Social media is a vital tool that educational institutions can employ to build a vibrant community of students, parents, and alumni. Social media, when used appropriately in conjunction with a proper email marketing strategy, may provide educational institutions with the ability to directly contact and engage with their community, make their institution stand out, and demonstrate what makes their institute unique.
After battling the epidemic, now is the ideal time to recognise the power of social media and how it can benefit SEO services for educational institutions when used wisely.
Why Should You Use Social Media for Your Educational Institutions?
Social media may be a wonderful marketing tool for schools because their community is already using platforms like Facebook and Instagram on a daily basis. Parents and students want to know what life is like on a daily basis, and they want to see authenticity in their work.
Every reputable business should have at least one active social media account. Being present on social media may assist in the development of authentic ties within their community, as well as the promotion of strong rapport with parents and students, demonstrating that they are a respected institution that they should choose.
In short, you as an educational institute owner or manager should use social media because your target audience is also active on social media platforms.
How Can I Use Social Media to Advertise My Education
Before promoting your institute on social media, the most important thing to consider is your messaging. Everything from the wording on your digital channels to the content you upload and the social media sites you use will be affected by this.
Don’t be hesitant to conduct a survey or simply ask students, parents, or even staff what they think of when they think of your school. Take advantage of every opportunity to market your social media accounts once you’ve figured out your messaging and content for your channel(s).
Increase your presence by cross-promoting your social media accounts. Encourage parents to share your school’s social media profiles with family and friends who might be curious about what their child’s school is up to.
How Do You Use Social Media to Reach Out to Parents and Students?
Paid social ads and promotion are the two types of social media marketing. Paid social ads are the most effective technique for recruiting new enrollments, while organic social posts are the most effective strategy for keeping contact with current students.
Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram collect data on their users using advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology and may identify persons based on attributes such as interests, demographics, online activity, and more. Marketers must “pay to play” in order to reach a big number of potential enrollments. This is less expensive than traditional print or media advertising.
The greatest strategy to reach out to potential students through social media is to construct a picture of the institution. Post images and videos of the campus’s aesthetics, student body, and buildings. Show the best areas to hang out on campus, or ask a student to photograph a normal college dorm room.
Because Generation Z (those born between 1995 and 2010) spend their free time online, utilizing social media is an excellent way to reach this audience. Rather than making self-promotional “look how great I am” messages, constantly strive to provide value to your audience with each article. Topics such as “How to Ensure a Smooth College Transition” or “Tips for Applying for Financial Aid” should be included.
What Kind of Material Should My Institute Share on Social Media?
Make a plan before you begin posting relevant content on social media. Begin by deciding which social media platforms you want to include in your brand and then set goals for your major channel.
Don’t feel obligated to be present on all platforms. It is significantly preferable to focus your marketing efforts on a few channels (or even one channel) rather than spreading them thinly across several platforms with low return on investment (ROI).
Currently, Facebook and Instagram are the best channels for schools to be active on, but if you know your target market is active there and you have the resources to integrate it into your marketing activities, you might want to consider YouTube or Pinterest.
You might want to collect student or teacher success stories for your initial awareness campaign. This post can be linked back to your school’s homepage or a customized landing page.
For a More Sophisticated Educational Social Media Plan
To properly nurture leads, you should have a customer relationship management (CRM) platform in place and employ services from a reputed marketing company. You should also explore using YouTube to showcase students sharing their college life experiences, obstacles, and strategies for overcoming them.
Furthermore, you should host live chats and Q&A sessions on social media with admissions staff, professors, or current students to reach prospective students in real time and be more engaging than an email alone.
Here are some examples of interesting content:
- Students and professors’ accomplishments
- University landmarks
- Dorm room virtual tours
- Photos and videos taken by current or former pupils
- Helpful resources for career preparation and student support
- Promote sub-Facebook Pages like the business school or alumni pages.
- World news relevant to your school. Is your school engaging in a project or programme that is related to an important global debate that is now taking place?
- For the day, follow a student.
- Use polls and surveys to find out how your audience feels about a particular topic.
Whatever you decide to share on your social media accounts, make sure to interact with your followers. The ultimate purpose of social media is to increase traffic to your website and grow your email list so that you have a database of contacts that you “own” to drive your enrollment efforts.
Why hire SAG IPL for Social Media Marketing?
There are tons of marketing companies out there and they all have and offer something unique. However, if you are looking for a marketing company for your institute, then choose a reliable and experienced one. SAG IPL is one such company, it has been providing Social marketing services to global clients for the past many years.
This Jaipur-based company has a team of 200+ industry experts. SAG IPL offers SEO, SMO, SMM, and custom marketing packages as well. They have more than two decades of experience and that’s why you should choose them. The company has all the resources, a reliable team and years of experience.
Final Thoughts
It is common knowledge that students and parents utilize social media to explore potential institutes during the selection process. As a result, if you do not begin optimizing your social media marketing efforts quickly, you will fall behind.
Social media marketing does not have to be intimidating. You’ll be achieving those enrollment targets in no time if you start with a strategic strategy, understand your brand, and consider your ideal target market. And don’t forget to contact SAG IPL – a leading SEO and digital marketing company, that is ready to help your educational institutions to achieve more success through their comprehensive Social marketing services.