Social media plays a huge role in your marketing strategy as it has the potential to improve your followers’ engagement with your website.
HubSpot data suggests that 16% of referral traffic comes from your social media activity. So, your main focus shouldn’t be only to gain likes and comments.
There is so much more you can do using social media, whether it’s getting more open day sign-ups or directing your audience to read more content on your website.
Saying that, that doesn’t mean bombarding your audience aimlessly with posts. We suggest having a clear strategic plan on how you can draw your audience back to your website.
In our blog, we’ve put together a list of ways you can use social media to increase your website traffic:
Track traffic from your social media activity to your website
It’s important to find out which content entices your audience to visit your website. A good indicator of that would be to track your traffic using Google Analytics. Its user acquisition report can give you insights on how new users found your website. When someone clicks a link to your site on a social media platform, Google Analytics tracks it as a referral. In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you can find this data under Reports > Acquisition > User Acquisition.
Social media traffic is part of referral traffic and in GA4 you’ll see Organic Social for unpaid links from social media platforms.
There are also some other tools that you can use to track your social media traffic to your site. One of them is HubSpot, which generates reports using the same indicators as GA4 to track your content that drives your audience to your website.
The only difference is that as it offers CRM integration, you can have more visibility of the prospects who visit your website through social media accounts. This helps you to connect these leads with your sales funnel.
Create compelling content
This might sound straightforward but setting goals and creating a social media calendar is crucial to inspire prospective families to take the next step and visit your website.
Use Instagram Stories to promote your open day events and add links to the forms that need to be filled by prospective parents and students.
On Instagram, use CTAs at the end of your captions, directing your audience to the actions they need to take next. Some examples include: ‘Register via our website’ – adding a shortened URL leading to your open day registration forms.
Some of the URL shortening tools available are: Free URL Shortener and Bitly.
Another CTA you can use is ‘Click the link in our bio to find out more’ or ‘Click the link in our bio to register’ if you’re promoting your open day.
On Facebook, you can add short links to your post that can be easily clicked by mobile users, making your user experience easier.
Use links in your bio
Having a great overview of your school and adding links in your bio can encourage your audience to visit pages on your website.
You can include up to 5 links in your Instagram bio. These can be a link to your newsletter sign-up form, a link to your homepage, a link to your open days registration page, etc.
You can use Linktree if you want to include more links than 5.
What’s interesting about using Linktree is that it provides Analytics capabilities. You can have an overview of your lifetime performance of Views, Clicks, Click rate and subscribers.
Engage with your audience
Add links when responding back to your comments. For example, you can say: ‘thanks for your comment, you can find out more about this by clicking here’.
This makes it easier for your audience to visit a page on your website.
Invest in social media ads
Using ads can significantly help to expand your reach. What’s more, you can target specific demographics you intend to reach. Having ads in place can increase your website traffic and open day sign ups – you shouldn’t rely only on your organic content to drive traffic.
However, having support for your ad campaigns is crucial because you can leverage expertise, resources and analytics to enhance your campaign’s performance and ultimately drive more conversions.
Use sponsored articles
Using sponsored articles is an effective way to drive traffic to your website by increasing visibility on high-traffic platforms and reaching a targeted audience who are looking for a school to accommodate their children and are interested in your niche. By partnering with our Absolutely Education and Absolutely Magazines team, you enhance your school’s credibility, making prospective parents more likely to click through to your site.
Using sponsored articles is a great way to promote your new headteacher, the vision of your school and what makes your school community distinct from your competitors. You can also advertise your open days and inform prospective parents about your next open morning.
Ensure you have a well-designed website
After putting so much effort into driving your audience to your website, you don’t want to turn them away. Having a well-designed website can enhance your visitors’ experience and make them want to learn more about your school. Being well-informed of what your values are and what your school represents will make parents want to find out more.
Having a clear strategic plan and creative execution can inspire your audience to stop scrolling and head over your website, where the real action happens. Engaging posts, optimised profiles, compelling CTAs, and adding links can all encourage them to visit your website. So, let’s turn those followers into website explorers!
If you want to increase your school’s website traffic, speak with a member of our team to help achieve your goals. Contact us now.