In a digital world, social media has become an absolute must when it comes to marketing your business online, especially in the education industry.
No matter if you are a private school, Montessori school, tutoring business, daycare or preschool, here are some questions you should be asking yourself and implementing in your social media strategy.
Who Is Your Audience?
Nowadays, in the world of COVID-19 and technological advancements, people are searching for products and services online more than ever.
In fact, according to GlobalWebIndex, 52 percent of online brand discovery happens in public social feeds.
This is important because when we look at the average age of individuals who are having children right now, most range from ages 16-35 and account for 90 percent of babies being born today.
Why does this apply to social media? PewResearch tells us that 90 percent of Americans between 18-29 use social media. These two age ranges directly correlate, so it’s crucial that you understand your industry’s audience.
Why Is Social Media Important for a School or Daycare?
Parents want to be in the know. At the end of the day, parents who already send their children to your school want to know what fun learning activities their children are participating in.
The same goes for prospective parents. When we put ourselves in the shoes of families who are searching for a school or learning center, they are typically looking for a center that is kind and truly cares about the well-being of all children; especially in light of COVID-19.
Parents are looking for a safe option for their children and they want to see examples of what you are doing to keep a clean and safe environment.
With Facebook being the world’s top Google search query and the world’s third most visited website after Google and YouTube, it is imperative that you have content and valuable information on your Facebook page.
Where, When and How Often Should I Be Posting?
The Socialbakers Social Media Trends Report shows that Facebook and Instagram, two of the most popular social networks are particularly good for marketing to millennial and Gen Z age groups.
According to our social media team here at RevLocal:
If you don’t maintain an active presence on your social media profiles, customers are likely to choose another business when searching for local products and services. But, posting too often will leave your followers feeling overwhelmed and give you a negative reputation. Do this for too long and they’ll unfollow you.
You can read our blog How Often Should Your Business Post On Social Media to learn more.
How Does Social Media Help Increase Enrollment?
So, we know who our audience is, why social media is important and how often to post to social media, but how does this increase enrollment? What is the ROI?
When it comes to increasing enrollment, we have to understand that it takes some time for parents to shop around and decide which schools to tour and request information from.
When you are active on your social media, this shows those prospective parents that you are on top of your business and are more likely to respond.
Again, with COVID-19, they are mostly restricted to reaching out through phone calls, contact forms or messages through social media platforms, such as Facebook.
With that being said, it is important to know that Facebook reports 64 percent of people said they’d rather use Facebook to message a business than call or email.
In 2018, 56 percent of people said they are already Facebook messaging businesses across their buying journey.
Final Thoughts
To summarize, you not only want to be active on social media to capture the millennial and Gen Z parents that are in the market for schools or daycares but also because you could possibly be missing out on new leads which could increase enrollment and the average lifetime that children could be enrolled in your programs; increasing the lifetime ROI.
In the words of our social media team at RevLocal, “The only rule in social media is that you should only post content that is engaging, entertaining and useful to your followers. Quality will always win over quantity in social media marketing.”
If you have questions or are ready to jump-start your social media strategy, request a demo with our team today!
In the meantime, here are some more social media-related blogs to check out: