Finding Connection and Growth
When Garret Fettig, an early-career social media professional in higher education, discovered the Digital Community Cohort, he said it felt like a dream come true. “I was eagerly looking for any space for connection with others near my field,” Garret shared. The opportunity to join a program specifically tailored to higher ed social media professionals aligned perfectly with his career goals and industry focus.
Before the cohort, Garret faced a common challenge: shifting the focus of social media from performance metrics to community-building.
He felt that it’s easy for social media to become a conversation about performance and content, rather than community. Joining the cohort allowed Garret to prioritize community as a core element of his strategy, energizing his work and accelerating his professional growth.
“It’s very easy for social media to become a conversation about performance and content, rather than community, despite that focus negating the first word of ‘social’ media. The cohort keeps the community at the forefront of its higher-level strategic conversations, which really energized me and helped me progress further and faster than I had been, as the sole social media professional in my office.”
– Garret Fettig, Social Media Specialist | University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management
Strategic Skills and Immediate Impact
The cohort provided Garret with both the framework and confidence to tackle strategic planning. He emphasized the value of sessions led by experts like Katy Spencer Johnson on goal-setting and Jenny Li Fowler on strategy.
“Even differentiating goals, strategies, and tactics from one another was crucial,” he said, reflecting on how these lessons helped him create his office’s first-ever social media strategy.
By the end of summer, Garret had established three key goals, nine strategies, and 18 actionable tactics for the upcoming fiscal year.
One standout project inspired by the cohort was a summer-long content series leveraging a student-created coloring book. Recognizing the meme-worthy stereotype of business majors coloring in class, Garret transformed this into a dynamic, humorous campaign that aligned with the school’s goals. With over 27 posts across two channels, the series achieved a reach of 63,509, with 3,191 engagements and a 5.02% engagement rate—far exceeding typical performance.
Garret also applied these strategic insights to other campaigns:
- International Women’s Day on LinkedIn: He created a highly strategic post tailored to his audience that resonated deeply while connecting to a broader cause, showcasing the program’s focus on substantive, mission-aligned content.
- Student Achievement Stories on Facebook: By shifting to unique, community-based stories, such as gymnast Mya Hooten (90,000+ views) and muralist Mia Vue Jennings (43,000+ views), Garret tapped into Facebook’s audience of friends and family, achieving remarkable engagement on a platform where posts typically averaged 1,000–2,000 views.
- Carlson Career Week on Instagram: Partnering with the career center, Garret developed a week of posts that highlighted career preparation and connections—key differentiators of the program. The kickoff post featuring “Goldy’s resume” brought visibility to career services while creatively engaging the audience.
A Supportive Community
One of the most impactful aspects of the cohort was the sense of community Garret found. Weekly live discussions allowed him to connect with professionals across diverse institutions, exchanging ideas and insights that enriched his learning.
“Without the interactivity of those real-time learning moments, I don’t think my learning would have been as deep,” he noted. These connections extended beyond the cohort, with ongoing professional relationships and even in-person meetings at industry conferences.
Garret Fettig and Jenny Li Fowler, DigiCohort Faculty Mentor, at a recent conference.
Confidence in Community-Building
Perhaps the most significant takeaway for Garret was the validation that community-building is not only a legitimate approach to social media marketing but also an effective one.
“My confidence has grown into almost a comfortability that I didn’t previously have, thanks to the validation that community-building is not only a legitimate approach to social media marketing, but a preferred and effective option! I had been focusing on high-quality, consistent tactical work already, but now being able to leverage those efforts within a more comprehensive and intentional approach has greatly increased my understanding of social’s scope and influence within our marketing efforts.”
Your Turn to Build
Garret’s story is a testament to the transformative power of the Digital Community Cohort. From strategy creation to community connection, the program equipped him with the skills and confidence to make a lasting impact in his role. His journey underscores the importance of intentionality, creativity, and community in building successful social media strategies in higher education.
Ready to take the next step in your professional growth? Registration is open for the next Digital Community Cohort, which begins in February 2025. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain the skills, strategies, and connections that will transform your approach to social media. Learn more and sign up today!
