So your school is regularly posting on social media. That’s great. But are you reaching your full potential? Social media is a brilliant tool for not only communicating with current students and followers but attracting new ones and engaging prospects that may not have found you otherwise. Here are three social media tips for schools to attract more students.
How can schools attract more students using social media?
There are 3 simple steps. Find your prospects, repurpose content and track your results.
1. Find your prospects
The first step is to work out which social media platforms your prospects use. You don’t have to be on every single social media platform – carefully select the ones that will be most effective for your school. You can do this using your personas.
For example, if you’re looking to attract students who are under 18, why not create a TikTok account and post fun and informative short form videos about your school, like dorm tours.
Or, you could enlist the help of students to create a viral dance video at school to show off your grounds. Alternatively, if your prospects are parents, you may find that Facebook or Instagram are better options. Why not do an Instagram Live Q&A with your Headteacher, where parents can ask questions about the school? Find out where your prospects are spending time online so you can create the right content to attract them.
2. Repurpose content
It’s smart to use content you already have and rework it for social media. No doubt you’ll have put a lot of time and resources into great photos, curriculum descriptions and faculty bios. Repurpose these. For example, you could turn a school brochure into an informative blog post and then promote it on social media. Or you could have students and teachers read your school newsletter in video format.
Don’t forget to use hashtags, tag relevant people and engage lots with other accounts on social media to maximise your reach.
3. Track your results
It’s important to track your results so you know what’s working well and what’s not. This way, rather than wasting time on ineffective posts, you can focus on creating content that will garner the best results. Record how many likes, comments and views each of your social posts get.
Also, use a tracking link to monitor which social media platforms drive most traffic to your website. This will tell you where to focus your efforts. For example, if your website is getting 50 clicks from Facebook but only 6 from Twitter, this could indicate that more of your audience use Facebook.
A tracking link not only tells you which social platform has brought people to your website, but which exact post people have clicked on. For example, a static image with a link on Facebook may get 20 clicks whereas a video with the same information may get 100. This means that your audience finds videos far more engaging, so you should create more of them.
To summarise, having a clear social media strategy will help you attract more students. Rather than posting blindly, find out which social media platforms your prospects use. Then, repurpose the fantastic content you already have to suit social media. Finally, track the results so you can reflect and improve on your social media strategy.
If you would like more professional tips on marketing your schools do get in touch with the Digithrive For School’s team who are always happy to help. contact us here