Organic: Building Trust and Fostering Community
Organic social media is a long-term play focused on nurturing relationships and showcasing a school's unique personality. Imagine vibrant Instagram Reels highlighting a dynamic classroom or Facebook posts celebrating student achievements. This content resonates with their audience, building trust and a sense of community. While organic reach may be slower, its impact is lasting – familiarity fuels enrollment and retention, just like 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from familiar brands.
Here's how schools can keep their organic momentum going:
-Define their goals: Boost enrollment? Increase brand awareness? Set clear objectives and track metrics like follower growth, engagement, and reach.
-Plan ahead: Craft an editorial calendar to map out content, timing, and platforms. Tailor their message to each platform – a STEM school's science fair announcement might need a visual Instagram post but a text-based update for Twitter.
-Post consistently: Stay top-of-mind with a mix of traditional posts, visuals, stories, and interactive content. Share user-generated content to showcase their vibrant community and provide social proof.
-Schedule their posts: Free themselves from manual work and focus on responding to comments, messages, and unexpected updates.
-Engage with their audience: Foster two-way communication through polls, surveys, and contests. Remember, it's all about building relationships.
-Paid: Targeted Reach and Enrollment Growth
While organic builds trust, paid social media opens the doors for massive reach and targeted conversions. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook let them reach specific groups based on demographics, location, interests, and even their stage in the admissions process. This laser-focused approach ensures their ads land with the right people, maximizing your investment.
Here's how paid social media can turbocharge your enrollment efforts:
-Targeted ads: Reach prospective families based on their unique attributes, ensuring their message resonates. Imagine a Catholic school's Facebook ad targeting families interested in religious education in a specific area.
-Boost top-performing posts: Give their best organic content an extra push by promoting it as paid ads. It's a cost-effective way to reach a wider audience without building a new ad from scratch.
-Track and optimize: Analyze data to see what works and what doesn't. Refine their targeting, ad copy, and landing pages for continuous improvement.
The Synergy of Organic and Paid:
Think of it this way: Paid ads get new people in the door, while organic content makes them stay. Combine both strategies for a powerful one-two punch. Use organic content to nurture leads, retain families, and leverage paid ads to drive targeted enrollment growth. With this comprehensive approach, schools can conquer the social media landscape, attracting and retaining students one engaging post at a time.
Trevor Waddington
Truth Tree
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