You may or may not be aware that Facebook made some pretty significant changes to their news feed algorithm earlier this year. Now the dust has settled, we can look at how you can make the most of these changes to better your #SchoolMarketing.

Did you fall for our clickbait?!! (sorry about that)

Regarded by many as annoying and unwanted, clickbait is the term used for articles / news that lure people in with enticing titles, but generally result in very little good content.

Most of us will know about clickbait, and yet we still click on these articles! What is it that lures us in and how can we then apply that to #SchoolMarketing?

7 elements of a clickbait title

Clickbait is grounded in understanding the human psyche. They play with our natural curiosity and become irresistible. After analysing lots of titles, one researcher believes there are 7 elements that make up clickbait titles:

1. list: commonly seen on platforms such as BuzzFeed, for example: 20 restaurants that are straight-up living in the future. Lists are attention grabbing and effective lures that evoke our natural curiosity.  
2. personal stories: using "you" or "I" in the title makes a title relatable and plays with our empathetic sides. Similarly, a story that features a person is relatable. This is why you shouldn't outrun a bear or This CEO's trick to managing hundreds of emails a day is absolutely brilliant are two great examples.
3. animal: the internet and animals seem to go hand-in-hand. How many can say they don't know about the sneezing panda, or haven't watched funny cat / dog videos for an alarmingly long time? Break through the cute-factor with titles like: 20+ times Shibas proved they’re the most Much Wow dogs ever!
4. recent media attention / news story: it seems obvious to say, but using trending news stories is a sure way to gain more clicks. We saw a lot of this on Facebook during the US elections. Popular news outlets even began using clickbait titles to push their content further, like Newsweek's article: Good news Donald Trump, you don't have to be very smart to be a good leader.
5. pop-culture / food-culture reference: food and pop culture are seemingly irresistible topics. Quizzes like: Make yourself a cupcake and we'll guess your favourite cereal just seem to grab our attention. BuzzFeed's Tasty is also a great example of how to do it well, pushing content across Facebook and similar channels.
6. unknown / new concepts: dangling an element of mystery as bait, or suggesting a new idea, makes it very difficult to resist clicking on a title. Does something like: Man tries to hug a wild lion, you won’t believe what happens next make you want to click it? 
7. shock or excitement: suggesting something shocking and exciting is another powerful method to convince readers to click. 

Of the top performing clickbait articles:

• 17% were listicles
• 29% of the most shared titles mentioned “you”, “I” or hinted at a personal story
• Only 8% mentioned an animal
• 63% made a pop-culture reference or mentioned food
• 63% also mentioned recent events in the news and media
• 67% contained an unknown or new concept
• 79% of the articles contained an element of shock

The X-Factor of titles

Did you know: combining these elements into titles can make articles even more appealing? It is just a matter of finding X.

According to the same research, titles with 3 or 4 elements within them have the greatest level of engagement!.

How to use in #SchoolMarketing

While clickbait is not the best received marketing tactic right now, we would still argue that there is value in taking the principles of clickbait titles and applying them to your school's marketing. It would be interesting to see what comes out of it. 

Here are a few example titles we had fun coming up with. Remember, 3 or 4 elements in a title seem to have the greatest impact.

• 7 pizza recipes from the brilliant minds of children to give you goosebumps  (e.g. home economics)
• This is how one pupil broke the school record. You won't believe how! (e.g. sports)
• 10 trips all the kids are talking about. #4 will shock you! (e.g. school trips)
• This is why our school is winning all the awards. Our parents can't believe it, can you? 
• Tell us your favourite ice cream and we'll tell you what Old Schoolian you are (e.g. Alumni) 

By keeping the content light you can create eye catching titles that people will want to click. Thank you clickbait!

What do you think about this? Could clickbait hold some truth to great titles or is it all too much? We'd love to hear your thoughts. Please do comment below...you won't believe what will happen!

Live streaming has been around for a long long time. In fact, Periscope was first launched in March 2015! 

Towards the end of 2017, people were beginning to really take notice of live streaming. Top social media companies were investing time in development and advertising to see it become more culturally used.

Today, different social media platforms like...

• Twitter (Periscope)
• Facebook
• YouTube
• Musical.ly
• Tumblr
• Twitch

...all have live streaming functions. This is a real indication for a public desire to broadcast to the world!

We have noticed schools slowly taking up live streaming, but the time to understand and utilise it is now! Trends in tech and digital marketing are so fluid - it is important to not fall behind.

Did you know?

