One mind behind Kent State social media
Editor’s note: The story and headline have been corrected to state Deanna Stevens Ulrich’s title and involvement.
Creating compelling and engaging content for social media can be a challenge for universities. That’s where Deanna Stevens Ulrich comes in.
Stevens Ulrich is the associate director of digital content for Kent State’s social media platforms. She works with the director of digital content and social media assistants to maintain and produce content for the university’s social media accounts. In addition, she helps run the Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts.
Stevens Ulrich is constantly analyzing content performance and trends to capture the best representation of Kent State’s campus life.
“We’ve been trying to focus on platforms like Instagram and TikTok with that sort of student focus like a man on the street interview,” Stevens Ulrich said. “We’ve gotten a lot of anecdotal comments that the students enjoy, and we’ve seen a lot of success with those.”
She tries to keep the content engaged by incorporating students, staff, faculty and even President Todd Diacon into the social media posts.
“We also have ‘A Day In the Life’ content where we feature different students taking us through their day,” Stevens Ulrich said. “We’ve had a gymnast who took us through her training schedule and classes, and she was also a student employee for the athletics department.”
While every day is different for Stevens Ulrich, she constantly collaborates with other social media staff, student employees, photographers and videographers to capture her vision.
Some of the most engaging content came from coverage of student or campus events that give a personable connection to the audience, she said.
There is also a content and creative team at University Communications & Marketing that produces content, she said.
Stevens Ulrich has been able to express her ideas and passion for Kent State and what it has to offer.
“Being creative and telling the story of Kent State in various ways, whether it be a tweet, TikTok, or whatever, is the most fun for me,” she said.
Alex Zito is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].