How to Create Authentic Video Content for Your Education Brand
Do you wince whenever you hear the words “video marketing”? As education marketers, we often think video marketing means big budgets & professional shoots but this does not always have to be the case! Sure, professional video campaigns have their place but in terms of social media marketing for your school or business, authentic, off-the-cuff video works just as well and in some cases, even better! Video is big on social media right now. Even Instagram, the traditional “photo-sharing platform” now focusses heavily on video content (reels & stories). This is good news for education marketers as video content is far more engaging & performs better than still graphics & images and does not have to involve a(n often expensive) professional videographer every time you post a video! Still not sure about how to regularly include video content in a school’s social media marketing strategy? It’s not as difficult as you think! Here’s some advice to get you started:
Authenticity sells
Authenticity is so important on platforms like Instagram. But, what do we mean by authentic video? Video content that shows off your education brand’s personality, values and USPs in a way that people can relate to - as and when it’s happening, rather than being choreographed or staged - is much more readily consumed than professional content. And the good news is, you can shoot it from a mobile phone, no fancy lighting, sound equipment or cameras required. People want to see the “realness” behind the shiny promotional prospectus - think end of term celebrations, rehearsals from your school’s upcoming show, sporting competitions, tours of parts of your schools or study tips from students/teachers – all shot from a smart phone with a high resolution camera.
When to use it
Unless you’ve been living under a rock you will know that short-form video is where it’s at in terms of social media marketing, and using this type of authentic content has helped many accounts grow massively online. Reels (short-form, full-screen, immersive videos on Instagram & now Facebook) are a great opportunity to show off your school and all it has to offer, and also allows you to be seen by new audiences & people. Stories are a great way to connect with your current audience & build connections with them. Both provide an opportunity to share authentic video that doesn’t need to be overthought or planned out e.g. behind the scenes at your school sports day, take viewers through part of your school tour at your next open event & even do a Q&A with a couple of the fantastic people that make up your school or team.
Tips & ideas
Creating authentic video content for your school can be easy! All you need is a good smart phone that takes high-quality video, a little bit of creativity and a fabulous school/college/university/office to show off. We recommend having a scroll through social platforms like Instagram, to see what other accounts (in the education industry and beyond) are doing for inspiration, jotting down some ideas & saving audios that fit your brand (tip: trending audios can help increase your reach, look for the arrow in the bottom right-hand corner). Some great ideas for schools would be to show off different areas of your campus, spotlight sporting events, sneak peeks of new courses, productions etc, meet the students/teachers or study tips! Batch creating content (filming lots in one go and in advance of posting it) can save you time & allow you to plan out your content for weeks in advance but often, the spur of the moment, real-time footage works great too and helps make people feel part of your school’s community. When it comes to making video content for your school, we recommend research, practice & above all, having fun with it! Click here to download a list of ideas for Reels videos you can create for your school!
Video helps to build deeper connections with people & gives you an amazing opportunity to show off what your amazing school has to offer. There are so many ways in which you can do this and have fun doing it! It’s just a question of practice & being creative! Want to learn more about creating authentic video? Try our Reels for beginners mini-course which teaches you everything you need to know about Reels, and takes you through a step-by-step tutorial of how to create tow different types of Reels. Time to start creating effective, eye-catching and education-appropriate Instagram Reels Videos!