In the digital age, social media has become an essential tool for schools to interact with current students, parents, the wider community and of course your prospective audience. From sharing updates on events and accomplishments, to sharing the gems of everyday school life, social media offers unrivalled opportunities for school communication and marketing. However, amidst the allure of social media triumph, lies a minefield of potential pitfalls that can thwart even the most well-intentioned strategies.

Infrequency of Posts

At Interactive Schools, our ethos revolves around crafting unparalleled websites for world-leading schools. Placing users at the forefront of our design process, we specialise in curating immersive experiences that seamlessly blend creative innovation, measurable engagement, and tangible impact. Our mission is to transform school websites into dynamic portals, offering a lens into the vibrant essence of your institution.

We understand that in order to stay at the cutting edge of School Website Design and to continue to provide dynamic and engaging experiences, it is essential to monitor the ever-changing marketing and technological landscape. Whilst we don’t have access to a crystal ball that will show exactly what the future of school website design looks like, with the current rapidly evolving high-tech advancements we are seeing, we are able to anticipate what this could look like.

Audience Demand For Instant Gratification

For schools in the Independent sector, the role of imagery for marketing purposes is not to be underestimated. The uses range from captivating websites to engaging social media posts and these visuals play a crucial role in attracting, informing, and persuading prospective families to choose the right school for their child. But with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the possibilities for enhancing imagery have expanded exponentially. In this blog, we will explore how independent school marketers can leverage AI imagery to tell compelling, personalised, and impactful stories.

Understanding AI Imagery

Many schools new choose to focus their creative efforts on video, as this provides additional dimensions to stories told, including a moment that can be captured, curated and shared with the school’s key stakeholders, in a fraction of the time it takes to produce a video.

Before delving into its applications, let's briefly discuss what AI imagery actually is. AI-powered image processing algorithms can analyse and interpret visual content with exceptional accuracy and speed. These algorithms can perform tasks such as image recognition, object detection, and facial recognition and even generate entirely new images based on learned patterns. By harnessing the power of AI, marketers can unlock a myriad of opportunities to enhance their visual content and deliver tailored experiences to their key stakeholders.

Schools’ marketers will be well aware that #Hashtags are the bread and butter of making your stories discoverable for your various audiences and stakeholder groups. For storytellers themselves, these are the tools that allow for stories to be organised; and for your school’s audiences, they help families to filter the stories that they are most interested in.

Using something like #OxfordPrivateSchool may help a school to be more easily available to prospective parents in the local market, while #ProudTeacher’ might help those prospective parents understand the values of a school. But that can’t be the only use of a Hashtag, can it?

Absolutely not! At Interactive Schools, we understand that the value of hashtagging goes beyond increasing the discoverability of social media stories, and actually allows for a system of curation and organisation, both within the social channel and within the architecture of our Websites.

With every school that we work with, we devise a #HashtagStrategy, which centres on the three elements of every school that make them unique: People, Place and Purpose - Who is the story about, What are they doing and Why are they doing that?

#People

In the digital age, online reviews wield immense power, especially for schools striving to maintain. respectable reputation and attract new students. Among the plethora of platforms, Google Reviews stands out as a critical arena where parents, students and even staff share their experiences and opinions.

Responding to these reviews is not just a courtesy; it’s a strategic move that can shape public perception and strengthen your school’s online presence.

So buckle up, as we embark on a journey to master the art of responding to Google Reviews!

First Things First - Keep It Classy!

Whether it’s a glowing testimonial or a constructive critique, every review deserves a thoughtful and respectful response. Think of it as a digital handshake - acknowledge the feedback graciously and express genuine appreciation for the time taken to share thoughts.

Now for the next steps - let’s sprinkle in some charm and personality. Injecting a bit of humour or warmth into your response can humanise your brand and make it more relatable. However, it’s always important to remember to strike the right balance and tailor your tone to match the review’s sentiment.

How Do We Recommend You Target Those Glowing 5-Star Reviews?

Easy. Seize the opportunity to show them with gratitude. An example of this would be:

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a social network designed for the business and professional community. It has evolved over the years with many people calling it “The New Facebook”. It is a crucial part of School Marketing with more users and parents on the network than ever before. It is commonly overlooked that Schools should only use LinkedIn for recruitment purposes. Stories showcasing Alumni, student and staff achievements sit perfectly on LinkedIn.

How can my school use LinkedIn?

LinkedIn works similarly to Facebook with your School having a “Page” that can be managed by several users. We recommend that your Marketing team should manage LinkedIn. We have also seen some Schools' LinkedIn be managed by the head of school which is a great way of differentiating your content from your other channels.  

Examples of content your school could share:

What Is Flickr?

Flickr is an online photo and video hosting platform where users can upload, share, and organise their images and videos. Flickr's Key features include organising photos..You are able to add captions to your content, add relevant tags, join groups based on shared interests, participate in discussions and comment on each other's photos.

How Can My School Use Flickr?

We recommend that the Marketing department manage your school’s Flickr account to post high-quality photos from a photographer or school camera. Flickr can be used as a visual showcase of events happening in your school. 

Examples of content your school could share:

What is Issuu?

What is Pinterest?