Meet your 2020 content goals with these school or college blog ideas

Planning your 2020 content? We've got some education blogging inspiration right here to get your content planning off to the best start.

Education marketing can thrive when marketers work together with other departments in schools and colleges to generate content. If you think of all the amazing things taking place daily in education, it can be exciting to think of the best ways to capture it and share your stories with the world. 

Done well, using clever blog content to showcase your school or college will bring the right students to your door without blowing your budget.

We would always recommend writing your blog posts with a clear purpose, think of who it is aimed at and why it will help them. Think of the questions your prospective students and their families will be asking and share the answers before they even get in touch. Demonstrate your efficiency, student-focused approach and share the message about life at your school or college.

Here are a few simple, budget-friendly ideas that will drive your customers to your website:

• Top revision tips to avoid exam stress
  Give some friendly, reassuring, and useful advice to your prospective students. Even better if this advice is from someone who knows it best! Sit down with some of your teachers or Heads of Departments and put together a handy guide that can be shared as a blog post.
  
  
• Guide to choosing a school/college
  Another good way to show your expertise and advise your audience. If you have the best interests of your readers as your focus and don't go too 'sales-y' then this can be great way to earn the trust of of your prospective students and parents.
  
  
• Maths (or any other subject!) puzzle of the week 
  A video post/vlog works wonders for this! Get your teachers involved and share a weekly puzzle and solution. You could even get some of your current students to share their own puzzles and solutions.
  
  
• Behind the scenes
  Take your prospective and current students/parents on a journey behind the scenes of your latest music concert, drama production or awards ceremony. Everyone loves exclusive content, and it is a great way to show how hard your team work and how much they care about your students!
  
  
• Join a global conversation
  International Day of the semicolon? (we made that up, we think!) Keep an eye on what hashtags are trending and get involved with blog posts, photos and videos about what your students are doing to get involved. From charity fundraisers to international trends or events in the political calendar, use the high volume of social media traffic to drive interest in what your school/college has to say.
  
  
• Student takeover
  Give the authentic experience of your school/college with student generated content. Often the best way to bring people inside your environment and let them feel like they have really experienced it without thinking they have been 'sold' something. Students could do a vlog of a day in their college life or perhaps they could write up their experiences of their latest school trip. 
  
  
• Parent takeover
  In many circumstances, it will be the parent who has the most influence over your prospective student's education. We all know the power of good reviews and real life experiences. Speak to some of your current parents and get them to do a short vlog or article about how their child's study with you has changed their life for the better. Powerful, authentic and budget friendly too.
  
  
• Meet the Head/Principal/CEO
  Having content that includes senior leaders from your school or college will help students and their parents get a measure of what you offer. Try to think outside of the box with this, get creative with a Q&A article, of course your Head is there to talk about education but it would be great to show that they are approachable with anecdotes about their pets, favourite sports teams or hobbies.
  
  
• Shout about your achievements
  This one sounds obvious but it's amazing how many blogs overlook this! Of course, big awards ceremonies and achievements are great but to really reach the hearts of your prospective students and their families you need to think small too. Celebrate when Jack in Year 1 makes amazing progress, or when Chloe in Year 7 overcomes her fears and performs in your winter concert for the first time, when one of your Automotive Engineering students completes an exciting work experience placement and when one of your teachers is recognised for their efforts.

Remember, use real and relatable content, share as widely as you can (to relevant audiences) and adapt your content for each platform you share it on and engage - reply to comments and listen to feedback.

The most effective blog articles should contain a clear call to action to inform your audience of their next steps as they continue to consider your school/college as an option.

Engaging and effective content is the first step of inbound marketing, the 'attract' stage. Doing this bit well will drive traffic into your marketing flywheel through the next stages of 'engage' and 'delight'. 

Converting these visitors into enquiries/leads is the best way to secure growth to your student numbers. To find out more about how you can grow your student numbers using inbound marketing methodology and technology innovation, get in touch and we can discuss your goals.

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The inbound methodology is just the start, find out more about how HubSpot can help your school, college or university.