The changing landscape of school marketing

 

It’s no secret that the Coronavirus pandemic has completely shifted the way schools operate and function.

However, it’s not just in the corridors and in the classrooms where schools need to have a rethink; the school marketing strategy also needs a complete overhaul to keep up with the ever-changing world we’re living in.

In the past, you’d connect with students and their parents via open evenings, parents evenings or prospectus’. Even before COVID-19, the digital age had come on so much that some forward thinking institutions had already realised they were much more likely to communicate with students and parents via digital channels and, to thrive now and in the future your school needs to make digital the primary focus of its school marketing.

Social Media 

In the UK alone it’s estimated that 42 million people in the UK used social media. Social media has it’s pros and its cons but, as a school, it’s vital to have a good interactive online presence in order to connect with your community.

Interacting with parents and students via social media is arguably much more effective than a monthly school newsletter or a letter home once a week. Not only is social media free to use but it also gives you a chance to communicate as regularly as you like with your school community, keeping them engaged, informed and aware of everything that’s going on.

Video 

Video is now almost an essential tool to have at your schools’ disposal. Video is consumed on a monthly basis by approximately 68.3% of the UK population. Considering video content as part of your marketing strategy ensures that your school, its people and its voice is put in front of more people and will be consumed more widely than perhaps a blog or an article you may have written online.

Virtual Tours

In the current climate, video may play an even greater role especially when it comes to giving virtual tours of your institution. Virtual tours will be necessary in the interim and, having an online presence and numerous channels in which to display your virtual tour or invite attendees to take a virtual tour will be key to increasing your admissions. A school which takes the initiative and keeps up with the times will no doubt be at the forefront of potential students' minds if they’ve seen a strong online presence.

Going digital and embracing digital channels has been a long time coming but, for schools that take the leap and add a responsive website design into their strategy, add social media and inject videos and virtual tours into their future marketing, they’ll no doubt see admissions going up and attract more students to their school. Not only that but by keeping up with the times, they’ll keep in touch with stakeholders and become a more attractive prospect.

For those who fail to adapt and who sit idle and stick to prospectus’, their dated websites and long-form blogs rather than engaging video content, they could see a dip in admissions and a plateau in engagement.

Find out how to revamp your digital marketing strategy by calling us for an informal chat today!