For schools hoping to boost their admissions for the new term, social media marketing is a valuable tool. Through social media, you can appeal to prospective pupils and their parents and showcase why your school is the best educational institute in your area. It’s no longer enough for schools to rely on positive word-of-mouth or information packs; parents of the new generation are more connected than ever and may rely on social proof and a positive digital presence to influence decisions regarding their child’s education.
How to Use Social Media to Market Your Business
Learn the fundamentals of social media marketing with our free, comprehensive guide.
The benefits of using social media marketing to promote your school
1, Authenticity
Unlike the previous generations of parents who had to rely on information packs when searching for a school, having a social media presence for your school means that parents can find a wealth of information about your institute online.
You can appeal directly to parents by creating authentic posts that showcase real students and teachers, and what your school has to offer. Using a blend of content types means that you’re covering all bases: use your school blog for parents looking for detailed information, use brand-building posts like testimonials for social proof, and include engaging, rich-media content such as a video tour so that parents can get an immersive experience of how your school functions.
2. Easily accessible information
Social media marketing is direct – you can reach out to parents and respond to those who interact with your content. By opening a channel of communication with prospective families, you can ensure that you’re answering any of their urgent questions and nurturing a positive rapport.
Using content such as FAQs or question-and-answer sessions, you can put the minds of parents considering your school at ease. You can negate any confusion and provide them with information on admissions, entry requirements, and more.
3. ROI
One of the main advantages of using social media for your school’s digital marketing strategy is that it’s more affordable than other marketing channels and can result in a great ROI. Whether you run your social media marketing internally or use an external marketing solution, social media is an affordable way to attract prospective pupils to your school.
4. Real time updates
By being present on social media, your school can keep parents of pupils and prospective pupils up to date with any urgent news. If there is a school closure, event, or other news, by connecting with you on social media, parents can ensure that they never miss out.
5. Bigger reach
Before social media, parents on the search for good schools were limited to schools in their surrounding area or had to depend on positive word of mouth. Now that schools can advertise and generate content about their institutes online, you can appeal to a wider audience of parents who may have not otherwise heard of your school.
Social media post ideas for your school’s social media marketing strategy
5 Informative Post Ideas for Your School
Once you’ve decided to use social media to market to prospective families, you should ensure that your social media acts as a hub for information; parents shouldn’t have to look far for information on admissions, facilities, or course offerings. Here are some examples that you can use to ensure parents can access everything they need to know about your school:
1. Video Tour
Using video for your social media strategy can help you to better connect with your target audience. Video content is engaging and allows your audience to see the real people behind your institution.
Making decisions about their children’s educations is important for parents, so a guided tour video gives parents the opportunity to see first-hand what your school is like and what facilities you have to offer. It may be easier for pupils to integrate and feel less nervous about starting school if they already have an idea of the school’s layout and structure.
2. Teacher interviews
Parents may not be able to meet their children’s teachers before they begin school, so posting a video interview featuring some of your teachers may help parents feel more at ease. Ask your teachers what their favourite thing is about your school, or why they love to teach.
3. Statistics
If your school has excelled in a particular area, or if you have won any awards, social media is the place to show them off. Let your audience know why your school is one of the best educational institutes in your city. You could include GCSE result statistics, parent and pupil satisfaction scores, or your position in nationwide school league tables.
4. FAQs
Hold regular FAQ sessions to make sure that you can connect with prospective pupils and their families and offer them information about your school. You could try hosting a live streamed question and answer session or respond to FAQs on your social media stories on a weekly basis.
5. Class videos
Consider posting a snippet of an in-session class. Show off your teachers’ skills and show parents what their child will be participating in if they attend your school.
5 Brand-Building Social Media Post Ideas for Your School
Ensure that your school stands out among the rest; show parents what makes your school unique, and why it’s the best option for their children. Focus on your branding to keep brand awareness high, so that parents don’t struggle to remember your institute when searching for a school. Here are some examples:
1. Interviews
Interview alumni, teachers, and parents. Testimonials are one of the best ways to generate social proof for your school; whilst your social media marketing can draw in prospective families, they want to hear from real people why sending their children to your school is the right choice.
Ask past pupils how their time at your school prepared them for their transition to college or work. Ask parents about how their child excelled whilst attending your school. Ask teachers about any special memories, or how they have gone the extra mile to provide the best possible education for their pupils.
2. Feature notable alumni
One of your past pupils may have gone on to achieve great accomplishments; reach out to them and ask them if they would like to share their story. Seeing what their children could achieve may make parents more inclined to send them to your school.
