The emotional milestones associated with college life resonate deeply with many people, which likely explains the broad appeal of this content. From the anticipation of acceptance letters to the triumph of graduation ceremonies, these experiences evoke powerful feelings. The journey through higher education—particularly the pivotal moments of admission and completion—strikes a chord with audiences, making it a consistently engaging topic.

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INSTAGRAM: 530K FOLLOWERS

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This theme of user-generated content (UGC) showing clips of students receiving their acceptance emails performed very well for New York University. It was their second top performing Reel on Instagram.

Additionally, University of Michigan did a similar video and it was their top performing Instagram Reel.

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This is a trending concept that also performed well for Moody College of Communication.

INSTAGRAM: 46.1K FOLLOWERS

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This is a surprising one as the post itself is not that interesting or entertaining. The comments though are emotionally charged which is likely what boosted the reach.

INSTAGRAM: 47.5K FOLLOWERS

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This video uses the Home Depot sound which is a popular trend. The theme of “dad energy” also performed well for Siena College.

YOUTUBE: 55.4K SUBSCRIBERS

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If you can manage to get A-list celebrities to the podium for a commencement speech, you can’t go wrong. However, commencement speeches alone tend to stir up positive emotions making them a great long-form piece of content that you can also break up into several short-form snippets, assuming the speech itself is compelling.

See also, Taylor Swift -->

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A big theme lately is graduates making their walk across the stage into a viral moment. From dancing, to backflips, to mouthing along to a trending sound as they exit the stage, these perform well. But having your president or other buttoned-up figure be the viral moment takes it to the next level.

If we were to boil down short-form video strategy into a single sentence, it would be “point the camera at something interesting.” Your faculty are some of your lowest hanging fruit for this.

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This was UC's top performing Youtube Short, and it’s as simple as can be to film. This lecture was likely going to happen anyway. UC capitalized on the opportunity to get some content out of it, and it paid off generously.

Bottom line: go to where your faculty is saying or doing interesting things and make it a content opportunity.

YOUTUBE: 1.34M SUBSCRIBERS

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This was UC’s second top performing Youtube Short. It’s simply an old clip of a well-known professor saying something interesting. Consider what existing video content you have in your archives that you can revive into short-form clips like this.

YOUTUBE: 19.8K SUBSCRIBERS

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Everyone has something to lose from flushing the toilet with the lid up, which makes this a relevant topic that appeals to a wide audience. Combining research with culturally relevant topics that a lot of people have a stake in is a winning combination.

YOUTUBE: 248K SUBSCRIBERS

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This video demonstrates how known figures speaking about niche topics can be a recipe for high engagement. If you’re having guest speakers give talks on campus it’s a great opportunity to turn that into long-form content.

YOUTUBE: 59.1K SUBSCRIBERS

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Geoffrey Hinton is a professor at University of Toronto. He is known as “The Godfather of AI.” In this video and the one next to it, he's talking about the effects of AI on our society. Between the two, it’s worth noting that the more highly produced video from University of Toronto did much better when comparing engagement metrics to subscriber count, suggesting that going the extra mile to invest in a more cinematic approach to long-form content like this can amplify results over just simply filming someone talking behind a podium.

See also University of Oxford -->

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This is Harvard Business School’s highest-performing video. It features a multi-camera shoot of an engaging classroom discussion. This is a great example of how causing the viewer to question their own beliefs can encourage comments which in turn will fuel the video’s momentum in the algorithm.

YOUTUBE: 584K SUBSCRIBERS

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This video from Hillsdale College is part of a series of very cinematic trailers for their free online courses they offer to the public. This course in particular got the most attention by far, and like the HBS example, highlights the power of challenging the existing beliefs of the viewer. It also highlights the added impact of a cinematic approach to long-form video content.

Man On The Street (MOS) videos are simple videos to produce. They often involve an on-camera interviewer asking someone a thought-provoking question.

TIKTOK: 1.4K FOLLOWERS

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This video by Felician University has a special level of emotion to it given Christopher’s confidence about his purpose in life as a person living with autism. It’s a great example of how you don’t have to have a massive following to create content that gets massive organic reach and engagement.

INSTAGRAM: 15.4K FOLLOWERS

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COMMENTS: 61
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Simple idea: people predicting the score of a hyped game with a rival team. Schools with a big athletics presence would do well to regularly produce content like this.

YOUTUBE: 254K FOLLOWERS

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This video was not officially sponsored by Harvard, but was produced by an independent influencer with an existing following. Even so, simply asking people “are you happy?” was thought provoking enough to garner millions of views and over 1000 comments.

INSTAGRAM: 111K FOLLOWERS

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This is something that a lot of people are inherently interested in - whether or not people are using the degree they achieved in college. Not an idea that will generate a lot of comments as seen here, but something viewers will likely watch all the way through to push the view count up.

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This is a great way to handle holiday-specific content. The interactions in this video being slightly awkward yet touching proved to be a winning concept. You can take MOS videos to the next level like this by going beyond a simple question and actually creating a whole moment on camera.

People that are actively looking at colleges to attend have a vested interest in what the campus experience is like. This provides so many great opportunities for both long and short-form content.


