instagram account marketing strategy

Create an Instagram account for your school that actually converts 

by with No Comment Guides For Schools

Instagram is not only a network tool where you share your photos with family and friends, but it can become a powerful means of communication between your School, millennial parents, and Gen Z students. 

To engage with them, you have to share high-quality content that truly depicts the authentic spirit of your School community and what your School has to offer. 

Before you start 

Before diving into planning your strategy on how you can convert your Instagram audience into admissions and enquiries, you should know some key terms. 

Business Account 

By converting a personal account into a business account, you can display your information on your profile. If you don’t know how to convert your account, you can follow the steps by Instagram. 

Explore page 

The explore page is a section where you can find new and interesting content that suits your engagement with content before. 

Stories 

An Instagram Story is a feature that allows you to share photos, videos and other content that disappears after 24 hours. 

Highlights 

Highlights allow you to keep your Stories visible on your profile beyond the standard 24-hour limit. 

Reels 

Reels are an effective way for your School to engage with your audience. These are videos less than 15 minutes long. Reels can be found on the explore page and be discovered by parents and students. 

What makes a good Instagram post 

Before starting creating Instagram posts, you need to think about what you’re trying to achieve with your posts. Is it engaging with current students or is it increasing your admissions? There are some key elements that are essential to each post regardless of your objectives. 

The image 

You need to use vibrant and high-resolution images to grab the attention of your audience. Each image needs to tell a story and showcase your community. One example could be a photograph depicting your students in the science lab in action. This image not only shows your facilities but also your commitment to certain lessons. 

The caption 

Your caption should describe your image. Finish by asking a question or add a call to action. This can be to sign up for your open days, or to follow your account for updates, events, or to click on your bio to read your recent blogs. Lastly, it could be just a simple: ‘Please DM us for more information’. There are lots of free AI tools that can help you with your tone of voice.. One of them is the HubSpot Free Caption Generator.

The hashtags

Do your research first. Start by finding what hashtags your competitors are using. Next, find out which hashtags are trending. RiteTag can help you generate hashtags by typing your social media caption and uploading the photo that will accompany your caption. It gives you an immediate hashtag report. 

Also, start analysing which hashtags were more successful and helped your content to be discovered by your audience. If you notice a certain hashtag does well, make sure you include it in your next post. 

How many hashtags you should use? HubSpot’s recent posts give you the answer. Choose from 3 to 5 hashtags. After deciding which hashtags you’re going to use, consider using spacers (per line) so your posts won’t seem spammy. 

Type of content you can share 

Allow your students to generate content for your Instagram account

User-generated content gives authenticity to your content. Consider asking parents to send you photographs of candid moments with their children in your School community.

Another idea could be to create a challenge for your students and give them a branded hashtag. 

Share testimonials 

People in your community have their own personal stories to tell. These include current students, staff, alumni, and parents. All of those stories will highlight the benefits of being part of your School.

Type of format

Instagram stories

According to HubSpot, you should stick to 1-2 stories per day. After conducting some testing, 1-2 stories/day can give you 2% engagement with an average reach of 93.8. 

Instagram reels 

Reels remain the most engaging content on Instagram with an average engagement of 1.23%. While there’s no magic number of reels you should post, the recommended is 1 reel a day. 

Frequency 

Whether you choose to post a carousel, a static post, or a reel, you should aim to post 3 to 5 times per week. 

Time of posting

If you want to engage with your audience you should start posting midweek – with the best day for posting being Wednesday. As you start growing your following count, you can start looking at what time your audience is active the most. 

In a nutshell, Instagram can become a powerful tool in your marketing toolkit for increasing your School’s admissions and enquiries. Key takeaway: have fun, be authentic and connect with parents and students. 

We offer personalised support to your marketing strategy, ensuring it meets your goals. Contact us here. 

LinkedIn profile examples for schools

6 examples of schools with excellent LinkedIn profiles 

by with No Comment Guides For Schools

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. 

Boost conversions with student wellness

7 examples of how schools can promote student’s wellness online and increase conversions

by with No Comment Guides For Schools

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.