Have you jumped on the Instagram band wagon for your charter school? Many schools are using Instagram to build their brand and customer loyalty. They are regularly pumping out images of happy students doing interesting projects or important work. Other schools are silent on Instagram, either because they don't have time to work the social media network, or they are focusing on other forums, such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. How can you know if it's worth your time?
Did you know that there are currently over 800 million monthly active users on Instagram? And 80% of those users follow a business on Instagram. That business could be YOUR school. How do they find you? Hashtags. There have been 47,000 posts on the hashtag "#charterschool". You can add up to 30 hashtags to your post, but research suggests the best number may be 11. Posts with at least one hashtag have at least 12% more engagement than those without. (https://sproutsocial.com/insights/instagram-stats/)
Instagram is the perfect medium for charter schools. It's FREE to set up an account. You have a natural audience of parents who are hungry to see their kids featured on social media. And you can share your message with a photo and a quick caption in seconds, from anywhere.
Shout out to these fine charter schools who are building excitement and sharing the love for their communities.
Kim Walsh Phillips has written a fantastic guide for developing your business account on Instagram. Although this book is focused on the entrepreneur who has a product or service to sell, you can easily adapt the message for schools. Simply change the wording in your mind from "sell" to "enroll". Your sales are found in your enrollment numbers which drive your budget. Your service is the way you deliver a unique educational vision to your community. What is your sales funnel? Getting new parents from "looking" to "liking" to "enrolling." And you are competing with every other school within driving distance, so you need to get this right. Published by Entrepreneur, The Ultimate Guide to Instagram for Business is a great resource if you want to make the most of this social network. I highly recommend this book!
Is it worth your time?
Instagram marketing can serve two purposes for your charter school. It can help you:
Build a community of loyal followers who will like and share your posts to spread the word about your school.
Attract new parents to your school by developing an online message that leads them through the marketing steps from "aware," to "like," to "enroll," and finally to "loyal parent."
With Instagram, as with any social media marketing, you need to build your tribe. Parents need to feel that "people like us" enroll in a school like this.
How to use Instagram for charter schools
Ready to dive deeper into marketing with Instagram? Download this FREE guide to using the marketing strategies recommended in Instagram for Business to increase enrollment for your charter school. This guide is available ONLY with this link! Download today.
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Check out this blog post from Internet Advisor: 10 Social Media Statistics You Need to Know in 2022.
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Peggy Downs works with school leaders who want to leverage grants to dramatically increase funding, impact, and credibility for their schools. More info and a ton of free resources are waiting for you at:
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