Social Media is a great way for education-sector businesses to reach potential and current customers. Social media platforms can help you showcase your school’s strengths, by offering an honest look into the day-to-day life of the school, highlighting achievements in the student body and promoting school events. By tailoring your content to each social media platform, and the types of people who use them, your content will feel more relevant, applicable and valuable, boosting your engagement and visibility. After covering the basics, we’ll explore some of the most popular platforms, and what to post on them, before discussing the tools we use to reposition a campaign that isn’t working as well as expected. 

Why social media?

Because of its widespread use around the world, social media should form a crucial part of any marketing campaign. Furthermore, because of its around-the-clock use, on some platforms, you have the chance to connect with parents and students using more casual and approachable copy. This could help you to associate a sense of community and transparency with your school brand. 

Furthermore, Social Media enables quick communication and real-time updates to whoever needs them. If students are enjoying a multi-day school trip, updating parents on the activities and experiences their children are participating in is a great way to connect with parents. This could lead to increased involvement from the student body and their parents, offering early or easy access to vital information through social media as well as traditional channels suggests that as an institution, you consider the needs and concerns of parents. 

Choosing the right platform and strategy

Each social media user base is a little bit different, and the content expected on each platform varies according to this. We’ve explored the most popular platforms for marketing campaigns, and what you might post on them:

Facebook: Focus on parents and older members of the school community. Feature detailed posts such as event spotlights, and host parent community groups where information and questions throughout the school year can be discussed. 

Twitter: For the whole school community. Post quick updates and announcements about events, school closures, and promote other media. 

Instagram: For current and prospective parents and students. Use high-quality images, reels and story posts for visual storytelling. Feature event showcases, important days in the school calendar and more casual content on sunny days! 

YouTube: For the whole school community. You can host tutorials, longer informational videos, student and parent interviews, virtual tours and more here. Making sure that you use a professional-looking thumbnail, and that your videos feel polished and official, is the best way to ensure successful content. 

TikTok: For engaging with the student community. Create entertaining and engaging short-form videos which show that you listen and adapt to their needs, or post announcements, updates and event notifications in an amusing way. 

LinkedIn: For recruitment, parent outreach and business-to-business partners. Post calls for applications, the most essential announcements and school success stories with a more informative and formal tone. 

If you intend on posting on all of these platforms, it may seem like you will have to invest a significant amount of time in content creation. Marketing strategy is essential in reducing this workload, and at Capsule we prioritise content planning to get the most out of each messaging theme. This way, you might be able to recycle YouTube content for Instagram reels or TikToks. Investing in good photography means that an Instagram post could later become a LinkedIn or Facebook image-led advert, accompanied by completely different copy. Creating long and short-term content schedules will help you to keep track of current campaigns, and integrate old content into new ones. This will also help you stick to a regular posting schedule, which will help your content appear more frequently on the feeds of parents and students. 

Evaluating Successes and Revising Messaging

The key to successful social media marketing, long term, is consistent re-evaluation of what is effective, and what needs changes. Looking at what content gets the desired outcome, whether that’s sign-ups, link clicks or just engagement, should inform what you choose to later post. A few ways that you can collect feedback include:

Analytics Tools: Google Analytics is the website version of this, but most platforms offer an analytics section which allows you to track the reach and engagement of each of your posts. Capitalise on these tools with A/B testing, where you run two different posts and compare how they perform against each other. This provides you with valuable insights into what parents and students want to see. 

Ask for Feedback: Using social media, emails, website prompts or in-person, ask students and parents for feedback on your content. Alongside analytics reporting, this helps you to gain a fuller picture of what your community wants to know from you. 

Review your posts: Discuss these questions with your team, and other colleagues:

• Have we been posting regularly on this platform?
• Does our content relate to our core brand values?
• Is our content useful to the target audience? Why/Why not?

Consistent reflection and repositioning will lead to growth and better content, which will consequently build a better connection between the school and your community. Build your social platforms as a source of reliable, quick and informative content that demonstrates the highlights of school life. Our other post, Effective Email Campaigns for Schools, will help you with more recommendations for content that will help you connect with parents. 

If you’re looking for an experienced and creative agency to collaborate with on your marketing strategies, contact Capsule to discuss, today.