Dad at a Disco - should universities being using TikTok?

TikTok has over 3.7 million users in the UK and 60% of them are Gen Zers. All the major brands with a Gen Z audience are at the party. So should Higher and Further Education institutions join in with the drinking games and wild dancing, or would it all be a bit ‘dad at the disco’?

This article is part of our education marketing content series, we interviewed marketing and communications leaders from across higher and further education. We asked what they’ve learnt in 2020, and what they’re planning for the future. The series is packed with insights, top-tips, and their reflections on an unprecedented time.

We spoke to leading education marketeers about their thoughts on HE and FE institutions being on TikTok.

Captive audience

With such a significant proportion of Gen Zers on TikTok, a presence on the platform for HE and FE institutions seems like a no-brainer. 

But uptake among institutions has been limited. Although a few have jumped in feet first, many are dipping a toe and some express reticence about being on the platform at all. 

Brand irrelevance?

Among the reasons for a limited presence on the channel, is a perceived lack of brand relevance. As Angelina Bingley, director of admissions, recruitment and marketing at the University of East Anglia explains, “it's about appearing on the right channels for the right reasons. Just because TikTok has taken off, it doesn’t mean it's necessarily the right channel for our brand. Do you want the university to be on TikTok when people are doing ridiculous challenges or are saying ‘look at my cat's bottom’?”

The question of relevance also applies the other way around. Queen Mary University London, assistant director marketing and communications: UKSR and widening participation, Priti Patel explains the institution’s current approach, “we've currently got a very light presence. It's certainly on our radar for development and we’ll keep an eye on it, so we’re not a ‘dad at the disco’. Generation Z are savvy users of social media so we have to produce content relevant to channel.’” 

Advertising invasion

As brands have targeted young people with advertising on platforms they’ve moved to another - from Facebook to Instagram to TikTok. University of Surrey interim director of marketing, student recruitment and admissions, Lizzie Burrows is mindful of this, “we need to be really conscious that, clearly, this young community wants a place where they can just be themselves and have their own conversations. They don't want to keep being invaded by people advertising at them. If we're going to start using these platforms, then we have to use content that is genuinely valuable.”

Priti expressed a similar sentiment, “you don't want to invade a space and interrupt, relevant content executed in a channel appropriate way is key.”

As brands pitch up on TikTok, as they’ve done on other social channels, surely young people will once again move on to another platform?

Success on the platform

Despite concerns, some institutions have managed to strike a balance and experience success on the platform. 

Staffordshire University has embraced the channel, marketing manager Richard Shepherd, shares the university’s student-focused approach: “We use it completely organically. We have tried using it as an official channel and encouraging students to post including our team of student comms ambassadors, who are based in different courses around the university, to showcase who we are more authentically.” 

The University of Glasgow’s vice principal, external relations, Rachel Sandison, says that “we've had a few things that have worked really well in terms of engagement. But [TikTok] is a challenge that we need to spend more time thinking through - how do you use it as a channel to really inform and educate, or should it be a channel just for engaging people with something that is a bit more frivolous?”

Swansea University used the platform for the first time during clearing, as interim director of marketing, recruitment and international, Mark Garratt explains, “we’re analysing the results at the moment but we’ve certainly received traffic from it.” 

Focus on other channels

For the time being at least, institutions are choosing to focus on other channels. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are the platforms of choice to reach students and parents. 

So although the Gen Z audience is on TikTok, the fear of being a ‘dad at the disco’ dancing awkwardly at a party you weren’t invited to, is a widespread concern.

Perhaps the most important question to ask when we consider a presence on a platform is, as Lizzie says, “would Gen Z like us to be here?”

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