By Maggie Twaroski, Truth Tree Contributor
Nowadays, families have more options than ever before on where they educate their children. Public, private, charter, magnet–it’s all on the table now, which means many schools are struggling to uphold their once-reliable enrollment numbers against increased competition. The good news is, open enrollment and school choice has risen alongside social media marketing, allowing school marketers to reach new families in a faster, more targeted way. Your school’s prospects are already engaging with social media–all that’s left to do is show up at the right moment with the right message. Whether you have a specific admissions event you’re looking to promote, or you’re just wanting to ramp up your social media presence, here’s a guide to get the ball rolling.
What to do before launching your social media enrollment marketing strategy:
Make an editorial calendar: Planning, creating, and scheduling every post across all your social media platforms can easily spiral into disorganization if not kept within an editorial calendar. Keeping track of all of your upcoming content ensures everyone on your team is on the same page, and that you’re not doing anything last minute.
Be prepared to engage with your audience: Have a plan ready for who’s going to respond to comments and questions on your posts. While it may seem like you’re “done” once your post is published, it’s actually just the beginning. Aside from increasing your school’s visibility with your audience, your posts are designed to engage and draw them further into the enrollment funnel through two-way communication. In short, keep an eye on your posts.
Which Social Media Platforms are Best for Enrollment Marketing?
Not all social media platforms are created equal. Some will be more valuable to your enrollment marketing strategy than others. It’s important to know which platforms your prospects are on and what type of content they’re looking for. Then, you can target those spaces more intentionally and push content and ads that will support your enrollment and retention goals.
Here’s what school marketers should know about the top social media platforms:
TikTok
TikTok has been the talk of the town the last couple years, and schools are starting to tap into its marketing potential. With users spending an average of 95 minutes on the app per day, schools have a greater chance of being noticed by their viewers. But is it the #1 place to be? In most cases, no. TikTok is still dominated by a young demographic (under 25 years old), which means high schools and higher education institutions will have the best luck marketing here. If your main target is parents/decision-markers of K-12 aged children, TikTok may not be your best bet.
That said, we know about 25 percent of TikTok’s users are ages 25-44, so it’s still worth pushing some content and advertising dollars there. If your school has its own account, you can create content that demonstrates a unique side of your school’s brand in a fun, casual way. Clips of your school’s vibrant community life–a recent event, a football game, a field trip–it’s all an opportunity to bring prospects further into your brand.
Aside from original content, you can also use TikTok for advertising. Like other social media platforms, TikTok allows you to set ad objectives and audience types, so you can target prospects that are most likely to respond. For example, an Illinois Catholic school can set their open house ad to target individuals interested in Catholic education, ages 25-40, in the Chicago area.
As the most-used social media platform to date, Facebook is still the place to be for enrollment marketing. Its main user base is adults aged 25-34, making it a hub for content aimed at school-aged families. While not quite as carefree as TikTok, it’s still an ideal place to share news and updates, as well as visual content of your school’s community life.
Posts that perform well can be converted into ads (Facebook calls them “boosted” posts), which allows you to increase your content’s reach in an affordable way. Since boosted posts are different from ads, they don’t require as large of a budget. On the downside, you won’t have as many customization capabilities like ad objectives and audience targets.
An oft-neglected feature of Facebook marketing is Facebook pixels, which allows you to collect information about your ideal prospects (i.e. the individuals most likely to enroll). When someone clicks on your Facebook ad and is taken to your website, the actions they take and the information they submit there can be saved and used for future ad retargeting and lead follow-up.
I like to think of Instagram as the sweet spot between TikTok and Facebook. Its modern, visual content coupled with reels mirrors TikTok, but its demographics align closer with Facebook in that it’s most popular among 25-34 year olds. It’s a highly interactive platform, making it a prime place to engage in two-way communication with prospective families. Not only is this helpful in your long-term lead nurturing plan, but it can also guide prospects through time-sensitive events, such as answering questions about an upcoming open house. Instagram also acts as a hub for user-generated content, where schools can use their accounts to share families’ tagged stories. This acts as a type of “social proof” for your prospects.
When it comes to advertising, Instagram’s ads are highly effective at reaching and engaging your ideal audience. Since the feed is more linear and condensed than other social media platforms (like Facebook, for example, which has a wider visual landscape), users are more likely to see and engage with the ads they come across.
As the most professional social media platform in the pack, LinkedIn is ideal for engaging with alumni, adults, and education professionals. While the majority of your K-12 parents won’t be consistently active on LinkedIn, it can still be a good way to share news, educational insights, and career development resources with a smaller target audience. Advertising here can be effective as well, although it’s worth noting that LinkedIn ads are more expensive than other social media platforms.
X (Twitter)
While X doesn’t quite have as big of a reach as Facebook and Instagram do, it’s still worth keeping an online presence there (and maybe some of your advertising budget), since the platform continues to attract adults of school-aged children. It’s also known for its “real time” content, which makes it an ideal place to share updates on time-sensitive events or school news.
Content Ideas for Social Media Posts
Once you’ve solidified which platforms you’re going to target for your enrollment marketing, the next step is developing an organized plan for what you’re going to post. It’s important to keep a consistent presence on whichever platforms you choose, so you can keep your school top of mind with current and prospective families. Here are some ideas for social media posts to help amplify enrollment (this is a comprehensive list–not all ideas will work with the style and format of each social media platform).
1. Live Q&A: Recruit your admissions team to host a live Q&A session explaining the enrollment process and answer any questions.
2. Admissions Infographic: Explain what parents can expect from the enrollment process in a visually appealing infographic. Consider a checklist or flowchart.
3. Virtual tours: For families who are on the fence about an in-person tour, a virtual school tour can be a great way to help get their foot in the door later on (literally and figuratively).
4. News and events: This one is a bit of a no-brainer, but if you have an upcoming admissions event (a fair, webinar, open house, sports clinic, etc.), you’ll want to promote it on social media.
5. Testimonials: Have you received positive feedback from students or parents? Posting these testimonials (with the person’s consent, of course) around enrollment season can be the social proof your prospects are looking for before committing to your school.
6. Student life: Families want to see the thriving community your school has to offer. Showing images or videos of classroom activities, extracurriculars, and athletics, can help parents visualize their own children in that environment.
It’s Time to Level Up Your School’s Social Media Game
Our team has partnered with over 100 schools on their digital marketing efforts. Could social media marketing help you reach prospective families and aid in retention efforts?
Still tracking data on 5 different platforms?
Enrollytics™ has entered the chat. Designed for school marketing teams by school marketers. See real-time data from every platform in one place. Plus, reports are a breeze.
