The Christmas period can provide your school with the perfect opportunity to get creative with your social media channels.
6 examples of schools with excellent LinkedIn profiles
Having exposure on LinkedIn will help your School increase its visibility online to prospective families.
This platform has over 930 million members worldwide and you wouldn’t want to miss the opportunity of being part of it.
While LinkedIn is being branded as ‘the professional platform‘ that helps professionals network with each other, it can also provide a great opportunity for your School to become discovered by parents who are active users on the platform.
Plus, your School will appear on top of web searches if you have a LinkedIn company page. So, you increase your chances of getting discovered not only by LinkedIn users but also by parents who are looking for schools for their children.
In this article, we share our top tips on making the most of it and give you six examples of optimised school LinkedIn pages.
How to create a LinkedIn profile for schools
Your LinkedIn company profile should have:
A compelling company description: Your LinkedIn Company Page should have a concise description that highlights your School’s history, values, number of teaching staff, and other unique selling points. This includes any financial aid that your School offers. A good starting point is to direct the user to your website by adding sentences like ‘See our website for further details’. Simple phrases like this encourage them to click on your website and learn more about your School.
A visually appealing banner and logo: Use a high-quality logo image as a profile photo and a good image that shows your School grounds as a LinkedIn banner.
Post regularly: Highlight the main events that are happening at your School. This could be a conference that your teaching staff attended when your applications are open, or any awards that your School has gained. You can also pin the posts that performed the best so that they appear when someone visits your School’s LinkedIn profile.
Community Engagement: Engage with your community by responding to comments or reposting posts from your staff that your audience might be interested in.
Encourage your staff to support your online presence on LinkedIn: LinkedIn has the option whenever you post something new to click on the ‘Notify your employees’ button and make them aware of your new post. Your staff can comment, like, or repost your posts to help your posts generate more impressions. But to make this LinkedIn option work, you need to ask all your staff to add their positions and their workplace on their personal LinkedIn profile.
Here are a few examples of optimised school LinkedIn profiles to dive into:
Harrow School
Harrow School is a full-boarding school based in London. https://www.harrowschool.org.uk/
Mayfield School
Mayfield School is an independent boarding school in East Sussex. https://www.mayfieldgirls.org/
Sevenoaks School
Sevenoaks is a coeducational and boarding school in Kent. https://www.sevenoaksschool.org/
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent boarding school in Hampshire. https://www.winchestercollege.org/
City of London School
City of London School is a private day school for boys in London. https://www.cityoflondonschool.org.uk/
Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School
Haberdashers’ is an independent day school for boys in Hertfordshire. https://www.habsboys.org.uk/
By sharing your achievements on LinkedIn it helps your School attract new students. A well-maintained LinkedIn presence isn’t just a plus, it’s a powerful tool that can make a school stand out and thrive in the competitive landscape of independent schools. If you don’t know where to start, have a look at these LinkedIn profiles for some inspiration.
If you would like more professional tips on marketing your School do get in touch with the Digithrive For School’s team who are always happy to help. Contact us here.
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7 examples of how schools can promote student’s wellness online and increase conversions
As we’re celebrating World Mental Health Day this week, we’re seeing a change in the education sector market.
Parents have shifted their attention to care not only about pure academic success, but they also want to see what your school does to foster a caring environment for their child.
Promoting student wellbeing isn’t just about ensuring the health and wellbeing of your students; it’s also a powerful tool for attracting and converting prospective students and their families.
By having mental health promotion as one of your key priorities, it enhances your appeal.
In this article, we’ll share 7 examples to effectively promote student wellness online and, in turn, boost your school’s conversions.
Create a comprehensive student wellbeing website section:
Start by establishing a dedicated wellness section on your School’s website.
This section should serve as a hub for all things related to wellness within your School. Include detailed information about your wellness programs, counselling services, fitness activities, and mental health resources.
Make sure the section is user-friendly and visually appealing, with clear calls to action (CTAs) for prospective students and their families to explore further.
St. Paul’s School for example in London has a dedicated wellness section on their website, offering insights into their holistic approach to student wellbeing, including physical fitness, mental health support, and nutrition guidance.
Showcase success stories and testimonials:
Highlight success stories of students who have benefitted from your School’s mental health promotion initiatives. These narratives provide real-life examples of the positive impact of your commitment to student well-being, helping prospective families envision the benefits.