• The streaming industry is estimated to reach $70.05 BILLION by 2021
• 81% of internet audiences viewed more live content in 2016 than they did in 2015
• Facebook Live videos are watched 3x longer than regular videos
• YouTube Live was largest streaming platform in early 2016, with Facebook gaining ground towards the end of the year
• Live.Ly (the live streaming service from Musical.Ly) is bigger than Periscope, with 4.6 million monthly active users
• Twitch draws 10 Million daily active users, watching an average of 106 minutes every day

Why schools should be live streaming

Live streaming is a really intimate method of delivering engaging content to your school community. For a parent, it can prove a really effective way to feel close to the action and offer an emotional understanding of what their child does at your school. 

It’s the truest form of authenticity on social media. You show what is REALLY happening at your school. Right now. In real-time! 

Where can I live stream?

There are a growing number of streaming services but the important ones for your school to take note of are:

• Twitter: Periscope is Twitter's platform for broadcasting a live stream. We love Periscope, as it offers an instant method to share top #SchoolStories with your community. Gain more engagement by promoting your broadcast before it goes live. Follow Periscope's latest news, tips and features blog, to stay ahead with the platform.
• Facebook: with Facebook LIVE you have all the power of live streaming with the sheer reach offered by social media leader, Facebook. Feel inspired by these past Live videos, and see how people have been connecting with their followers.
• Instagram: users now have the ability to add live streams to give their Instagram Stories extra clout. This has proven an incredibly popular feature for Instagram. Live streams will disappear after the broadcast ends (but you can save and upload as a story).

The three above are the most notable for your school, as each can be implemented into your marketing strategy effectively. Below are a few more worth noting (but less inclined towards school marketing efforts).

• YouTube: the video-centric platform has taken to live video streams as naturally as a fish does to water (which you can watch live on YouTube - above!) There are some current stipulations to being able to broadcast on YouTube Live (such as 10,000+ subscribers), making this a harder channel for schools to obtain. Check the YouTube Live channel for a real smorgasbord of live streams.
• Twitch: the world’s leading social video platform for video game culture. Twitch is incredibly popular with the gaming community and younger people, with new consoles having their own Twitch services so anyone can broadcast their gaming to the world. Not a huge platform for schools to use, but a big one to know about!
• Snapchat: the popular ephemeral messaging app is getting a live video update, but it will not allow users to broadcast in the same way.

The platform will differ according to your school marketing needs, the #ContentStrategy in place and the audience you wish to reach.

Live streaming ideas to try

Not sure how to get started with live streaming? Here are a few great ideas to get you thinking about what broadcasting can offer:

[1] Virtual tours of the school

If you’re an international school, or have international students, this is a no-brainer. 

When people are restricted by location, live streaming gives them access to see the school and have that one-to-one attention to get what they need from you.

The school can also schedule virtual open days to a wider, larger audience.

[2] Assemblies

Head’s assemblies happen. There’s no need to think of content, or stories, or anything. You just hold your smartphone and stream the assemblies. Simple.

It’s a great way for parents to check in and connect, offering them a unique insight into your school's culture.

[3] Lessons / tutorials

Schools have so much knowledge to share. Why not share this online? People (outside of the school’s community) can watch the streaming and share.

This can help you be seen as an educational resource and help increase the awareness of your school’s brand.

Perhaps you could do a weekly ‘lesson’. Each week a different department teaches something interesting. 

There’s also the altruistic view of helping the world gain access to education.

[4] Sports day

Don't let parents miss out on seeing their child win the 100m or break the school's javelin record! 

Plan in advance and broadcast each event. Share event times to parents ahead of the day, so they can tune into the ones their child is taking part in. 

[5] Science experiments

Science experiments happen all the time. These are the types of streams that do not require thought or ideas, they just happen. All you need is a smartphone or tablet and you’re ready to stream. 

This is a quick win. Just get on and stream! 

[6] Concerts & performances

Sometimes parents and family members can’t make it to performances but wish they could. Live streaming gives them the ability to watch live from anywhere in the world. 

Just be clear about how they can view and ensure that the set up works (i.e. is the recording device stable? Does it have enough battery or is plugged into a power source?)

A few tips

We have written an article for using Facebook Live, which is filled with some handy tips that can be implemented across other channels easily. Be sure to give it a read!

Live streaming is in the moment. If you want to tune in, you have to do it NOW. Fear of missing out will increase your social engagement. 

 

Has your school tried live streaming yet? How will you use it? Let us know ✍️

As a digital marketer, you are likely to have come across the term SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). In short, it is the way you set up and optimise a website so it features higher on a search results (e.g. Google).

There are lots of ways you can improve your SEO - too many to add into a single article! This week, we will focus on something called SERP - what it is and how you can perfect it for your school website.

Search Engine Results Page (SERP)

Whenever you search for something on Google, you may have noticed different types of results coming back? These can be:

• standard results (e.g. a list of sites that best match your search term)
• an Answer Box (also known as a Featured Snippet) at the top of the results page, followed by the standard results
• a PPC advert at the top of the page (or several) related to your search term
• a Knowledge Panel / Graph to the right-hand side of your results
• ALL OF THE ABOVE!

