It began with a sit-down more than a year ago. Truliant Federal Credit Union wanted to reach a younger audience. So, they met with representatives from the Bryan School to ask if there may be opportunities to work with both undergraduate and MBA students involved in marketing-related studies at UNC Greensboro.
The answer, of course, was “yes.”
Truliant’s goals, specifically, were as follows: review their social media strategy, attract a larger millennial audience, and strengthen their competitiveness.
Their first interaction came during an Advanced Marketing Management class in the spring of 2019, where students were tasked with developing a marketing plan for their social media platforms with a strategic focus on Twitter. Truliant came back for a second round that fall, this time working with Dr. Mike Beitler, who directs MBA Capstone Projects in the Bryan School.
Beitler says he runs the MBA Capstone Projects like a consulting firm. The capstone projects usually have four phases: defining scope and methodology with a client, conducting secondary and primary research, analyzing findings, and presenting the recommendations to a client.
Beitler says he looks for fire in a student’s belly when placing them for the semester. After all, students spend about 200 collective hours on any given project. This work, when compared to the price of a standard, professional consultation, can be a pleasant surprise for companies who engage with MBA Capstone Projects (past examples include HanesBrands, Inc., The Volvo Group, and Cone Health).
Truliant’s goals, specifically, were as follows: review their social media strategy, attract a larger millennial audience, and strengthen their competitiveness.“We came back to Truliant with a strategy for using Instagram and they were thrilled,” said Beitler. “We can actually do this, this isn’t just some theoretical thing. Here is what millennials might like.”
Truliant recently wrote to the Bryan School regarding those suggestions from the fall semester and said they had been working really well. The suggestions ranged from Instagram story scheduling to utilizing video and focusing on interactivity and engagement.
“I was surprised by the extra steps they took to transform content on our page into something that would fit our audience and followers more,” said Tricia Beeker, Truliant’s Marketing Director.
Truliant is gearing up to work with the Bryan School a third time in an ongoing revamp of their social media presence. This round will involve a similar analysis of their Facebook presence.
“UNCG was very attentive to the details surrounding the project,” said Beeker. “They took a very thorough look at our sites, asked us for business focus areas, made content recommendations, and were able to take a fresh look at our social media sites.”
