How Lumen5 is Helping NC State University Boost Their Online Presence and Drive More Traffic
ABOUT NC STATE UNIVERSITY
A leading public research university
NC State University is a leading public research university with more than 36,000 undergraduate and graduate students. It’s made up of 12 different colleges based in North Carolina. Each year, NC State adds $6.5 billion to the statewide economy, the equivalent to creating more than 90,000 new jobs. It has a social media hub where their marketing and branding processes are centralized. The University targets anyone from prospective students to current students, alumni, donors, and parents. "The way we work—we're like a vehicle. We draw out the creative direction and provide all the tools and software people need to do their job (like Lumen5, Hootsuite, Brandwatch, etc.), plus training. We hired a social media specialist for each college—who are like the drivers. They follow the main strategy but can decide if they want to take that left or go straight. It’s a combined effort that works great for us."
I love how easy it is to use Lumen5 and how much time it saves our team. I’m always happy with the results and knowing our video content will resonate with our audiences. I also love that it empowers us to be more creative.
THE CHALLENGE
Make videos like a pro (affordable, engaging and in less time)
The University’s social media team did not have the bandwidth to shoot high-end videos, so they were working with a videographer who trained them in using Adobe After Effects and Premiere. But creating and editing videos was taking too much of their time—they needed to free up their schedules and deliver projects faster. That’s not all. Metrics showed their social media videos were not always performing well. Since one of their main goals was to raise the number of views, shares, likes, and comments, they were missing a robust tool they could use to churn out text-based videos and better engage their audiences.
Spending half of a business day to create and complete a video project? We can’t afford that.
THE SOLUTION
Lumen5 and NC State University: a match made in heaven.
When NC State University found Lumen5, it was love at first sight. In the beginning, NC State University was happy with generating attractive text-based videos in a timely fashion. With Lumen5 regularly releasing new features, they were able to add sound bites, use different cropping options and pick layouts that match their branding. The tool’s availability goes hand in hand with the social media team’s needs. If there's an event on campus, they can shoot directly with their phones and create videos on the go. Plus, Lumen5’s features allows them to produce content they can repurpose for other platforms. Lumen5’s little tweaks are improving NC State University’s social media game, allowing them to stay on brand and level up their creativity.
We knew Lumen5 was the right tool, so there was no point in looking any further.
THE RESULTS
Increased reach, increased engagement, and time saved.
Using Lumen5 allowed NC State University to increase its number of videos created and in less time. Drew Sykes and his team saved, on average, five hours per video and saw production time become 8x faster. When shared on social media, Lumen5 videos see huge improvements in engagement, including a 118% increase in views, 70% more reactions, a 135% increase in comments, and a 145% increase in shares. Overall, Lumen5 helped NC State to translate complex research into genuine, shareable videos with less effort. At the same time, it allowed them to repurpose content and be more flexible with their content creation methods.
We're currently creating more videos and driving more traffic while having more time to invest in other projects. These were our goals, and Lumen5 has been the catalyst, helping us grease the wheel on the vehicle to drive faster.