How Public Relations Tactics Grew an On-campus Business Fraternity
Public relations graduate, Zoe Mason, shares what PR tactics she incorporated to grow her business fraternity, Pi Sigma Epsilon
By: Hanna Drag
Have you ever wondered how public relations plays a role in an organization? Zoe Mason, a 2024 public relations graduate helped increase community engagement and awareness of her professional business fraternity, Pi Sigma Epsilon, by combining public relations with her Greek experience.
Pi Sigma Epsilon, Eta Beta Chapter, was founded at Michigan State University in 2014. The business fraternity was not the biggest on campus, but it has gained strong devoted members over the past few years by incorporating new PR strategies on Instagram.
“I’ve seen the most growth in terms of engagement. When I first joined the fraternity, each post would get only a few likes, but it’s increased since then. I’ve found that posting pictures of members or well-done flyers those posts get more likes,” said Mason.
Mason had the opportunity to take over the director of public relations role for the fall 2023 semester. Mason says she learned what types of posts and how often to post to pique the interest of gaining new members.
Over time, Pi Sigma Epsilon members changed what they were posting and discovered what content gets the most engagement. The fraternity members also found reaching out to potential members encourages them to join. By incorporating these new tactics under Mason’s tenure, Pi Sigma Epsilon was able to gain 19 new members, and 75% of those learned about Pi Sigma Epsilon from Instagram.
“Posting fun events and important things like resume-building, or business mixers is a great way to get people to join. Senior spotlight or posts about new members are a great way to create a sense of community on social media,” said Mason.
Mason says she was able to apply what she learned in her PR classes to her in the fraternity. In PR 330, the class highlights what social media tactics to use when managing an organization’s social media. Mason was able to take the key tactics like, how to plan and create specific posts to desired target audience.
Looking into an on-campus organization shows just how important it is to utilize these tactics taught to PR professionals. Public relations is a constantly growing field, especially with social media, so incorporating these tactics is extremely beneficial.
Learn more by checking out the growth of Pi Sigma Epsilon on Instagram @pse_msu.