Why Paid and Organic Social Media is Essential for Student and Pupil Recruitment
So, you are fully aware of the power of social media for education, but are you wondering if paid-for social media advertising is something you should consider ,and how it compares with organic posting? In a nutshell, both are important to help you meet your goals - whether brand awareness, student recruitment, or engagement, and a mix of the two is usually the best plan of action. With students and parents increasingly researching their ideal school online, an effective strategy & targeted campaigns combining both organic & paid-for social media activity is essential to increase your establishment’s visibility and ensure you stand out online. Even a small amount of ad spend in combination with strategic organic posts and engagement can have a significant impact on your goals.
What is paid-for social media?
Paid for social media is a method of showing adverts to a targeted audience on a social media platform. They can be in the form of in-feed ads, messenger, stories or wider audience network ads. They will be static imagery, graphics, videos… a whole host of options are available.. It is a good way of reaching a specific sub-audience and increasing traffic/enquiries/brand awareness. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & LinkedIn offer various options such as promoting images (graphics or photos), carousels and videos (e.g., video posts, reels, stories).
What is organic social media?
Organic social media refers to the ability to post free photos, graphics, videos & stories on social platforms. This is shown to a percentage of your followers (not all) and those following hashtags you use. In some circumstances, it may be shown to those who do not follow you, for example on Instagram’ ‘Explore’ page, however this is not guaranteed. Organic social media does help with growing your audience however is best viewed as a way of nurturing your current audience and building a sense of community with them.
How do I know what type of paid-for social media to opt for?
Although most platforms will offer similar options for paid-for advertising options (video, image & carousel), a one-size-fits-all approach will likely not work. The audiences of each platform do largely differ therefore understanding your target audience is important to decide which platform(s) to concentrate your efforts on and how. Before deciding what to go for with any advertising campaign it is first important to set clear goals in line with your strategy. For example, are you looking to raise awareness to new parents or students, generate leads or promote a particular recruitment event? This will help you decide where to place your ads and what type of ad will work best.
Organic vs paid social media – which is better for student recruitment?
Both! Organic and paid for social media have different outcomes and goals when it comes to student recruitment and a combination of the two will work best together to boost your reach, awareness and community on social media. Organic social media is there to build connections, relationships and to share your story with your audience and can be analysed with data available to measure the performance of content. It helps to solidify and build on your brand image and allows potential students/parents an insight into what it is like to study with you. Paid for social media allows you to reach a lot more people and target your ideal customer much more precisely, including those who have already expressed interest in joining you, but haven’t yet taken action (such as Registration or making an enquiry). You will also have the ability to measure & track the results of your campaigns in a very granular way. In summary, combining paid-for social media to attract new recruits and organic content to showcase your educational establishment and how fantastic it is, is the perfect mix!
Top tips!
Strategy is key! To achieve the best results, remember to ensure you have a clear strategy in place based on your brand’s calendar of events and target audience to allow you to plan your content and campaigns.
Focus on value for organic content. Give people a reason to follow your brand on socials with your organic content, for example, study tips & advice, interesting facts and motivational content for students.
Always have a call to action! Whether it’s a paid-for ad or an organic post, make sure you have clear instructions as to what you want your audience to do! E.g., follow this link, sign up to our mailing list, get in touch for more info…you get the idea!
Still struggling to get to grips with the right combination of paid-for & organic social media for your education brand? Book a 15 min consultation call with us and we can work with you to find out an approach that would work best for your school. If you’re starting from scratch with building a strategy & understanding of social media, why not download our free content planner here to help you get started?