Fortitude Communications’ newest team member, Rhiannon Freeman-Gray, has joined the agency from a background in school marketing.
Below, she shares her top tips for the best ways to make your school stand out to prospective parents in a crowded social media marketplace. This should form part of a wider marketing strategy that pinpoints who you are and want you stand for with an objective of supporting enrolments and retention.
Focus on individual storytelling
By far the most impactful posts and articles are the ones which tell a story. Showcasing interesting or impressive tales from individual pupils appeals to parents more than anything else, especially ones which demonstrate how pupils are living your school’s message. If you talk a lot about how your school teaches pupils to give back, make this meaningful by linking it to a story about a pupil who volunteers in their spare time.
Image quality matters
There is generally a link between the quality of an image and how much engagement it gets. It is worth spending some time capturing the best photos you can. This can sometimes be tough, especially when you’re using images taken by busy staff members out and about on trips, but you can do wonders with editing. Canva is particularly easy to use, and the pre-made filters are handy if you are short of time.
Understand your audience
Invest time in exploring your demographics to understand as best you can where, exactly, prospective parents are looking. Are they visiting your website, scrolling through your Instagram page, or requesting a physical prospectus? Knowing where prospective parents are looking and what they are looking for should shape where you focus your marketing efforts and your calls to action and content on social media.
Variety is the spice of life
It can be tempting to share post after post on, for example, sporting success, but unless you are exclusively trying to attract sports scholars, this is unlikely to be the best approach. Try and share a variety of stories, showcasing the diverse assortment of things which go on at your school. Create a set of content pillars to ensure you cover the core breadth of your school and incorporate them into a monthly content plan. It can be very helpful to track your posts using something simple like a tally chart to make sure you are highlighting everything you want to.
What’s the point?
With every post or article, ask yourself, ‘what’s the point?’ Which of your marketing aims or school values is being targeted here? This will help you ensure each piece of content is strategic and relevant.
Double check
As an educational establishment, it is so important that everything you share online is well written. If you are not sure about something, ask a colleague to check the grammar and content. Your tone on social media can be less formal than elsewhere, but still needs to be in keeping with your brand.
Use your alumni
So many schools forget that one of the most powerful marketing tools at its disposal is its alumni. Prospective parents love to see stories about where pupils have ended up, as it lets them see how the school could set up their own children for future success.
To have a chat about how Fortitude could help you with your school marketing, contact us here.
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