We are living through interesting and exciting times. The digital world has evolved so quickly that standing still can be the same as moving backwards. This can be true of any walk of life, but it’s particularly relevant when talking about marketing for independent schools.
Brand awareness has always been a pivotal part of any business and one of the key considerations of creating a brand is consistency. When we think about bringing our business presence into the modern day, we want to make sure that the image we project is an accurate portrayal of what we’re about.
As a provider of education, the chances are that your digital presence will be the first thing many people will see of you. Make it count.
Here are our top tips to ensure your school is ‘on brand’ and up-to-date.
Social Media
Traditions are good – especially in education – but a robust and detailed social media strategy is an essential tool in today’s digitised world. It enables you to engage with your audience in real time and is one of the most effective ways to communicate directly with your customer base.
There are several platforms out there. Understanding and utilising the benefits of each is the best way to reach maximum exposure. Creativity is the key: original, unique posts are much more likely to catch people’s attention.
Create a School Blog
A regularly updated blog is a must. A school that frequently uploads engaging content stands a much better chance at building a relationship with its customers. Blogs are often used to inform people of upcoming events and news – but they’re also a great way to share more general and detailed insights too. It keeps your website feeling vibrant and fresh and increases the chance that people will come back.
Relatively speaking, emails are ancient technology, but they’re still a vital addition to any digital marketing strategy. They are a tried-and-tested way to maintain and develop relationships with your target audience. A basic and popular approach is to send newsletters at a regular interval – say, weekly or monthly – and to use them to keep people up to date with admission news and upcoming events and programs. They are also a useful way to link people to your other platforms.
Search Engine Presence
This is a multi-faceted point but an important one. Most people connect to potential businesses via search engines – and schools are no different. Every school should have a search engine strategy in place; depending on budget and means, this strategy will contain at least some of the following:
● Improve website experience – The way we use the internet has given rise to a phenomenon known as ‘liquid expectations’. In short, this means the experience people have with your online presence will be held up against their experiences of outlets from other industries.
● Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – An SEO strategy is the way to make sure that your website is found and interacted with beyond the homepage. Far too often overlooked due to its focus on slow-burn, long-term gains, but it is an essential part to any school’s digital marketing plan.
● Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC) – A digital marketing tool designed to generate traffic for websites and increase brand awareness. PPC ads have the advantage of instant efficacy – a perfect addition to the comparative slow-burn of the SEO approach.
● Reviews – 84% of customers trust online reviews as though they were personal recommendations. 90% read them before visiting a business directly.
Video
It’s ironic to say, given that this information is being written down, but video engages an audience more than any other content. YouTube is a well-known video-sharing platform and over 86% of providers of education have a presence there. Original video content is cheap to produce. This can be used across multiple marketing and social media platforms.
Student’s POV
A current or former pupil is a trusted source of information. Particularly when it comes to understanding the kind of experience future students can expect to have. Content created and shared by those who have enjoyed actually being in your school will count for a lot in the eyes of prospective parents/guardians and students alike.
Analytics
Businesses of any kind operate more successfully when they are armed with an accurate picture of their associated industry. Analysing data is essential for an institution to make informed and timely decisions – be they on student enrolment and retention, brand management, performance or efficiency.
Update, Create and Consolidate
Now that you have a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, it’s time to get them all linked into one another. Being active and on-brand in as many different platforms as possible is the best way to ensure your brand grows, reliably and consistently.
To learn more about how a digital strategy can help your organisation, visit Lykke Digital.