“Swat.io means that we don’t have FOMO when it comes to social media management.”

The FernUniversität has been using social media for a decade. The target group they appeal to is very diverse and at home on various social media channels. The team pursues multiple social media management objectives.

One key area is providing information to people interested in the university, showcasing topics from day-to-day student life and from the university’s research. Plus, they also aim to expand and uphold the “FernUniversität in Hagen” brand, highlighting the benefits of distance learning and comparing it with other forms of universities. The goal for community management is to create a direct line of communication with students. Networking with others is another goal on Twitter and LinkedIn, where discussions among researchers, for instance, are initiated.

The FernUniversität’s challenge lay in handling increasing numbers of topics within social media management. Its five-person team identifies lots of these topics itself, but other departments also approach the team with ideas. Here, the aim is to sort through the topics and make colleagues aware of what makes good content. At the end of the day, the aim is for all the target groups to be addressed as best possible on the various platforms.

The social media team at FernUni Hagen has grown quickly and now numbers five. Another challenge lay in coordinating shared work. In the early days, passwords for social media channels were simply passed around the team, with ideas for content discussed when they had a spare moment in the office or during meetings. The social media team opted for Swat.io so they could coordinate all these processes better.

Now, all the FernUniversität in Hagen’s social media management is handled in Swat.io. The team sets out its plans far in advance using the editorial calendar. Content planning has become much clearer, with the integrated approval process offering a smooth quality control procedure prior to publication. 

The clear ticket inbox offers a good overview when it comes to community management. Plus, the team has a much quicker sense of when a problem is bothering the community: they don’t need to keep an eye on each individual channel at once. This is a game changer for the annual campus festival, which is heavily advertised on social media. Now, a single browser tab is enough to keep an eye on every reaction on social media for the whole evening. 

Swat.io has also become a central starting point for social media analysis, too. The team can see all the KPIs in one place and can analyze them more easily across channels.