Sorority recruitment has remodeled from a secretive course of to massive social media enterprise.
Within the fall of 2021, sorority rush on the College of Alabama took TikTok by storm, successfully changing into RushTok. Throughout that recruitment season, sorority hopefuls posted each day TikTok vlogs sharing every little thing from their outfits of the day, to what they’re carrying of their luggage, documenting your complete course of till the sororities made their ultimate alternatives.
Audiences worldwide rapidly grew to become captivated by the method, selecting their favourite recruits to comply with and root for. So far, the hashtags #BamaRush and #RushTok have 4B and 2B views, respectively.
Potential new members (PNMs) curated their social media feeds months upfront, hoping to make an excellent impression. Some PNMs who documented the method by way of TikTok used the week of occasions to jumpstart careers as influencers, persevering with to ship (typically branded) content material to the audiences amassed throughout recruitment.
It’s not simply the potential recruits utilizing social media to make an impression — the chapters additionally use social media as a recruitment software. Loads of RushTok movies additionally showcase extremely choreographed dance routines and friendship-based content material to woo potential new members.
How RushTok Turned A Advertising and marketing Engine
What began as participating content material in 2021 has developed into a robust advertising and marketing engine that manufacturers need in on. As potential new members shared their experiences and gained reputation, additionally they caught the eye of manufacturers.
Scrolling by way of the feedback of RushTok movies, the accounts of main manufacturers are amongst these rooting for sure contributors. It’s a easy social listening play to garner visibility within the remark part of well-liked posts throughout a key social media occasion.
Past social listening, main manufacturers reminiscent of Lease the Runway and Amazon, together with native Alabama manufacturers just like the Pants Retailer took issues a step additional by working with RushTok creators on sponsored content material offers.
Final yr, cosmetics model Tarte despatched free merchandise to 90 sororities and 100 sorority hopefuls who obtained excessive engagement whereas utilizing the hashtag #RushTok. The transfer generated priceless social impressions for Tarte.
Although school college students is probably not each firm’s goal demographic, the RushTok viewers spans wider. Customers of varied age teams and backgrounds have been locked into recruitment content material for the previous three years and are actively collaborating within the feedback part of RushTok posts alongside numerous manufacturers.
As RushTok continues to develop, entrepreneurs will discover extra inventive methods to get in on the motion, and the method will doubtless proceed to introduce audiences to the subsequent technology of creators.
