Heads of School: It’s #BacktotheFuture Day, so talk about the future! #bttf2015

Back to the Future Day #bttf2015 @backtothefuture

Today is a unique “holiday”. It is “Back to the Future” Day – commemorating that future day featured in the 1980’s classic “Back to the Future II” movie. There are 2 main hashtags: #backtothefuture and #bttf2015.

So what does this odd cultural day have to do with your school?

When it comes to social media content, one tip is to look for trending topics and align your brand with that topic (unless it is inappropriate). There are many crazy social media “holidays” that occupy people’s newsfeeds on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Some of the more common ones that occur annually:

  • International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19)
  • May the 4th Be With You (Star Wars’ reference to May 4th)
  • April Fool’s Day (social media loves this day to prank their followers)
  • Pi Day (March 14 . . . get it? 3.14!)

There are so many other wacky holidays that you can find online – it seems there is a holiday for every day!

On this once-in-a-lifetime social media day (“Back to the Future Day”), what can you do to join the fun? Here are a 5 quick ideas:

  1. The year 1955 is also prominently featured in the prequel 1985 movie. Post some throwback pictures to 1955, showing how your campus has changed (if your school is that old!)
  2. If you have a Head of School or faculty member who was born in 1955, grab a quick video of them talking about their life, the way education has changed or the way life used to be in the 1950s.
  3. Since 1985 is one of the other years associated with the sequel movie, use the same logic as before. Throwback pictures are possibly easier to find for 1985 so dig those out of the yearbooks you have on the shelf in the library!
  4. Perhaps you can look for teachers, coaches or administrative staff that remember seeing the movie in their teens (the original movie was released in 1985). Shoot a quick video asking people what their favorite scenes were.
  5. Your Head of School can write a quick blog post, record a brief audio and post it to SoundCloud, or shoot a short video about the FUTURE of your school. If this day is celebrating that we have arrived “back to the future”, then what better time to lay out his/her vision for the next 5, 10 or even 30 years!

Have fun today . . . and as Doc Brown said in the movie to Marty McFly, “do it in style!”

-Randy

*BONUS CONTENT* – grab a free copy of our Content Calendar spreadsheet (with many of these wacky holidays listed alongside other key events and dates throughout the year). This will help you plan your social media better . . . and weird and wacky holidays like this won’t creep up on you!

*BONUS TIP* – don’t forget that in 2016, we have a LEAP YEAR. Is there anything unique you can do with that? Be creative!

*SIGN UP FOR 5 FREE WEBINARS* – register for our “Pumpkin Spice Webinar Series” to get 5 free presentations on school marketing.

Do you know the best social media tools to use for your school?

Best social media tools for a private school

Social media has emerged in the past 5-10 years as an integral part of every school’s marketing efforts. Unfortunately, those who succeed in it are rare. Here are some general statements that reflect how some of my conversations with school marketing folks have gone:

  1. “I always thought that since social media was free advertising, we would see a great return and I could ditch my advertising budget on print.”
  2. “Things change so often, especially on Facebook, that I don’t always keep up. Sometimes I just give up.”
  3. “I try and make life easier by posting the same thing to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. But people say the content should be unique to each platform’s audience. But who has the time to customize it?”
  4. “I hear that people are getting on Instagram instead of Facebook. But is Facebook dead?”
  5. “I never thought of using Pinterest. Why? Isn’t it just for recipes and home decor?”

If you are frustrated and unsure of your social media strategy, let me encourage you to sign up for the “Pumpkin Spice Webinar Series” going on right now. Every Tuesday for 5 consecutive weeks, we will release a presentation all about school marketing. The first webinar is LIVE and the title is, “Social Media Strategy: Growing Your Pool of Potential Students”. This webinar gives you a solid foundation in understanding your social media strategy.

But do you know the best social media tools to use for your school?

Let me run through a quick overview of several key tools that I think have a strong place in your school’s marketing strategy:

  • BLOG: whether it is called a “blog” or “news” or “success stories”, hopefully your content management system has a tool that you can easily (without an extra charge) add quick content. This is such a versatile tool on your website that you must have it. To learn more about using a blog in  your marketing, listen to this podcast episode about blogging for your school.
  • REVIEWS: whether it is your Google page, your listing on GreatSchools.org, or the reviews on your school’s Facebook page, you need to accumulate 2-3 reviews each month on these three critical sites. Reviews verify to prospective parents that your school is worth the investment and the best choice in a competitive landscape. To learn more about the importance on online reviews, click here.
  • EMAIL MARKETING: do not let those emails sit in a drawer somewhere handwritten on inquiry cards. Put those email addresses into a system like MailChimp or Constant Contact and create a consistent communication link with everyone who has visited your campus, inquired over the phone (ask for their email!), and who have downloaded content from your website (in exchange for their email address, you deliver valuable content). Not every family is ready to click on your “APPLY NOW” button. Nurture that relationship with email marketing. Read: “Using email marketing to engage prospective families (and doing it the right way!)”
  • FACEBOOK: while some of your younger prospective moms may be totally consumed with Instagram, statistics show that Facebook remains a vital tool for every school. The data shows that moms and dads over 30 still consume Facebook the most so keep the great content flowing for them to know, like and trust you as the best educational choice for their child. Listen to “What to Post on Facebook?”

I think there’s a strong case as well for YouTube and/or Vimeo for video. You can also upload native video directly to your Facebook page and add a “Call to Action” at the end of the video which is a nice touch. Twitter is valuable on so many levels for dissemniating information, connecting with alumni and local media and to communicate your distinct claims. But I would do more than simply linking my Facebook posts to Twitter because the Twitter culture invites (even “demands”) more content than typical Facebook users want to see. Instagram and Pinterest are strong visual content tools and, while both involve a lot of visual content, they deliver different results.

To get further comments about the best social media tools, sign up for the free “Pumpkin Spice Webinar Series” where each Tuesday for 5 consecutive weeks (starting Oct 20, 2015), we will release a new 20-30 minute presentation about school marketing. The second webinar in the series is on this topic, “The Best Social Media Tools for Your School”.

Click the image below to register  . . .

via @schoolmktg PUMPKIN SPICE WEBINAR SERIES - Register now!

Email marketing content ideas for growing and nurturing your list (podcast #58)

Email marketing content ideas for growing and nurturing your list (podcast #58)

[Scroll to bottom to listen to interview and to visit shownotes of this post for links to items mentioned in this episode]


Email marketing is often overlooked as a powerful marketing tool to lead, guide and nurture families to enrollment (and beyond). In this brief episode (14 minutes and 29 seconds), I discuss the kind of content you can use when trying to build your email list (and other ways to do it), as well as the content that will educate and build trust for your prospective families and even your current ones, too.

If you didn’t catch Part 1 of this 2-part series on Email Marketing, check out the link below to Episode #57!

Click below (or click “MORE”) for all the links and action steps from this episode!

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Email marketing content ideas for growing and nurturing your list (podcast #58)

 

 

 

 

 

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