Adrienne King (@dr_adking) is the director of marketing and communications at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho.

Each year, our marketing and communications team creates a special video series to celebrate graduation. And each year, we try to outdo our work from the previous year. So when the team came back this year with a proposal to create a reality TV inspired video series using content submitted by soon-to-be graduates, of course I said “yes!”

With the assistance of our key communicators (a group of communications professionals representing all units across campus) and academic deans, we selected 10 soon-to-be graduates to assist us with the series. Our marketing and communications team carefully screened all nominees before selecting the final participants. In particular, we were focused on finding students that had outgoing personalities, represented a variety of academic areas, and most importantly, were excited about graduation!

The students were given video recording tips and instructions on how to transfer content to our videographer. We went over the schedule deadlines so everyone would be aware of the expectations for delivery.

Each week leading up to graduation, the students have been asked to submit short video clips and photos related to that week’s content prompt, provided by our digital media coordinator. The eight-week video series includes topics like “future plans” and “how do you deal with stress?” Thus far, we’ve distributed four of the eight videos, plus the initial video teaser created to promote the series.

Promotional Teaser

In an effort to generate interest among our existing fan base, we created a promotional teaser video before the official launch of the series. The teaser video was also featured on our commencement website.

Meet the Cast

To cross-promote the video series, we’ve been posting information about the cast on our various social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Series

The eight-week series was designed to capture the rollercoaster of emotions leading up to graduation. Each week, the participants are given a prompt based on the week’s video topic (Week 1: This Crazy Crazy Thing, Week 2: Spring Break, Week 3: The Final Stretch and Week 4: Staying Sane).

Results To-Date

To-date, the series has generated 4,874 views–more than a third of the total views on our YouTube channel this quarter. We are maintaining more than 60 percent viewership for the videos. In addition, 2.85 percent of the people reached via our online ads have watched the entire four-minute video. Credits

The “March to the Arch” series is being created by Martin Baker, videographer, and Mckenna Bailey, digital media coordinator, for the office of marketing and communications.