Why would someone call it a social network if people weren’t networking and being social on it?
Human beings have a basic need to be social and may even work and learn better in groups.
Social networks give students and institutions multiple opportunities to improve learning methods. These networks can incorporate social media plugins that enable sharing and interaction on a higher level.
Valuable knowledge is gained through social media, such as analytics and insights on various topics to study. Social media is also a platform that allows students to establish beneficial connections for their careers.
As an educational organization, it is crucial to be active in all the possible social platforms, which helps make better student training strategies and shapes student culture.
Due to COVID-19 situation most of the educational organizations have opted for study from home culture. Before moving towards how social media marketing can benefit the educational organizations, let us have a look at how social media is advantageous for students.
Bonus content: The Complete Guide To Social Media For Education 2023 [+Tool]
Advantages Of Social Media To Students
Ease Of Sharing Information
With social media as a medium, it has become super easy for students to share information with their friends and classmates.
Students are connected to the internet through their mobile phones, laptops, PCs, tablets, etc., for sharing views, opinions, tips, study materials, school projects & various other kinds of helpful reading stuff. They also exchange valuable information about their exams & classes timetable. They can also acquire knowledge and insights from others within an online community.
Social Credibility
Building a brand through social networks can help students build a portfolio for their careers.
Students can use social media platforms to start sharing work while in the learning space. This is beneficial for students to launch their careers.
Reflecting educational background on profile and gaining exposure on social media builds social credibility for students. They may also come across people who can offer their expertise in specified fields.
Cost-Effective Communication
Social media is an excellent & almost free medium for the end-user! Let us not get in detail about the cost of internet or mobile or laptop etc.
Social media platforms can help communicate and can be used as a way to promote events, new courses, and various advanced research without any investment.
Any Time Connectivity
There is always (often) someone to reply from the international community as geographical factors do not restrict most social networking sites. ATC (Any Time connectivity) in various social media websites helps Students to post their question and get a solution to your queries faster than before.
Social Media Marketing For Educational Organizations
More than 74% of people in Gen Z (those born between 1995 and 2010) say they spend their free time online, so leveraging your social media is a great way to reach this audience.
Social media marketing is required if you are looking to reach a more extensive audience base for your university or school. Social media is a great avenue to enhance a school's brand value, drive admissions, and boost student engagement.
Whether you choose to invest millions or cents towards your marketing budget, the aim is to spend it right.
Checkout the stats below by NACAC to find out why educational organizations should leverage social media.
What To Market
Parents and students also want information – outside of your school's website – to see what everyday life would really be like if they attend your school. People want to see authenticity in your content; real people posting real things.
There isn't a "one size that fits all" kind of strategy. The most important thing to consider while promoting your school or university on social media is the message you want to convey.
Once you have the message figured out, take every chance to promote your social media accounts, including links in marketing material and feature "follow" buttons on your school website and in your email marketing.
Consider cross-promoting your social media channels for broader visibility. For example, tweet about your Facebook page or an Instagram post. Remember, more eyes mean more opportunities.
How To Market
Social media marketing comes in two flavors
1. Paid Social Ads And Promotion (Acquisition)
If you aim to reach new parents and students, you will find the most success with paid social ads and promotions. This is an excellent tactic to get a large number of potential students.
If you want to play the game, then you have to pay for the game. Don't worry; it doesn't cost as much as traditional media advertising from the past. Even an institution with a low marketing budget can still leverage these promotions to reach its target audience.
2. Organic Social Posts (Retention)
If you are looking at retention, building a sense of community, the organic posting is your best strategy.
You can use your social media channels and reach potential students by painting a picture of your institution. Allow prospects to get a peek into life at your school through your social media channels.
Frequently post photos and videos that illustrate the campus energy. You want prospective students to be able to imagine themselves at your school easily.
For awareness campaign, you should gather students' or teachers' success stories and link this post back to your school's homepage or a specific landing page.
Host live chats and Q&A sessions with admission staff, professors, alumni, or even current students on social media. This will allow you to reach prospective students in real-time and can be highly interactive and engaging than an email alone.
You should have a customer relationship management (CRM) platform in place to get prospective students and parents into a contact database that can trigger a lead nurturing email campaign.
The CRM feature in Statusbrew logs all the contact information in an accessible directory. You can view a list of people who have interacted with your social media profiles, along with their contact information, tags, and more.
Where To Market
In the sea of marketing options available its important to know where to market.
Boost your presence on social media giant, the world’s largest and most versatile social network.
Ideal for: Connecting with parents and organizations looking to reach as broad a range of audiences as possible.
See the industry wise split for engagement on Facebook. Education is in top 3 highest engaging sectors on Facebook.
Establish your organization on the fastest-growing social network today. Instagram boasts over 1 billion monthly active users. Make sure your active presence on Instagram.
Ideal for: Attracting young and digitally literate prospective students.
See the industry wise split for engagement on Instagram. Education Sector has the highest engagement rate per post on Instagram. This is huge!
Join the conversation with 330 million people on the popular microblogging platform.
Ideal for: Engaging with a vibrant online student community.
See the industry wise split for engagement on Twitter. Education Sector has the highest engagement rate per post on Twitter as well.
Target top-quality applicants on the number 1 professional social network.
Ideal for: Reaching mature, focused, and highly motivated potential candidates.
Social Media Stories
Stories are the most significant social media phenomenon of the last decade. In bite-sized highlight reels that combine photos, video, text, and effects, organizations can create compelling narratives that are genuinely engaging and delight for prospective students.
Social Media Advertising
Statusbrew can use social media advertising services to complement your organic initiatives, helping to increase your reach and grow your audience across your organization’s most important channels. Our ad options include boosted posts to attract followers and engagement and ad insights in various formats that can guide you in driving traffic to your site to increase conversions.
Our tool can also create custom insights for your ads and help optimize your campaigns on an ongoing basis to maximize the cost-effectiveness and results of your campaigns.
Explore the Statusbrew range of social media tools
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