Svenska

Advertising and Marketing

It can be challenging to know how to reach the right people with your message. Sometimes using your own channels is sufficient, but other times advertising is necessary.

The university engages in comprehensive external communication to inform about its education, research, and collaboration, thereby strengthening Stockholm University's brand.

During certain periods, you may receive many advertising offers. It is important to carefully analyse the potential impact of advertising before accepting any offers.

Planned Communication

Decisions on advertising should be based on your overall communication planning for the year, derived from your organisation's needs and resources.

Marketing can be done in various ways, each with its own benefits and challenges. The best approach is a mix of paid channels, such as print and digital ads, your own channels, and earned channels like editorial coverage.

Paid advertising is useful in many contexts, such as job vacancies, student recruitment, or events. Always consider what you can achieve through your own channels and active press and PR efforts.

Paid Channels – Print or Digital Ads

If you decide to purchase an ad, consider the following:

Which channels do your target audience use?
What are your best arguments to attract the audience?
Where do you direct the audience for more information?
How will you measure the success of your advertising?

Below are some surveys that can help you choose the right channel:

Ungdomsbarometern (contact the Communications Office for a copy)
Svenskarna och Internet

Full- or half-page ads

A full- or half-page ad in an editorial product should be designed as an ad, not as an article. Avoid merely adding a logo to a text-like ad. The Communications Office advises against participating in advertorial pages or supplements that mimic editorial content, as well as accepting editorial content as a "favour" for a purchased ad. Such practices undermine the university's credibility.

Practical assistance

If you need practical help with ad design, contact one of the university's contracted suppliers.

When approached by ad salespeople, it is useful to have a checklist to ensure nothing important is missed: Ads and advertorials – Checklist for contact with salespeople.

Print or digital

Print ads are expensive and have long lead times. They primarily reach older audiences. Ensure you are aware of the ad formats and use templates from the Media Bank.

For student recruitment, follow the "För att" concept guidelines.

Digital advertising offers quick follow-up and evaluation and can target specific audiences better than print ads. Digital marketing requires expertise to know your target audience and the platforms they use. Consider your advertising goals before choosing the platform and ad material.

For digital advertising, follow these major social media platforms' ad specifications:

For social media advertising, use our contracted suppliers for communication services.

Own Channels – from su.se to Social Media

Your own web pages (e.g., departmental or centre pages) and social media channels are the best ways to reach out.

For student recruitment, follow the "För att" concept guidelines on where to place messages.

Use social media to create posts linking to your web pages. Track traffic from social media to your web pages via Google Analytics.

To optimise search results, tag your videos on YouTube with titles, descriptions, locations, hashtags, and links that describe your content in the way your target audience searches. Use Google's keyword planner to find popular search terms.

Earned Channels – Editorial Space in Free Media

Earned channels are those owned by others where you cannot control the content. Others may write, share, or talk about you and your activities without your control. Working towards earned channels involves presenting content in a way that interests journalists or writers, such as through press releases or direct contact with journalists.

Examples of earned channels include editorial articles in newspapers and websites, broadcast media segments, opinion pages, and blog posts.

In social media, earned media includes interactions with your content or others creating content about you. Examples are reactions, shares, mentions, and reviews. This content exists outside your channels but can originate from them. Always aim to create shareable content, regardless of whether it will be advertised or not. Good work in your own and paid channels can enhance the university's credibility, leading to better results in earned media.