Case Study: University of Salford achieves rapid, scalable student engagement and faster recruitment with Hootsuite

University of Salford - Customer Case Study

The University of Salford, a public research university near Manchester with about 20,000 students, set out to become the UK’s first truly social university but faced a fragmented, marketing‑led social presence. Multiple unmanaged accounts, slow enquiries routed through press offices, and the need to engage students on their preferred channels left the university unprepared for high‑volume events like Clearing Day, when rapid, coordinated responses are crucial.

Senior Press Officer Justin Clark centralized the strategy, trained staff and rolled out Hootsuite to enable secure, cross‑department collaboration, advanced social listening and assignments. A dedicated Clearing social team and team leader used keyword and geo‑streams to capture and assign enquiries, achieving 2–4 minute average response times, handling roughly 700–800 messages (350 in the first seven hours) and doubling enquiries handled in half the time—boosting recruitment efficiency and internal buy‑in for the social program.

University of Salford

Justin Clark

Senior Press Officer