Promoting financial education to students can be a lofty aim at the best of times, not least amongst the chaos of everything going on right now. But despite the news, students can’t afford to push financial education down the priority list or their wellbeing could suffer in the short and long term.
In fact, with lockdown causing more economy and job uncertainty, combined with the start of a new year and another student loan payment this month, there’s arguably never been a more important time for students to get motivated to focus on their finances.
The good news is there are things you can do (remotely) to encourage students to think more about their financial wellbeing; we thought we’d take this opportunity to outline some tried and tested suggestions for promoting financial education to your students.
This is a bit of a refresher after our joint session with NASMA back in November and we hope you find it useful.
Free resource for you
We’ve also collated the strategies into one handy PDF resource, for you to download, share with others and use. Get your financial education social media playbook.
Get your assets in order
The key to efficacy is to be consistent across all your channels and touchpoints.
Be sure to have guidelines for your social media (like how to use your logo and colour palette) and develop a strategy to use as your road map.
You don’t need to have an all-singing all-dancing plan, just some idea of what you want to achieve. As the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland says: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there”.
Generally, a good strategy will include:
- Objectives (what you want to achieve)
- Audience details (who you are trying to reach)
- Method (how you’re going to reach them and as there are loads of channels and social media platforms out there, start by focusing on just one or two – each with their own purpose)
Remember to be authentic, “human” and approachable in your communications. You are fighting for students’ attention and it’s a tough battle!
Remember: your best advocates are your students
Feeding the content beast and successfully using it to develop your message and build relationships is hard. But you have an asset few other organisations have: your students are your greatest source of creativity and trust.
Chances are that student ambassadors, money mentors and the like will be very happy to do a takeover of your social media accounts for a day. Be sure to brief them adequately (and check that they will project the right image and message), then let their creativity flow.
Word of mouth is a powerful tool and students are more likely to listen to their peers, especially on sensitive issues. For example, students signposting others in need to university services can be hugely impactful.
Make the topic engaging and relevant
We would be happy with “all money all the time” messaging but most people would find that tedious. All accounts need fresh, fantastic content and you are only limited by your creativity.
You can, especially in these times, keep students informed and updated with personal stories and “day in the life of” type features.
Promote the values of your institution and achievements of your students and staff. Different stories will engage different cohorts and you won’t know what hits the spot with whom unless you experiment.
Get creative when you talk money
Lots of people have a difficult relationship with money, so when you do want to focus your social attention on finances, think about the best way you can help your students.
For example, you could share ways to pick up new tricks for smart money management, offer advice for paying off debts and nudge them to think about their financial future.
Digestible practical tips, emotional support and a focus on holistic financial wellbeing can be super effective in demystifying financial issues while giving students real ways of improving their lot.
Don’t forget your copy of the financial education social media playbook.
Join us on the 19th: webinar alert!
Engaging students in financial education will be key a focus of our conversation with Dr Dominique Thompson in our first staff webinar of the year, on Tuesday 19th Jan at 10.30am.
Dominique is a GP, student mental health expert and author. She’ll be chatting to our CEO & Founder, Vivi, about:
- The impact of Covid and another lockdown on students (and their finances)
- The importance of (remote) support
- The role money and financial education plays in student wellbeing
- How to engage students in financial education at a time like this!
Staff newsletter
Subscribe to get all the latest blogs, resources and updates
