How Can We Show Out? Marketing NPHC + Cultural Greek Orgs
What we are experiencing is real. It is heavy. Intake may be virtual, but it’s for a moment, not forever. Change is hard, but it is also a time to reflect on current practices to ensure organizations stay relevant, meet the needs of incoming members and thrive for another one hundred years. Instead of fearing the unknown let’s embrace the possibility. For starters, virtual intake can reduce barriers and access associated with joining.
What makes fraternity/sorority meaningful are the people, the relationships, the love, the growth and the support. Now more than ever, we need to tell our story and share our rich history, values and traditions.
Storytelling
Now is the time to take a critical look at the chapter’s social media accounts. Be honest: who is the account intended for?
Is the intent to showcase the experience as a recruitment tool?
As you scroll through the feed, what would an incoming student learn about the chapter?
Is the account showcasing involvement, organizational values?
Make sure your content and intended audience align and follows the intake social media guidelines provided by your national organization.
Highlight the cultural aspects and practices of your organization and how these practices validate members’ identities.
Provide a brief overview on the history of the organization and how culturally based organizations’ stories are rooted in social justice, inclusion, and empowerment of specific identities.
If your organization steps/strolls/salutes, showcase past chapter performances and explain what these practices mean to the history of the organization.
Showcase the community service and civic engagement projects that the organization is committed to.
Have members take over the account to provide a variety of voices and personal stories. This organically shows off the different reasons and benefits of joining your org.
Knowing why someone joined is important, but what’s powerful is why they stayed. Share these personal stories too.
Be Honest
Now’s the time to be real about the expectations of joining our organizations . It wasn’t that long ago that you were on the other side of the experience going through intake. You know what questions you had. Get in front of them now. These may feel like heavy conversations that are weird to engage in virtually, but make it fun through Q+A highlights or IGTV series. You can easily follow-up with a Q+A session based on DMs.
Create a highlight that explains how to stay updated on your virtual intake process to interests/potential members.
If you have an online interest form or sign-up process, make it easy to find with the link in your bio.
Create digital flyers with information, similar to what incoming students would typically see on campus.
Create space for virtual interest meetings.
Share the expectations associated with membership.
Provide a range of expected time commitments (think weekly and monthly).
Provide a range for expected financial commitment.
Language Matters
No one wants to feel like an outsider. Incoming students are seeking connections and a family away from home. Let’s get back to the basics. If we want to engage with all incoming students virtually, now isn’t the time to use terminology that excludes or confuses them.
An incoming student doesn’t know Greek letters or Greek-letter chapter names. They do know the organization and campus.
Real talk, what does “sisterhood/brotherhood/siblinghood” truly mean? Have you explicitly defined it? Or are we saying the words assuming someone’s individual definition is the same as ours?
Use this space to create a highlight to learn more about the history of organizations, Black Greek, and cultural Greek experiences.
Be clear. Be consistent.
Have Fun
Change is hard, but it’s also exciting. This is your chance to highlight what makes the chapter meaningful through a variety of creative ways.
Remember:
Everyone has a “sisterhood/brotherhood/siblinghood”
Everyone has a philanthropy.
Everyone has colors and symbols, and these are important pieces of the chapter, but they aren’t everything.
What makes the chapter dynamic are the people and the relationships. Highlight who you are and what makes the chapter meaningful.