It is possible to influence all of these possible results using best practice techniques around SEO.

**GDPR UPDATE (24th May 2018): 

We are sure you will be glad to know, that after May 25th, the high influx of GDPR emails will slow right down!  It is an important step in data security and data transparency, and one that no school should overlook in the slightest.

At @intSchools, we take GDPR very seriously, and believe this is a great step forward to protect our privacy and digital footprint. In that same vein of transparency, we wanted you - our community - to understand the steps we take to ensure that your data is safe and the bespoke #SchoolWebsites we build meet GDPR standards.

We have added to the bottom of this blog key steps and examples of what we have done.

Here's something that might astound you...

Once upon a time there was a world without the likes of Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. It was a truly strange time where news was watched on boxes in your house, where pictures were shown to friends and family on shiny pieces of paper, and where you'd have to shout really loud to tell people that you are at a concert. Can you believe that?!!

Social media actually started in 1978, when two computer hobbyists invented the computerised bulletin board system (BBS). This was used to inform friends of meetings, make announcements, and share information. Sound familiar?

Fast forwarding through the beautiful internet timeline have seen the likes of GeoCities, Blogger, AOL, Friendster and Meerkat come and go. 

MSN Messenger

Founded 1999.

MSN messenger has a warm place in every user's heart. Launched in 1999 by Microsoft, MSN messenger was a instant messaging client which took the world by storm. In 2005 it had over 330 million active monthly users and was a big part of everybody's lives.

330 Million in 2005! Only 8% of the population had internet access, these numbers in proportion to internet users at the time are unbelievable. 

When broadband started to rise to prominence the service became more and more popular but what could MSN messenger do? What made it so popular?

[1] Tech is redefining the game

It seems obvious to say but the gargantuan changes we have seen in technology, in the last 10 years alone, has completely changed the way we do many things. Education is no exception.

Some of these impactful tech changes include:

• mobile technology
• machine learning / artificial intelligence
• virtual / augmented reality
• cloud & data storage
• significant increases to internet speed (globally)

Tech evolution is not only redefining the ways we can teach but the actual curriculum of what should be learned. This is likely to continue, while we try to better clarify technology's place in the learning process.

[2] Mobile technology is opening new ways of learning

There have been ongoing arguments about pupils having mobile phones in school for many years now. The simply truth today though is that mobile tech has permeated into our lives so much that more people own a mobile phone than do not!

In fact, there is a slightly horrifying statistic that states more people in the world own a mobile phone than a toothbrush!

If we can accept the fact that mobile tech is here, perhaps we can begin to look at how it can be used in the classroom. Here are a few ways that mobile tech has positively affected learning:

• pupils can research topics online, explore subject content further and find inspiration for their work
• pupil engagement has been noted to increase in schools already integrating tech and mobile tech into their learning process
• different teaching styles are easier to implement with mobile tech - distant learning and collaborative learning for example
• consistent use of mobile tech provides more skills for pupils' futures, particularly around digital citizenship

[3] Remote learning is increasingly becoming simpler

We have all likely heard of (and maybe even tried) Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). These are courses (many of which are free) where you can learn remotely by watching videos, reading course content and self-assessing your understanding.

MOOCs give people the opportunity to learn skills in almost anything you can imagine without needing to attend classes. 

[4] Learning can be more focussed around collaboration

This may be one of the more impactful changes we see in education, collaboration:

• pupil / pupil collaboration enabled by tech can be a powerful (and equitable) thing. Pupils who are perhaps introverts may find it easier to collaborate with their peers over a digital platform
• pupil / teacher collaboration is also enabled with tech. We have already seen platforms like Pinterest enable this collaboration, but in reality this can be taken to exciting new heights as the power of tech grows

Collaboration is an essential life skill, so having tech as a tool to better instil it as a quality can only be a good thing.

[5] Digital games are finding a solid place in the learning process

Game based learning and gamification were hot topics a few years ago. Many educators agree that using digital games in the learning process can actually help improve pupil engagement and give teachers useful tools to help analyse their pupils engagement.

We have seen some great innovations in the digital game meets education technology industry, Minecraft: Education Edition for example. 

[6] Information is easier to come by, but application still needs the guidance of a teacher

While all of the above are very positive regarding the impact of technology in education, there is one essential thing to bear in mind. This is that while the availability of information has been vastly improved (a pupil could be said to have unlimited knowledge in their pocket with smart phones) the application of this knowledge still needs to be taught.

And this is why the teacher cannot really be replaced! We explore this exact topic in our analysis of Virtual Reality (is it a supplement for teachers, or their replacement) and the outcome very much remains this: