Publicity and Marketing

Our York SU Communications team will promote events only through our landscape and Redbus screens. 

The following rules apply:

• Promotions must be for specific events, not events limited only to your college members.

• The event must already be listed on the York SU website before you get in touch for help promoting.

• The event must take place on campus.

• All graphics must follow our screen design guidelines (see below).

• Graphics must be clear, accessible, and informative, including key details such as date, time, cost, and a QR code linking to tickets.

• We do not offer promotion on the York SU Instagram, including story reshares.

Committees are welcome to contact the Comms Team for support or advice (e.g. on best practice, design tools, etc.), but requests for additional promotional channels will not be accepted.

Please note that there is no guarantee that we will be able to upload your image to the plasma screens. External companies pay to advertise through these screens, so it depends on how busy the slideshow is at the time, as we can’t have too many on simultaneously, as it can undermine a company’s investments. We will do our best to upload your images whenever possible.

The above rules do not apply to events that are run in collaboration with York SU: these will be treated as York SU events, and will receive full communications support and promotion.

Ideally, all promotional materials will be created by the York SU Comms Team - if materials are produced by the collaborating group (with prior agreement), they must:

• Include the York SU logo in line with our branding guidelines, and

• Be co-approved by the Design Team before publication.

Our Communications team will liaise directly with our Design Team, so please contact communications@yorksu.org about your graphics in the first instance! 

You can design an advert to feature on the slideshow of images on the York SU Redbus screens, which are located in areas of high footfall all across West Campus (generally in our venues and reception areas). Simply e-mail communications@yorksu.org an image or video in the following preferred file formats:

Images:

• File Type: JPEG

• Image Size: 1080 x 1920

• Colour Mode: RGB

• Rotation: Files should be delivered in landscape with content rotated 90 degrees clockwise.

Video:

• Codec/Container: H.264, QuickTime (MOV)

• Audio Stream: Encode without audio stream (empty audio streams are not supported)

• Frame Rate: 25fps

• Bitrate: 6,000 - 8,000 Kbps

• File Size: <40MB

• Resolution: 1080 x 1920, or if at a lower resolution, at the same aspect ratio (9:16)

• Duration: 10 seconds (250 frames) - please ensure no additional frames at all over 10 seconds

Content on your screen adverts should:

• Be accessible. You can check colour contrasts through a website called WebAim.

• Clearly include the date, time, and location of your event.

• Include a QR code for ticket sales. You can create these for free from Adobe's QR Code Generator tool. 

PLEASE NOTE: white colours can display extremely brightly on our screens, and therefore adverts with large amounts of white space can appear overly bright for the environment many of our panels are in. We recommend that you avoid having large amounts of white space in your content. 

Flyers and posters:

• Don’t forget the old techniques like flyers and posters! We’d just ask you to try and be as environmentally friendly as possible and only order the number of flyers you can be sure to distribute. If you’re advertising an event this way, be sure to put it on your EMF. If you want to guarantee your posters won’t be taken down, use one of the three concrete circular billboards we’ve got around campus - there’s one outside James College, one in Market Square, and one outside the Glasshouse.

Banners:

• You could consider creating a cheap banner using bedsheets and paint, but note that this will need to be fire-guarded by our Health and Safety Coordinator before you can put it up. Alternatively you could purchase long-term printed banners to roll out at all your events and sign-up opportunities. You can pick these up relatively cheaply, but just remember not to put any dates on them!

Important to remember:

• Any printing you do can be reimbursed via Payment Request - just take a screenshot of the print job page on PrintCloud

• Make sure your designs are memorable, with the correct details on them! 

• Include calls to action (buy a ticket, follow our Instagram) and only the necessary information - don’t crowd the space with lots of additional stuff, and consider whether you’re using the most effective marketing technique for your purpose.  

• If you are advertising a ticketed event, you should include a link and a QR code to the product page so people can easily navigate to the site.

• Ensure that your poster does not cover the white accessibility strips on the black poles across campus.

  • These help students with visual impairments to navigate around campus and must not be covered. Your poster will be removed and you will receive an email reminder.

• It is illegal to put posters on council property.

  • This includes lampposts, bus signs, and bus stops. The council has the legal power to seek recompense for the removal of these items, which means your College Committee could be charged.

College Merchandise (e.g. hoodies, t-shirts) not only makes your committee and members feel part of something but it spreads the name of your group and raises awareness on campus. But merch doesn’t have to stop there - consider badges, mugs, pencils, water bottles, keyrings, and think about whether there’s an item directly relevant to your College Committee that you could use.

Make use of Student Media Groups! They could give your event a shoutout, run a feature on your successes, or provide you with more substantial advertising services. Get in touch with Nouse, Vision, URY, and/or YSTV to see what you can come up with together.

The University’s Office of Philanthropic Partnerships and Alumni (OPPA) have a programme called York for Life, which is aimed at helping you stay in touch with your alumni. If you use them well, you could make massive gains; they might be able to mentor you or your members, and even provide work experience, internships, or graduate opportunities. They might also support you in any projects you decide to run through their knowledge or even a financial donation. 

Here’s our step-by-step guide to connecting with your alumni, if your College hasn’t already:

• Set up a Facebook or LinkedIn group
  Promote it to recent graduates and your final year members, and ask them to spread the word to people they know who used to be part of the College. If people pass the message on, you’ll garner a pretty big network pretty fast. Please share the link with alumni@york.ac.uk, too - the Alumni Association will promote it.

• Appoint an Alumni Officer
  This person could be in charge of maintaining and growing your alumni Facebook group; putting on and promoting events to and for alumni; and be the first point of contact for alumni about goings-on in your College.