The sin of social media is self-promotion.
Just because social media is “free” (and it’s increasingly costing more to participate), it does not mean it is a venue for “free advertising”! And worse, it does not mean it is a venue for incessant self-promotion. In reality, you have to understand this mantra when it comes to social media:
“It’s not about US, it’s about THEM.”
When all of your social media postings are about your school, this is what I consider as “scrapbook” content. It is not evil, but it requires an important question be asked.
Who’s the audience?
Scrapbooks are typically a lot more interesting and compelling for those who have experienced something (a summer camp, a vacation, etc.) If you gather your friends who experienced this with you and shared your scrapbook with them, you could sit for hours and reminisce about all the wonderful memories. Everyone would already recall the specific people involved (i.e., those funny camp counselors or that hiking guide who seemed to always get his facts wrong!) You would find yourself pouring over that scrapbook for a long time, oo-in and ah-ing over every visual reminder of the experience!
Now try and gather 5 friends who did not experience what you did. This is common on mission trips to far-away places (I was a missionary for 10 years, so I got this feeling a lot). You get out the scrapbook and start to share detailed accounts of every photo and feeling that same enthusiasm — except that your realize your audience of 5 is less engaged. Sure, they start out interested, but eventually, they cannot make the connection because they do not have the emotional attachment that you do. In a matter of minutes, you find yourself flipping hurriedly through the stack of photos only to hear them say at the end, “Wow, that was neat. Now, where do you want to go to lunch?”
When your school exclusively posts “scrapbook” content on your Facebook page (or other social platform), you will showcase some interesting things about your school, but it is unlikely that your content will resonate with your prospective families.
Here are 5 sins of social media scrapbooking:
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This is the 3rd of a 3-part series called “9 Steps to Marketing Your Christian School.”
In this episode of this series, we will address the CARRYING-OUT component (or “implementation”) of the 9 steps, which includes steps #7, #8 and #9. You will learn:
- How to have the end in mind and reverse engineer the process – and provide stepping stones, not stumbling blocks, or your prospective families
- Where the gaps are and how to find and fill those holes so that your resources can be adjusted to meet your marketing needs
- Why marketing by a calendar completes the systematic approach to marketing your Christian school
See our shownotes at the conclusion of this post for details, links, and other resources that we may have mentioned in this episode.
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In Texas, we have 4 different seasons. Winter, Summer, Friday Night Football and March Madness!
In August, Friday Night Lights sweeps over our schools with incredible enthusiasm [RELATED ARTICLE: “Friday Night Football – A Modern Mobile Marketing Marvel”]. As many people talk this week of NCAA’s college basketball March Madness brackets, this is a prime time to talk about your school and COLLEGE. Here are 3 ways to tie in your school marketing to what will likely be a trending (more…)
Coming on the heels of Episode #28 where we discussed the definition of school marketing, now we talk about a term “loyal ambassadors.” In previous episodes, we talked a little more in depth about what it means to be a “loyal ambassador” (see the SHOWNOTES below for the links to those shows). When you think about what you are doing in school marketing, only pushing “enrollment” is short-sighted. You need to recruit new students, but also focus on retention (loyalty) and referrals (ambassadors and word of mouth). Making this episode even more interesting, we also talk about Taco Bell, Amy Grant, Quebec City and Randy’s upcoming speaking engagement at the National Christian School Association Annual Conference in Nashville.
RELATED: Download our free report on “The 3’s of School Marketing”
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Every school’s marketing team must be on the same page when it comes to defining “marketing” – if not, chaos will ensue! Everyone knows we are ultimately talking about enrollment growth (“filling seats”), but the path of getting there will be challenging if the Head of School, Admissions Director, Social Media Coordinator and Marketing Team Volunteers (Parents) are all on a different wavelength in terms of what marketing is (and what it is not).
In this episode, we lay out a clear definition of marketing that applies to every school. It sets the stage for future episodes where we talk about the strategy and tactics that are essential for successful school marketing.
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