Message from the Social Media Chair

Hello Alumni and Friends!

After a busy summer interning part-time and spending the rest of my time working for the Chorus, I’m back in Ithaca and anxiously awaiting the results of the hard work that Chiara, Marta, and I put into social media and recruitment this summer.

Over the summer, I also worked closely with Glee Club publicity and recruitment officers to promote the Glorus (Glee Club & Chorus) online in a number of ways.

I was in charge of coordinating posts in the Class of 2021 Facebook groups to spark interest in the Chorus, Glorus, a cappella subsets, or Singing at Cornell in general. I assigned volunteers to post about different topics, such as the Vespers concert, the Glorus’s tight community, After Eight’s complex arrangements, or informal performance outside concerts. After Chorus and Glee Club member posted these in the class groups, I checked their notifications and messaged members of the Class of 2021. I asked each of them if they would like to be added to our auditionee Facebook group, where we could answer their questions and promote our O-week events. To my delight, many of them were receptive. I ended up having long conversations with some of them, in which I singlehandedly convinced them that they should audition for the Chorus, no matter how inexperienced/nervous/unprepared they felt.

In addition to this, I spent a lot of time on the Insights page of Chorus Instagram and Facebook. I analyzed data on posting times, days of the week, and engagement rates (how many likes and comments a post gets relative to the number of users that see it). These analytics allowed me to make detailed conclusions about the best times to post and the content that our fans enjoy the most. This project was very satisfying because I know it that it will improve the quality of our social media and help guide future Social Media Chairs.

Perhaps the most important project I took on this summer was leading the recruitment and publicity teams in creating paid ads on Facebook and Instagram. This has never been done before, but both Glee Club and Chorus executive boards were enthusiastic about the idea. We were very thankful to the Glee Club for providing over $300 for these ads, and for the existing “Sing at Cornell!” videos on the Glee Club’s YouTube channel that were used for recruitment last year.  I worked with the GC Publicity Manager to put out 5 ads: 3 Facebook ads featuring the “Sing at Cornell!” videos, one Facebook ad with a series of clips from the 2016 joint tour to Guatemala and Mexico, and an Instagram ad resembling our Sing at Cornell graphic for the Cornell Daily Sun. These ads were targeted to Facebook accounts linked to Cornell and music, and appeared in users’ newsfeeds, within articles posted on Facebook, or as side banners. I am pleased to announce that every ad got at least 3000 views, and one ad even got 23,000 views!

Audition numbers have exceeded those of last year, and we’ve had to open up more days than planned to accommodate the demand. It’s so rewarding to know that our recruitment efforts have made a real impact, and I can’t wait for next week, when I can finally put the names that I’ve seen on the auditions list or Facebook messenger to the faces of new Chorus women.

Thank you for your support of the Chorus, whether it be donations, service on the AC board, attendance at our concerts, or love reacts on Facebook. If you want to see something on social media that I’m not doing, please let me know at socialmedia@chorus.cornell.edu! Social media has the power to connect us Chorus women no matter where we are, and I’m grateful for the privilege of helping you all feel more connected to the organization that has become so special to me over the past year.

With Chorus love,
Brianna Cox ‘20
Social Media Chair