You can do more than post memes and kitten videos on social media. Every school has the opportunity to use social media to connect with current students, their families, and their alumni.
All of our enrollment marketing initiatives revolve around the use of social media methods. Recruiting new kids and parents has been a primary focus at my company, Kreative Webworks, which specialises in school marketing. As far as I am aware, the success of enrollment marketing is proportionate to the effort put in in the outset. Putting up content at random is not a method.
Use your school’s social media accounts as an extensions of the website to create a more thorough and compelling story. Today’s students and their parents have a lot of options to choose from when it comes to deciding on a school, and the competition is tough.
The time has come to acknowledge the social media’s potential and its positive effects on your institution. Let’s talk more about how to use social media to communicate your message and connect with kids.
To what end would utilising social media for a school be beneficial?
To kick things off, we may estimate that there are 2.62 billion people using social media nowadays. That’s a vast audience you could reach to promote your school at no cost or for very little.
Even though your school probably won’t be able to reach billion of people through social media, that number is still too large to ignore, especially as school budgets get less and faculty and staff have less time on their hands.
Given that your target audience is probably already using social media sites like Facebook and Instagram on a regular basis, these channels present a fantastic opportunity for advertising. Parents and prospective students seek independent verification of what life is truly like at your institution. They’re looking for genuine posts from real people with genuine interests.
Let’s pretend you’re going to make a purchase from a brand-new company. I mean, what do you do before you hand over your cash? Surely you have checked out their website, read their return policy, and noticed how polished everything seems.
But if a company doesn’t have a social media presence, what happens then? The lack of even a single social media presence could be a warning sign, since consumers have come to expect this level of engagement from any company worth doing business with. Remember that your institution is a business as well.
Being present on social media can help you develop genuine connections with people in your area, as well as foster positive interactions with parents and students, demonstrating that you are a respectable institution worth considering.
Help! I need to get the word out about my school on social media!
Choosing your messaging is the most crucial step before launching your school’s social media marketing campaign, as no single approach will work for every institution.
Simply put, this entails explaining to outsiders the distinctive qualities of your institution and the guiding principles that give your school’s culture its distinctive character.
Do you have programmes for very bright students? Does your institution encourage creative expression and the arts in its students? Do you provide extracurricular activities that bring people together beyond the classroom?
Everything from the copy on your website and social media profiles to the type of material you share will be influenced by your messaging.
If you want to know what your kids, parents, and even employees think about your school, you shouldn’t be scared to ask them.
Once you have your messaging down pat and content uploaded to your channel(s), you should make the most of every opportunity to advertise your social media accounts; for example, you should include your links and handles in printed materials and prominently display “follow” buttons on your school’s website and in marketing emails.
Boost your online profile’s exposure by promoting it across multiple social media platforms. Tweet about your school’s Facebook page, or share your best Instagram photographs on your school’s Facebook page. The aim is to increase traffic to your site.
Greater exposure increases the likelihood of successful enrolment.
You should also ask parents to share your school’s social media pages with their own networks of friends and family who might be curious about their child’s school. Parents should be encouraged to share their student’s channels with other significant adults in their lives, as their children’s interests may not be the only ones that would benefit from reading the student’s messages.
How do I know what to share on the school’s social media accounts?
Make sure you have such a strategy before you begin sharing your relevant material on social media. You should begin by deciding which social media platforms you want associated with your brand and developing objectives for your major channel.
You shouldn’t feel pressured to participate in every network. In order to maximise your marketing return on investment (ROI), it’s best to focus on a small number of channels rather than spreading yourself too thin across many.
Facebook and Instagram are where schools should be right now, but if you know your audience is on YouTube or Pinterest and have the means to implement it into your marketing strategy, you may also want to examine those platforms.
If this is your first awareness drive, consider interviewing students and teachers about their experiences. You may provide a backlink to your institution’s main page or another designated page.
Finally, some thoughts
No one needs to tell you that social media is being used by students and parents to learn more about schools before making a final decision. You will be left in the dust if you don’t immediately begin to enhance your campaigns on social media.
It’s not necessary to be afraid of social media to use it for marketing. Strategic planning, familiarity with the brand, and consideration of the most suitable audience will set you well on your way to achieving your enrollment goals in no time.