Home sweet campus

The University of Auckland is New Zealand’s leading and largest higher ed institution. As the university boosts its global profile, it has leaned into social media to attract students from all over the world.

A particularly entertaining series is called the “Best of U of A.” In the creator-style videos, the team finds the best restaurants on campus and shares their favorite orders—the uni version of the Food Network feed. From poke to sushi, viewers see the variety of delicious on-site eats.

The university also shares day-in-the-life videos shot by their students. The content shows prospects what attending Auckland is like, and how it’s possible to balance academic commitments with overall wellbeing.

To round-out their student life focus, the University of Auckland shares ambient ASMR-style videos from different mainstays on campus.

The social team’s efforts coincide with the ongoing development of a new student accommodation facility, which will be the largest in New Zealand—underscoring the importance in elevating the appeal of living on campus.

The play: A quick search on Reddit or TikTok will reveal just how divisive dorm living can be. Some users share horror stories, while others say it changed their life for the better. There are even subreddits for most major universities dedicated to questions first year students and prospects have about what campus life is actually like. Current students and alumni answer with candor.

The first step is using social listening to analyze these conversations. The second is developing content that answers your audience’s top questions and addresses their feedback. Use the University of Auckland’s content as inspiration for showing viewers the best of your campus, while taking insights about what can improve to leadership.

Penn State: Taking TikTok by storm

The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) is celebrated for its vibrant campus culture, as well as its top engineering and business programs and alumni network. They tap into that on TikTok—leading the way for other universities, with nearly 200,000 followers and 5.6 million likes to date.

Much of their best performing TikTok content is student or alumni-generated, like this dorm tour.

In other videos, they drum up excitement for campus events, like the return of football season. They also playfully nod to the instant connection between fellow Penn State alumni and the camaraderie of wearing Penn State gear.

The play: US universities are standing by while TikTok’s fate in the country is determined. But international higher education institutions depend on the network for reaching students. Meanwhile, TikTok has rolled out new Campus Verification features that help students connect with their classmates (reminiscent of the early days of Facebook), which could make it a necessity for university marketers worldwide.

Penn State stands out as one of the few American universities currently going all-in. If investing on TikTok makes sense for your strategy, take a page from Penn State’s playbook by experimenting with user-generated content and lo-fi videos.

London School of Economics: Threading together unfiltered thoughts

London School of Economics (LSE) was named the 2025 University of the Year by the Times, as well as the top school in the UK. LSE’s rigorous research programs and academic departments are respected globally.

While there’s little doubt that the university stands out for its achievements, it also stands out for its impressive Threads strategy, with nearly 90,000 followers to date.

On the network, LSE adopts a voice that feels specific to Threads. Their best performing posts are all slightly irreverent, sarcastic and steeped in internet humor. They showcase how well they “get” their students by sharing seemingly unfiltered thoughts that could come right from a flatmate group chat. Yet, they never cross the line and go completely off-brand.

They have a particularly clever way of using Threads’ mark spoiler feature to hide their punchlines and encourage engagement, like in this post where you have to tap to see what L stands for.

Or this post, where you tap to reveal an unexpected (but completely relatable) university routine: accidentally scrolling memes in the library for two hours.

As LSE boosts its profile on Threads, it also launched a dual-degree program with prominent US university NYU. Notably, Americans are among the top users of Threads—making it an optimal channel for reaching their new audience in the country.

The play: Many brands—including universities—are still trying to figure out how to make the most of Threads. LSE demonstrates that it does take a certain persona to break through on the network, but that doesn’t mean going completely unhinged. Instead, Threads calls for honest and relatable posts that sound like a real human wrote them.

Northwestern University: Passing down folklore

Northwestern is the #6 best university in the US. Situated in a North Shore suburb of Chicago, the university is known equally for its academic prowess as it is for its stunning campus on Lake Michigan.

The idyllic lakefront campus is the main character of many of Northwestern’s social media posts. Including this playful one, inspired by Taylor Swift’s Folklore album.

Or this Carousel that oozes academia core. Complete with gothic architecture, autumn leaves and moments on the quad.

The campus—with its cobblestone walkways, old world buildings, and immaculately polished buildings and grounds—is frequently listed among the most beautiful in the country (and the world). It’s certainly a draw for new students, but it also conjures up nostalgia for alumni and draws the attention of the global academia community.

The play: What is it that makes your institution unique? Is it the professor-to-student ratio? Greek life? Alumni? Whatever your differentiators are, promote them on social. Rather than touting your accolades or achievements, show what these traits mean to your students like Northwestern does.

Texas A&M: Miss Rev, reporting for duty

Texas A&M University is highly regarded for its strong academics, particularly in engineering, agriculture and veterinary medicine. The university is also recognized for its robust ROTC program and rich history as a military college. But it’s perhaps most well-known for its passionate fanbase, and strong “Aggie” spirit and traditions.

One of the most beloved is its mascot, Reveille X—or as she’s known on campus, Miss Rev. Miss Rev is a real Rough Collie from a long line of dogs who have served as the school’s mascot since 1931. Miss Rev is technically the highest ranking member of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, and even has her own social media presence to boot.

On her account, the Texas A&M team posts photos of her around campus. Like this one, where she’s enjoying ice cream at the campus creamery. Not only are the photos and videos adorable, they also educate prospects, students and alumni about the school’s history.

While Texas A&M isn’t the only school to have a page dedicated to their mascot, the love for Miss Rev is particularly palpable. When Miss Rev recently underwent a procedure, a joint post from her account and the university received almost 20,000 engagements on Instagram alone.

Miss Rev’s account is part of a network of many accounts the Texas A&M team manages. As Krista Berend, Director of Marketing and Communications at the university told us, “We manage five different brands outside our institutional accounts…People take their passion for the university to the internet, so over the last several years, we’ve been able to tap into that online community and grow it.”

The play: Building an online community is challenging for brands across industries. But universities have an advantage because they have so many IRL communities to pull from—sports fans, alumni, clubs, departments and more.

Like Texas A&M, your social presence can be a place for rallying, growing and engaging these communities. The key is bottling up the magic of the in-person experience and translating it to the digital sphere.

To make the grade, university teams need social media

That concludes this month’s installment of the PPR. Stay tuned for next month’s edition, where we’ll feature our lineup of our brands in regulated industries making social less spooky. In the meantime, remember these key takeaways:

For more about the content and engagement audiences crave today, download The 2025 Content Benchmarks Report: Schools & Education.

And if you see a social post or campaign that deserves to be highlighted, tag us @sproutsocial and use #PostPerformanceReport to have your idea included in a future article.