Is your boarding school looking to attract international students?
To make this a reality, it’s crucial to implement effective digital marketing strategies.
A few things to think about are, does your strategy create an emotional connection between your school and community with parents and students?
Do parents feel anticipation and excitement for your school to welcome their children? Or are they keeping their options open?
Whether your school is a boarding school or has boarding options, in this article, we’ll explore the top tactics on how your school can attract international students.
It’s all about SEO
Prospective families should be easily able to discover your website.
All the information that you provide on your website needs to be concise, engaging and well-presented.
A good way to attract students is to include a section called ‘Imagine yourself at our school’ which will include information about the main activities at your school, wellness programmes, diversity and community, and what happens on the weekends.
Also, parents care to see who is going to look after their children. Practical ways to show this is to include the titles, background, activities and interests of your personnel. Another way to showcase your community is to create a blog series where you explain different activities created by a specific team member.
Dorm rooms are another piece of the puzzle that parents are looking for. As their children would be away from home, they’ll want to see what the place that will accommodate them will look like. Video storytelling and colourful photographs that show the ambient atmosphere would be a plus to your overall strategy.
Bear in mind that the average time spent on a website is 45 seconds to 54 seconds. So all the information must be provided in a digestible format.
Think beyond those questions. If your website answers their question, parents might like to proceed with either an application or an enquiry.
Your website should feature guidelines on application requirements and deadlines. You can also provide multilingual support allowing prospective parents and students to seek assistance in their native language.
Use Strategic Marketing Emails to Attract International Students
You can maintain a database of prospective students, sending regular updates about school developments, events and application deadlines.
Personalised and engaging content can keep your school top-of-mind during the boarding school selection process, nurturing prospective parents and students effectively.
You can segment your email list to tailor your messages to different groups based on their interests and stage in the enrolment process.
This way you can be region-specific with your information – such as visa application guidance. You can also segment your list, dividing it up to those who are in the initial inquiry stage, applicants, and admitted students.
Social Media for Boarding Schools
Show what your school community is like. Having good visuals across different social media channels can give a glimpse of your nurturing school community to potential students.
Creating clear and engaging CTAs will boost the performance of your posts.
If you have a social media drought and you cannot think of new content ideas, you can take inspiration from these 6 easy content ideas.
Give your prospective parents and students a virtual tour or webinars
These interactive experiences offer a window into your school’s environment. Platforms like Zoom or YouTube can be used to host virtual tours and informative sessions.
Here are a few of the boarding schools that are giving virtual tours:
Boost your admissions with PPC
Your boarding School can create compelling digital ads and set specific criteria to reach your ideal students. By bidding on relevant keywords you ensure that your School will appear at the top of their search results.
These targeted ads direct those students to specific landing pages on your website.
By strategically marketing your School and enhancing its online presence, you’ll be well on your way to creating a diverse and vibrant international student community.
If you’d like to optimise your online presence for your boarding School, let Digithrive For Schools guide you through result-driven and cost-effective school marketing strategies. Book a free consultation call here.