Polytechnic University and TU Graz held a joint competition on Instagram
During the coronavirus pandemic, strategic partnerships between universities have manifested themselves at times in completely unusual ways. Thus, Peter the Great Polytechnic University and the Graz University of Technology (TU Graz; Austria) for the first time held a joint international competition on the Instagram platform.
Thus, Polytechnic University and TU Graz decided to support and encourage their international students, as well as to test a new type of activity in social networks, which, unlike many global companies, universities so far do use rather rarely. And, as it turned out, it was for no good reason: during the week of the joint contest, the English-speaking accounts of SPbPU and TU Graz covered more than 300 unique users from around the world. The conditions of activity were simple: you had to subscribe to the university pages on Instagram and leave comments under the contest posts marked by your friends and acquaintances. At the end, a random number generator was used to determine the winner: Henju KIM, a student at Kanga University, South Korea. She received branded souvenirs from Polytechnic University and TU Graz, which were immediately sent to her by mail.
“I am very happy to receive such wonderful prizes. Everything was so unexpected, and it makes me even happier!” shared Henju KIM. As it turned out, some time ago, the student was studying at Polytechnic University under the academic mobility program. “Even though I didn't study at Polytechnic for long, I still have the most pleasant impressions from the university, and I also made many new friends from all over the world,” said Henju KIM.
The SPbPU International Office employees are sure that this kind of activity should be carried out regularly. Quizzes and contests among foreign students on social networking platforms are a good marketing tool that allows reaching new audiences of potential foreign applicants and attracting them to higher education, which is especially important during the pandemic and the inability to hold events in a live format.
It should be noted that Polytechnic University’s activity on English-language Internet platforms is highly appreciated by external experts: according to the Russian Council on International Affairs (RCIA), the English-language site of St. Petersburg University has risen by three positions and entered the TOP-5 English-language resources of Russian universities. RCIA General Director Andrey KORTUNOV emphasized that SPbPU demonstrates the best university practices of promoting educational services and the university brand through an Internet portal and accounts in social networks in English.
Prepared by the SPbPU International Office