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INSTAGRAM: 15.8K FOLLOWERS

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As seen in this video by Moody College of Communication, if you can add an emotional layer to what is otherwise a simple video concept, you are more likely to stand apart from just a typical campus-themed video. In this case, some clips of turtles become about romance or friendship that anyone can relate to.

TIKTOK: 27.1k FOLLOWERS

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Linking pop culture with academia, University of Toronto hit a home run by showing scenes from famous movies shot on their campus.

INSTAGRAM: 145K FOLLOWERS

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This video simply shows some cool spots around campus, but the hook sells it by creating a little curiosity.

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This video draws on the strong momentum that athletic content brings to the table, and is a simple showing of school pride executed in a remarkable way.

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The @EmpireStateBldg account on TikTok and Instagram is a great account to follow for what’s trending in short-form video. In this case they created a trend of showing its building lit up at night to the tune of a mashup of Taylor Swift songs, which University of Florida jumped on.

See also University of Florida -->

TIKTOK: 121K FOLLOWERS

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University of Florida didn’t have the advantage of posting this on Taylor Swift’s birthday like the Empire State Building did, but it still held up really well and was a great remix on this concept featuring the famous Century Tower on their campus.

New technology is always attractive. Pairing innovative technology with the potential for use in everyday life is a natural winning combination.


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TIKTOK: 1.4K FOLLOWERS

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Pairing technology with the academic experience, as in this video by Felician University, can be a winning combination. It’s a great opportunity to draw in curious viewers who will come for the technology and stay for the taste of what it’s like to learn at your college of university.

YOUTUBE: 891K SUBSCRIBERS

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Most people are familiar with the process of getting a typical ultrasound - Laying down in a dark room with warm goop and a probe moving around your abdomen. But a stamp-sized ultrasound sticker is a pattern interruption, making this intriguing to watch and noteworthy enough to comment on.

YOUTUBE: 40.8K SUBSCRIBERS

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This video again is a pattern interruption. Most people have never seen silent thoughts turned into verbal language. The technology is one thing, but the potential to give people like Anne a new lease on life takes it to another emotional level.

TIKTOK: 44.4K SUBSCRIBERS

VIEWS: 201k
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Lots of schools have these meal delivery robots on their campuses these days. This is an easy idea for content that is primed to pop off. Especially if you can find fun ways to personify them.

YOUTUBE: 196K SUBSCRIBERS

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This video showcases Caltech’s bipedal robot, Leonardo in various environmental contexts. He can walk, fly, and even skateboard. It’s simply remarkable tech in action.

Trending sounds, and concepts are most often seen in short-form video content. This type of video thrives on iteration after iteration of a common trend, and the algorithms tend to favor videos that include some sort of trend.

A trending sound could be, for example, a clip from a song, or a sound bite from a movie or a show that the creator lip syncs to as if they’re the ones saying it, in order to communicate the woes of parenting, or dating, or corporate office culture to name a few.


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INSTAGRAM: 18.3K FOLLOWERS

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A trending concept is one like we see in this example from Wheaton College. These 'of course' videos have proliferated across social media platforms, showcasing insider perspectives on specific identity groups. They highlight nuanced experiences and traits that resonate strongly with members of the same community, offering a sense of shared understanding and belonging.

INSTAGRAM: 24.9K FOLLOWERS

VIEWS: 133K
COMMENTS: 10
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This video takes a mildly interesting video and adds a layer of emotion through the use of this popular sound, which is likely part of the reason for the boost in views.

INSTAGRAM: 153K FOLLOWERS

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This video amplifies an already novel campus event by adding a popular song.

TIKTOK: 230.7K FOLLOWERS

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Content involving a school’s mascot tends to perform very well across the board. This video takes that a step further by combing the “glow up” trend with the popular song.

INSTAGRAM: 145K FOLLOWERS

VIEWS: 199K
COMMENTS: 77
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“If you know you know” should be a content bucket in every school’s short-form strategy. Playing off of inside identity markers makes for content that resonates with niche audiences. This video is a remix on a trending concept of people pointing out two things that sort of make up their identity in a tongue-in-cheek way.

INSTAGRAM: 257K FOLLOWERS

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COMMENTS: 40
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“Get Ready With Me” (GRWM) is a trend that is popular in both short-form and long-form videos. The creator gets ready for the day and talks about a certain topic while doing so. It likely works to hold viewers’ attention because their short attention span is pacified by watching this person do their hair, or put on makeup, thereby boosting watch times and boosting the videos performance in the algorithms.

TIKTOK: 33.3k FOLLOWERS

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Auburn University did their take on the “If We Were...” trend that is popular with universities. It’s a fast-moving mashup of images that make up the school’s identity and does a great job at resonating with current students and alumni.

Day in the life videos are really great for showcasing what life is really like for students attending your school. There are many examples of these on Youtube and they tend to be quite long videos, often north of 10 minutes. One caveat here is that they seem to perform best when they are made by an influencer with an existing following, and done on behalf of their channel, not the school’s channel.

This highlights an opportunity to partner with influencers on campus with existing followings to create school-sponsored content.


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This video by influencer Caitlin Lam, is a great example of the "Day in the Life" trend. Caitlin talks about a variety of things on her Youtube channel from life in NYC to her creative and entrepreneurial pursuits and international travels. She also does a fair amount of content on her experiences at Harvard.

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