Wellington College in Berkshire featured success stories when it became the first school in the UK to introduce happiness and wellbeing to the curriculum.
Maintain a dynamic wellness blog:
Keep a wellness-focused blog on your website, regularly updated with informative and relevant content.
Cover topics such as healthy living, stress management, and advice for parents on supporting their child’s wellbeing.
Consistent updates can attract organic traffic and establish your school as an authority on wellness.
Eton College maintains a wellness blog that offers articles on various wellness topics, showcasing their commitment to student wellbeing through valuable content.
Engage on social media platforms
Actively use social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, to share wellness-related content, tips, and updates. Encourage current students to share their wellness experiences on these platforms, creating an authentic and relatable online presence.
Radley College engages with its audience on Instagram by sharing posts about wellness activities, mental health awareness, and student wellbeing achievements.
Host wellness workshops and webinars:
Organise wellness workshops and webinars open to prospective students and their families. These events can cover topics like stress management, nutrition, or mental health, showcasing your School’s expertise in wellness and fostering a sense of community.
Brighton College in East Sussex hosted webinars during the COVID-19 pandemic focused on wellbeing, attracting both current and prospective students and parents.
Share data on wellness impact:
Collect data on the positive impact of your wellness programs, such as improved student mental health, reduced stress levels, or enhanced academic performance.
Share this data through reports and infographics on your website, offering concrete evidence of the benefits of attending your School.
Charterhouse School publishes annual wellness reports with statistics and success stories, emphasising the tangible advantages of their wellness initiatives.
By implementing these seven practical steps to promote your School’s l wellness programme online, you can not only enhance the wellbeing of your current students but also attract and convert prospective students and their families who value a holistic and wellness-oriented educational experience.
If you want to explore how your School can promote its wellbeing initiatives online or you’d like to learn more about what we have done for our school partners, we would be happy to help advise you. Book a free consultation here.
Why should my School add a Threads account to our Instagram profile?
Introduced in July 2023 by Meta, Threads has created a buzz – leaving people questioning whether this is the end for Twitter.
But what is all this buzz about?
As a school marketeer, you might be wondering how your School will benefit from a Threads account.
In this article, we will explore what Threads is, why it’s popular and why your School should consider joining the platform.
What is Threads and what does having a Threads Account mean for my School?
Threads is a new platform for enabling public discussion with your audience. What Threads offers that Twitter doesn’t, is that it can be connected with your Instagram account. This means that you can add your existing Instagram and Facebook followers to Threads after joining the app and linking your account. You don’t have to start from scratch to build a social media presence for your School on Threads.
You can also reply and repost as you do on Twitter. Threads posts can be up to 500 characters long and you can include photos and videos that last no longer than 5 minutes. You can also share your Threads posts in your Instagram stories, or share the link of your Threads on other platforms.
How can my School use Threads to attract new students?
Make use of the 80/20 Rule
Spend 80% of your time educating and engaging with parents and students and 20% of your time promoting your School. The high character limit allows you to copy and paste previous content. Plus, you can get creative and post new content without restricting yourself to short-form content formats.
Build a Two-Way Communication with Parents and Students
How many times did you post on your School’s Instagram account and leave comments with no response?
This can damage your reputation and it doesn’t reflect the caring environment that your School has nurtured for its students.
This will cost you the time spent on creating a great piece of content while ignoring all the small details that make a difference.
This is why your School needs to be on Threads. There’s no DM feature. Nothing remains secret. Your audience having joined threads is open to starting conversations with your School. All you have to do is to create engaging content that will spark the interest of parents and students to start conversation with your School. In the long term this will increase your enquiries.
Repurpose your IG content
If you’ve posted a carousel on Instagram, you can turn each slide into a series of Threads posts. Let’s say that you posted on Instagram about initiatives that empower your students to develop different skills.
Start explaining the different photos of the carousel on Threads and provide more details on the initiative and the positive results it had on your students.
As your Threads account is connected to your Instagram account, parents and students can always get back to your Instagram post.
Follow the algorithm and see how it works
Threads posts don’t appear in chronological order – where the most recent post appears first. Your content won’t be displayed to all of your followers. It goes to the algorithm inventory, which means that your post will appear to the accounts that will most likely engage with your content.
