A Successful Marketing Strategy for Private Schools Includes Social Media, but Does Not Rely On it Exclusively
All to often, we encounter private schools investing an awful lot of time and energy setting up accounts on every social media platform they come across–sometimes even to the point of obsession. Private school social media can definitely be a helpful tool in increasing traffic to your school’s website, but it can be very easy to use social channels in a way that may actually harm the reputation and image of your private school online. Social media may also become detrimental if you are devoting more time to it than to your other digital marketing efforts.
The best application of social media for private schools is as a supplement to your facility's other digital marketing efforts. Click To TweetSo Why Do Private Schools Even Need Social Media?
If social media is meant to be an adjunct to your private school’s website, then you might be wondering why you need it at all. In this article, we will discuss how to market your private school with social media, wha to post on social media, and how to do social media for private schools, and how these things can amplify your current digital marketing efforts.
What are the Benefits of Social Media for Private Schools?
Brand Consistency
There are countless ways that a private school can benefit from a solid social media presence. One of the most valuable benefits to social media for private schools is that it can build a relationship of trust. Potential students and their families expect to find your school on the popular social channels, and if they are unable to, they may become frustrated or even give up. Searchers will likely find and engage with competing schools on social media, and if they are not able to interact with your facility the same way, they may become suspicious.
Make it Easier for Potential Students to Find You Online
Another advantage of using social media for your private school is that is allows you to build brand consistency and broadcast your school’s values and message to an even bigger audience of qualified applicants. Potential students, parents, donors, and staff need to be able to review your online presence — whether it is through your blog or website, or connecting with you on Twitter, or sharing your private school’s business page on with a friend on Facebook.
Increased Search Engine Visibilty
Social media marketing for private schools can also help increase your facility’s visibility in online searches. By nurturing your social media profiles on helpful platforms, you can expand the reach of your facility when people search for topics related to it. Social profiles are sometimes displayed even higher in search results than your school’s website.
For private schools, strategically applied social media use can increase the volume of qualified new students to your website, and your campus.
What are the Best Social Networks for Private Schools?
Before you can set up any profiles for your private school campus, you need to determine which social sites are going to benefit your school the most. Each platform has distinct features and potential advantages, but its important to make sure you are setting up accounts for your private school on channels prospective students wills actually be using.
For example, sites like Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram may be very effective for your school. These channels offer more benefits for private schools as they allow you to connect better with potential students, families, teachers and donors, who also have active profiles on these popular social media sites.
Don’t Dilute Your Message
It tends to be a waste of resources to set a profile on every single social site available, and it also tends to dilute the message your private school is trying to convey.
Often, it becomes difficult to stay current on posting useful, relevant content across many different platforms, and this can make it difficult to promote your private school on social media. Ultimately what happens is that core message your firm was trying to communicate becomes confused, taking away from its true meaning and usefulness for prospective students.
Be Selective When Choosing Social Media Networks
Similar to pages in your website, there is little benefit is signing up for numerous social channels if the quality of the content on them suffers. When private schools claim too many social media profiles, they run the risk of watering-down their message, and losing it’s effectiveness. Not to mention the sheer time that managing numerous social media accounts requires.
Quality over Quantity
Adopting the “quality versus quantity” approach when trying to determine which social media sites will best benefit your private school is going to be a much more effective tactic than casting a wide social media net. It is vital to take a strategic approach to your private schools’s social media presence, not only for successful marketing, but to prevent you from spending valuable resources on things that simply don’t work.
What is the Best Way to Use Social Media for Private Schools?
Utilize Private School Social Media Management Tools
Determining the most effective approach to your school’d social media will take some trial-and-error, and you will have to learn what works with your unique campus and student body, and what doesn’t. There are also many platforms available that can help you streamline social media management for private schools, and help it slip effortlessly into the rest of your private school’s digital marketing campaigns.
Effective Social Media Marketing for Private Schools is a Process
Selecting the best social media channels is just one piece of the digital marketing puzzle. Driving the web traffic from your social media channels to your private school’s website is another. And creating a digital dialogue with potential students through social media is yet another piece.
AdInfusion takes the mystery out of social media for private schools
Taking control of your social media sites does not need to be a debacle. AdInfusion makes it easy to publish new blogs posts and engage your potential students in just a few clicks. To learn more about how AdInfusion helps complete your private school’s digital marketing puzzle, call us at 916-798-5707 today!