3. Share your extracurriculars
If you have a great school choir, a winning football team, or a vibrant arts and crafts club, make sure to post about it. Parents want to know that they’re sending their children to an institute that fosters learning whilst offering lots of fun and creative extracurricular programmes. Your school should be known as more than just a place to learn; getting involved in extracurricular activities is proven to improve a child’s self-esteem and confidence. Show parents that you care about encouraging your pupils in more areas than just their education.
4. Reunions
Consider holding a school reunion. Invite past pupils to a reunion event at your school so that they can reconnect with old classmates. This can be a great way to collect stories about enduring friendships built at your school, or how your pupils have gone on to lead thriving careers. Create social media content surrounding these stories and ask the past pupils in attendance to get involved by posing for a photograph or giving a snippet that you can share online.
5. Events
Use social media marketing to show off the events that your school is hosting. This way you can find new attendees, and highlight that your school has lots of events that pupils can get involved in. Post about your school concerts, plays, and sporting events.
5 User-Generated Content Post Ideas for Your School’s Social Media Pages
User-generated content is a form of social proof. By sharing posts made by students, faculty, and alumni, you can build further trust between your school and prospective families. Here are some examples:
1. Reviews
Encourage parents to leave reviews on your school’s GMB page. Reviews are a great form of social proof, and they will provide valuable insight for other parents who are looking for positive word of mouth.
2. Competitions
Create a competition and set entry rules that encourages social media users to share or create content. For example, you could ask users to share a memory from their school days, a photograph of their time at your school, or simply share your post to their own page to expand your reach.
3. Check your tagged posts
Make sure to frequently browse your tagged images and posts across your school’s social media channels. For example, if an ex-pupil shares a photograph of their time at your school and tags your school’s social media in it, ask them if you may re-share their post to your page.
4. Create a hashtag
Creating a unique, branded hashtag for your school can help you to find all posts involving your school on social media. Using your hashtag in every post can make your content easily identifiable and improve brand awareness. It may also encourage users who share posts regarding your school to get involved and use your hashtag; by social listening, you can ensure that you don’t miss any of these posts.
5. Create a campaign
Try creating a campaign that will encourage users to get involved and create their own content. For example, you could create a campaign where you ask pupils to share something they learned while at your school; create a relevant hashtag and a slogan for your campaign and encourage others to get involved. Share the responses to your own social media.
5 Fun or Entertaining Social Media Post Ideas for Your School
Whilst it’s important that your school’s social media is informative and on-brand, you also need to humanise your school to build a meaningful relationship with prospective parents and pupils. Sharing light-hearted, fun posts about school life should be a key part of your school’s social media strategy. Here are some examples:
1. Try out TikTok
TikTok is the most popular social media app used by high-school students. Whilst your social media marketing campaign may focus on attracting parents to your school, it’s also good practice to make sure that you’re interacting with prospective students too. Make sure that you’re present on the platforms they interact with the most. Jump on the TikTok trend: get your faculty involved and use a trending sound to propel your views. TikTok can help you to get the word out about your school.
2. Hold a virtual event
Hold an event online that parents and pupils can get involved with. You could hold an informative webinar hosted by your teachers, or have a special speaker come to your school and give a speech that you could stream to your social media. You could create sample classes for pupils so they can find out more about life as a student in your school, or even have one of your after-school clubs host an online taster session.
3. Rich media content
Make sure that you’re varying the types of content that you’re sharing on your social media. Break up blocks of informative posts by sharing a funny education-related meme, an interesting learning video, or a song to help your pupils remember a difficult topic.
4. A day in the life
Take prospective families behind the scenes and give them an insight into a typical day at your school. Show them what pupils get up to by showing snippets of lessons and afterschool clubs. Highlight the best services and facilities that your school has to offer. You could even host a takeover, and have your teachers take control of your stories so that they can act as spokespersons for your school.
5. Share memories
Choosing the right school is a huge decision. School will shape the rest of a pupil’s life; it’s where most of us discover our passions, hobbies, and talents, where we meet life-long friends, and where we begin to develop and grow. Harness the power of emotional marketing by showing parents and prospective pupils how your school helped to guide previous pupils as they grew up. You can share these memories through blogposts, videos, and pictures across your social media. Prove to parents why the excellent student life, culture, and satisfaction at your school makes it the best choice for their children.
Once you have begun using social media to market your school, make sure to follow the basics of social media marketing:
- Keep your posts varied to avoid any repetition and keep engagement high by responding to any interactions
- Create a content calendar so your posting schedule is consistent
- Follow other schools in your area and observe how and what they are posting and see if you can take any inspiration from this
- Make sure to perform regular social media audits to ensure that all your content is up-to-date, accurate, and on-brand
Most importantly, your school’s social media presence should prove your dedication to proving a fantastic education and experience to attending pupils.
How to Use Social Media to Market Your Business
Learn the fundamentals of social media marketing with our free, comprehensive guide.
