Research at Lehigh
DIGITAL CAMPAIGNSLehigh University is an interdisciplinary research institution with R1 status. I showcase researchers’ work to various audiences, via the Lehigh Research Review magazine and through visually rich and engaging digital communications.
Client Lehigh University
Scope Concept, copyediting, design and animation
Reaching Undergraduates via Instagram
I used the LehighU Instagram to reach prospective and current undergraduate students—to make them aware of the incredible opportunities that exist at Lehigh and to generate excitement and pride around this distinctive offering. Because Instagram is a veritable goldmine of analytics, I used this an opportunity to A/B test how best to leverage this platform to showcase research to LehighU’s followers. The A/B campaign communicated about the same research in two distinct ways.
Approach ‘A’: Multi-panel Instagram stories that were abridged versions of long-form news stories. To make the content feel relatable, artwork featured the researchers and the spaces where they conduct their work.
Approach ‘B’: Single-panel Instagram stories that functioned like posters—with catchy headlines, brief descriptions and a link to the long-form news story. Artwork for this approach was more graphic in nature, with vibrant colour palettes and bold typography bringing energy to layouts.
Findings
In terms of sheer views, approach ‘B’ (single-panel stories) appeared to perform better. However, because the multi-panel approach of ‘A’ allows the viewer to better understand whether or not the content is relevant to them, this presentation showed better, deeper, more sustained engagement.
The audience is willing to engage with longer (multi-panel) stories—they’re interested enough that the vast majority will stay till the end of a six-panel story.
For both the single- and multi-panel versions, most of the audience is not interested in following/tapping on the last panel’s call to action, which leads to the webpage with the full news story.
Reaching Higher-Ed Leadership via Email
Lehigh communicates with peer institutions via email. In the run up to election season, I pitched and developed the idea of highlighting Lehigh researchers’ work on various issues challenging American voters. Readers were encouraged to to seek varied perspectives across multiple sources to inform their opinion around these topics.
Reaching Researchers via Photo-Essays
I provided prospective researchers with a strong sense of place by offering an authentic look at one of Lehigh’s labs through a photo-essay. See the essay in its entirety here.