With Elon Musk suggesting that all the users of X, formerly known as Twitter, need to pay to have access to the platform, joining Threads presents a good alternative.
It offers lots of opportunities for your School to build a more interactive community with prospective students and parents.
As Threads is in its early days, it’s always good for you and your school marketing team to stay alert to any new developments and experiment on the platform.
Just remember that the goal of building a social media presence on any platform is lead nurturing with interactive engagement that will increase your admissions.
If it seems that you get a lot of interactions with prospective families on Threads, then keep adding value for them and attract them to your School!
Want to learn how you can make the best use of Threads? Let Digithrive For Schools teach you the best practices of social media for Schools. Book a free consultation here
5 Benefits of School Marketing Automation with Latest Tools
From how your School can be successful in an increasingly competitive market, to how you can get smarter with posting on social media, there are dozens of things that a school marketeer must handle. Marketing a school can become undoubtedly overwhelming!
Using school marketing automation tools can help you overcome this struggle and get back to work.
Automation isn’t just about staying on track, it’s a useful tool that will help you improve your communication with your team, increase your engagement with prospective parents and students, and enhance the efficiency of your school marketing campaigns.
In this article, we will explore some of the benefits of using automation in school marketing.
Enhanced personalisation with school marketing automation
Effective school marketing is all about sending the right message to the right families at the right time. By sending general messages you’re risking your school marketing campaigns going unnoticed by prospective parents and students. Personal touches are always appreciated. Small details such as the first name of your recipient can work in your favour. By adding an extra layer of care you’re making a long-lasting impression.
According to Snov.io by personalising emails, marketers have seen an 82% increase in open rates of their email marketing campaigns. HubSpot is one of the tools where you can start building a personalised communication channel between your School, and not only existing parents and students but also prospective parents and students.
Enhanced time efficiency whilst the clock is ticking
It can seem like you’re pushing your limits when you undertake repetitive tasks. Sending follow-up messages to interested students and parents can be time-consuming. Automation can free up your time to focus on more strategic planning. Automating email sequences when a student or a parent visits your website can help you nurture your leads and increase your enrollments.
All marketing materials in one place
By using software like HubSpot and having all marketing materials in one place, you can maintain a consistent brand image. From email campaigns to social media posts across LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter you can build a consistent voice and define your School’s vision and goals, leaving no room for speculation by prospective parents and students. What’s more, you can track your performance at the same time!
Improved engagement and communication
How can marketing automation enhance your communication with prospective students and their families? In actual fact, much of your communication with them can be automated. This will help you increase the frequency of your communication – as it can save you hours of manually sending messages through multiple channels.
For instance, you can implement automated email nurturing campaigns that engage parents and students at various stages of the admissions journey. When a family initially expresses interest in your School by downloading a brochure or attending an open day event, the automation system can send a series of personalised emails.
These emails may include information on your School’s unique curriculum, success stories from current students, and invitations to virtual campus tours or Q&A sessions. The automation system can adjust the content and timing of subsequent messages, ensuring that each family receives the most relevant information and feels genuinely supported throughout their decision-making process, ultimately increasing the likelihood of admission.
Data-driven decision making
You can track real-time data, which gives you the ability to understand what works the best and what needs to be optimised. By having detailed information about the performance of your campaigns, you can use the data to your advantage.
If you run an email campaign, you can observe the open rates, and the unique clicks on your content. That gives you an enhanced understanding who has connected with your content. On the other hand, if your numbers are not satisfying, you can do an A/B test by changing the subject lines, CTAs or visuals, segment your target audience, and understand which improvements you need to make.
Where to start with school automation marketing?
ParentMail: It allows schools to send messages, notifications, newsletters, and updates to parents and guardians through various channels, including email, SMS, and a dedicated app.
EdSurge Product Index: This is a platform that helps schools discover and evaluate education technology solutions. It can automate the process of researching and identifying tools that can enhance your admissions process or student engagement.
SchoolCloud: It streamlines the admissions process by allowing schools to create online application forms, manage admissions documents, and communicate with prospective families. It also offers features for virtual parent-teacher meetings.
Hootsuite: Provides schools with a platform to schedule social media posts, monitor engagement, and analyse the performance of their social media content.
Want to learn how you can make the best use of school marketing automation? Let Digithrive For Schools teach you the best practices of school marketing automation. Book a free consultation here