Appealing to The Masses

Hi everyone! My name is Emilie Chan, and I’m currently a senior at Temple University. I double major in Communication Studies, on the Entrepreneurial Track, and Advertising, on the Media Planning Track. For the past two years, I’ve had the opportunity to intern at Temple University’s Pre-College Programs as a Social Media Intern! 

Managing social media accounts, like Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin, I was tasked to build a TikTok account for the program– one of my proudest projects during my internship. I first started the account at the end of 2022, and now in 2024, the account has grown and reached over two thousand followers and totalling 144k likes. 

I faced some challenges developing and building this account, especially analyzing what content resonates and engages most with our audience. Our target audiences for social media are high school students, which was pretty difficult to navigate at first. It’s easy to post trending and funny TikTok videos that appeal to the young audience, but how could I connect it to a Pre-College program? Spoiler alert: high school students do not want to see TikTok videos about school. 

In the early phases of the TikTok account, I experimented by posting a wide range of content. Through analyzing data and insights from these videos, I learned which types of content were popular among young high school students. My failed posts, which at most received a few dozen views and less than ten likes, were mostly informational videos. I experimented with voice overs, as I explained what Pre-College was with trendy music in the background. It was very apparent that high school students did not want to watch a minute long video explaining our different programs, and it was a very humbling moment. 

Generating new ideas, I tried to follow the “Get Ready With Me” (GRWM) trend, where I created content that included walking to class point of views, clips of Temple University’s campus, and even college dorm room necessities; the college dorm room necessities, in particular, were very popular, and generated the most interactions. Seeing this as a success, I tried to go even further. 

I realized that high school students liked attention, and highlighting past Pre-College students may engage more high school students in schools surrounding Philadelphia. Featured students could send the video to their friends and family, enabling more students to become aware of our Pre-College programs. We developed a “student spotlight” that highlighted a student that attended Temple University’s Pre-College Programs. The posts included student’s responses to Pre-College questions about their favorite courses/activities, thoughts on specific field trips, and living styles. They loved it! After implementing these videos, the TikTok account gained more followers, and these videos have the most shares on our platform. I think the students really enjoyed seeing their experiences, and other peers like to see Pre-College from a student’s view. It’s very self-fulfilling to see students enjoying our content, and I was able to learn so much through experimentation!