Coming Full Circle

Back then, college students would collect children from the complex and bring them to campus to color and hear the words of Jesus. Sierras, now the mother of three adult children, treasured those visits and the gospel that was shared.

Now the social media ad was bringing her full circle. Within a few months, Sierras applied to Fresno Pacific, was accepted and enrolled in the current spring semester. She's finishing up some general education requirements and will enter the business administration degree completion program.

"It's been absolutely amazing, I can't believe how easy this has all been," says Sierras, who works full-time as a supervisor at Fresno Superior Court. "God is great."

Reaching Out

Sierras' journey back to Fresno Pacific helps illustrate the evolving importance and reach of the university's virtual advertising and presence on social media. While those efforts have always been part of Fresno Pacific's strategy, the growing emphasis on online storytelling is helping generate more awareness, attention and interest.

In fact, information and content related to the university is sprinkled across the social media landscape in seemingly infinite ways. Fresno Pacific reaches out through platforms that include Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Spotify, for example, with both original content and paid advertising.

Campus social media specialists watch impressions (the total number of times content/ads are displayed), reach (the number of unique users), new followers and other numbers to help measure success.

Recent statistics are impressive. For example, the 7.9 million impressions last year on Instagram reflected a nearly 400 percent increase over the previous year. The 8.9 million impressions on Facebook represented a nearly 80 percent increase.

"The numbers that we're putting up are just insane," said Bradley Kennedy (BA '24), an alumnus, who is essentially the captain of this virtual ship. He graduated with a business administration degree and began working on campus shortly after that.

He started in the business department, then shifted to the marketing department and part-time social media duties. From there, Kennedy saw that Fresno Pacific could leverage more opportunities in the online space—especially to drive up enrollment. As the university recognized this potential, Kennedy became the integrated media manager.

"This is what I do every day, I come in and I do social media," said Kennedy, who is typically found somewhere on campus with a camera in hand. The goal is always to tell the story of the university—its many aspects, departments, faith and initiatives—in dynamic, memorable and creative ways.

The main target audience is prospective students. As a recent graduate, Kennedy may have an edge on insight because he understands how transformative and life-changing Fresno Pacific can be for students.

"I want to tell that story to someone else on social media to show them what our community is like, to show them how beautiful the campus is, to share with them how you can grow in your faith and also learn and study what you love," Kennedy said.

Some content is serious, some isn't. Last year's Christmas series, for example, captured the heartfelt atmosphere and "reason for the season" at Fresno Pacific. But the most viral element showed campus mascot Sunny the Sunbird masquerading as Buddy in scenes from the movie Elf.

Another popular comedic video for a Sunbird Sneak Peek Preview Day - featuring Kennedy being clobbered by an empty cardboard box—may have helped drive enrollment from 20 to 200 students for the event.

The social media team constantly analyzes trends across platforms and finds a way to capitalize on them with a Fresno Pacific spin. Using Sked Social, an analytics and social media management tool, Kennedy and his colleagues track the numbers and reach of individual campaigns and content while also engaging with the audience. They also know the best times to publish on each platform in order to reach the biggest audience.

"We have really been able to build and level up by pushing out more creative, viral and entertaining content," he said. Looking to increase the university's online footprint, the social media team also recently added a YouTube Shorts page.

"We're just continuing to grow and grow and grow and try to push the boundaries so that we can get FPU out there and in the best light that we possibly can," Kennedy said.

Coming Home

That social media outreach brought Sierras back to her old neighborhood. However, she was nervous about returning to college after battling personal challenges and spending years in the workforce.

The nerves followed Sierras as she attended an on-campus orientation, where her choice of seats placed her next to a kind man who listened to her story. She later learned that the man who put her at ease, and invited her to stay in touch, was FPU President André Stephens, Ph.D.

Today, Sierras knows that the social media ad steered her to making the best choice for her future: "God really puts us in places as He guides us and hears our prayers."

In the best way, social media can lead to human connection. Still, it is often difficult to draw a straight line between a social media offering or advertisement and a student's enrollment. Sierras' journey is tangible evidence of some success.

Kennedy sees the momentum building. "I think that social media is a great opportunity for us to be a light in this world because we know that social media can be a pretty dark place out there. Fresno Pacific University is a great place to be."