With the growth of social media and other methods, marketing platforms have diversified to reach out to many different audiences. When promoting your group and activities, it is important to consider what promotional platforms will be most effective in meeting your goals and reaching your target audience.
Emails
Creating a Group Email Account
All SOP recognized student groups are eligible for a group utoronto email account (@studentorg.utoronto.ca). Click here for the application. For more details on SOP recogniton, please click here.
You may also choose to create your own email account. It is recommended that student groups create a distinct email account to represent the group, rather than use anyone's personal email. This allows for multiple executive members to access the email, permitting ease of communication. This also permits for easy transition later on when a new leadership takes on the club. Furthermore, if your group email is a Gmail account, this will provide your group with access to Google Drive and Google Meet/Hangouts, which may be useful for online meetings or collaborative work.
Growing your Mailing List
Mailing lists typically grow the most in the beginning of the year, when students meet student leaders at Welcome Week or O-Week. However, throughout the year, student leaders should continue to grow their mailing list. You can do so by sharing your email account on social media, sharing your email in-person to event attendees, etc. Also your public Student Organization Page is a great place for students to find your group and contact information.
Email Promotions
When running an email campaign to promote your club activities, you must be aware that students rely on their email accounts for important correspondences, specifically from the University or professors. Thus, it is important for you to strike a balance between under- and over-doing your email campaigns, following the tips below:
- Do not send emails too frequently – This can come off as spam, which can lead students to ignore your emails or ask to unsubscribe from your mailing list.
- Think of your audience – Think of who your audience is. You don't need to write long, formal emails to promote your event, keep it engaging and casual. Appeal to your audience.
- Highlight your main message – What is the main take-away from your email? Try to highlight this by bolding or italicizing so it doesn't get lost in a sea of text. Try not to include too many messages within a single email to avoid clutter.
- Keep it concise, but powerful – Students are busy people who receive emails every day, so they may not be invested in reading a long email. Keep your email concise, only including necessary information. Make your email catchy and engaging as well.
- Make sure te email is mobile-friendly – It is a good idea to send out a test email to your own account to check how an email looks on a mobile phone.
- Proofread your emails! – Proofread to avoid sending out incorrect information to students. Mistakes and typos can also negatively impact the image of your group.
- Consider when to send your email – What is the best time of day to send your emails? Mornings and evenings are typically good choices as people tend to check their emails in the beginning of the day or after classes. You must also think how much advance notice is sufficient for your audience.
- Consider the frequency of your emails – How many emails do you plan to send regarding an event? It is important to reach out to students without overwhelming them.
- Make your email engaging – Include graphics or images within your email to make them engaging to students! You can also use mailing templates or services such as mailchimp to format your emails.
Social Media
Social media platforms offer many creative avenues to engage with your audience. Student groups can create accounts or pages using their group email, so it can easily be accessed by all members of the team. Although there are many social media platforms out there, some are highlighted below:
- Facebook – Create a page or account for your student group that people can either follow or add as a friend, so your content appears on their feed. You can also host event pages, invite your membership, and check their confirmation of attendance.
- Instagram – Create an account for your student group, where you can post about your activities on your main feed or even use Instagram stories to interact with your members (eg. polls, IG lives, etc).
- Twitter – Create an account for your student group, where you can engage with and update your membership.
- Youtube – You can create a Youtube account through your email account. Create videos to engage with your members! These videos can be recaps of events, Q&As, promo videos, etc.
- TikTok – Create a TikTok account for your group, where you can post short and engaging videos to interact with your members!
Tabling
SOP recognized student groups have access to table booking on all campus buildings (except in the Student Centre), while UTMSU recognized student groups have access to table booking in the Student Centre. Tabling is an opportunity for student groups to promote their activities through in-person interactions with students.
Click here for more information regarding SOP table booking
Poster Board
Any and all postings on campus must conform to both the academic society or club non-exclusionary policy as outlined below.
Note: All advertising must be in English or a direct English translation should be provided.
Posters can be placed on the poster board opposite the elevator in the Meeting Place at the William G. Davis Building, provided you do not exceed the limits of one (1) 2 x 3 feet poster or four (4) 8.5 x 11 inch posters. Please note that posters cannot be taped together to form a large banner.
All posters must be stamped before they are to be used. Posters can be stamped during office hours at the Information Booth.
If posters are being placed on walls, please only use masking tape to avoid damaging the wall. All other boards require push pins to be used. It is the group's responsibility to remove posters after all events. If posters are left on the wall after the date of the event, the group may lose its posting privileges.
For further UTM Posting Guidelines, you can read more about them here.
UTMSU Support
For details regarding support from the UTMSU regarding their recognition process and student group benefits please click here.
Digital Signage
Student groups may use digital signage as an avenue to promote their group activities.
Digital Signage Policy
Digital messaging should…
- Promote events by recognized student groups and encourage turnout
- Promote department-specific information, such as the provided programming and services
- Promote campus events, elections and the constitution of recognized student groups
Digital messaging should NOT…
- Include provocative messaging that may offend community members and guests
- Include audio, copyrighted content
- Advocate for a political party or campaign
- Have non-English messages without English translations.
- Promote for-profit organizations such as commercials, rentals and tutoring services
- Violate individuals’ privacy
- Promote fund-raising efforts that are not directly supported by UTM or U of T
Digital Signage Guidelines
- Files sent need to be named beginning with the expiry date of when the file will be removed from the digital signage (File name: ExpMay8_JohnSmithLecture.jpg)
- Signage will only be shown for a few seconds so keep messages brief and avoid usage of all caps
- Signage can only be shown for a max of one week
- No UTM or U of T signage and logos in files
- External logos must take up less than 10% of total image size
Digital Signage Measurements
- Image – JPG or PNG, 1920x1080 pixels
- Video – mp4, mov, or FLV, under 25MB, 860x482 aspect ratio, no audio
Contact
In order to request usage of the digital signage platform, please contact the Director of Content with the proposed content.
Patricia Lonergan
Interim Director, Marketing and Communications, Office of Communications
- E-mail: p.lonergan@utoronto.ca
Learn more about Digital Signage guidelines
CFRE Radio
Every student organization may have limited airtime on the Radio at no cost. If you require more time, please contact CFRE Radio in the Student Centre. There contact information can be found here.
The Medium
Ad spaces are available for request on the school newspaper, The Medium, to advertise and promote your event, student organization, or product.
For more information, please contact the Advertising Manager of The Medium at ads@themedium.ca.