How inbound strategies can elevate your social media presence

Embracing inbound marketing methods in your social media strategy will improve your social media presence and provide more value to your prospects. There are a number of benefits to using an inbound approach to your social media strategy.

Brand awareness

Sharing valuable content across social media will help prospective parents and students see the values and benefits of your education; bringing your school or college to the front of their minds when making a decision for their child.

Knowing your audience is vital to creating and sharing content that they will find valuable. It is also critical for not only growing your social media following but turning those followers into customers.

Creating buyer personas is a great way to gain an understanding of your target audience and identify the right content to get them interacting with your social channels. Also consider who your main competitors are. Take a look at the content they are putting out on their social channels and how well it is performing - this will give a good sense of what works within the industry.

Social listening - following relevant hashtags - is another great way to keep an eye on content that is trending and stay in the conversation on topics that are relevant to your audience - helping to boost visibility and build authority within that sector.

Sharing content such as blog posts, event information and downloadable content makes it easier for prospects to see your school's unique selling points and your organisation's message.

Increases customer interaction

Engagement with your social media content - likes, shares and comments - helps to boost the reach of your content, and in turn your brand. Focus on creating content that encourages your online community to interact with your online channels.

Creating blog posts, polls, Q and A’s and interactive content that showcases your school or college's offering are all great ways to increase your customer engagement, whilst getting your key marketing messages out.

Having content that both prospects and current customers (in the education sector this would be your current students and their families) can interact with helps build a relationship between them and you. Having a dedicated task set for school admissions, marketing and communications teams to monitor social channels and respond to any interactions helps to build rapport with your audience.

This relationship will mean prospective students and parents will feel more confident when asking questions or starting a new conversation when they reach the decision stage of their buying (enrolment) journey.

Improve trust

Creating valuable content for your prospects helps to build trust early into their journey with your school or college. Being open and conversational on social media can help prospective students and parents be more confident when making the choice for their education. Elevate your social media presence by continuing to have open conversations, and share valuable relevant content with students and their parents once they have signed up to your school or college. Happy customers will drive your marketing flywheel, bringing more students through referrals and from word of mouth sources.

By implementing an inbound approach to social media, you can start providing real value to your students and parents from the very first interaction. Social media should not be seen simply as place to make announcements, it is a perfect opportunity to start meaningful conversations and establish trust in your brand with both prospective and current students.

Analysis is key

Keeping an eye on which posts are performing well across your social channels will help to determine which content types are the most valuable within your social media strategy. This will help to direct your education settings social media strategy and improve engagement statistics and grow your social media channels over time.