School closures during COVID-19 were hard on the Journey School community and, let’s face it, on all of us. Even when in-person instruction resumed, a sizable chunk of students had either relocated or chose to continue learning online through another education platform.
Savvy Administrator Gavin Keller noticed the great response on their social media channels during lockdowns. A parent volunteer had posted a few times, and the response from the community was powerful! Seeing the response and hoping to boost enrollment, Gavin was ready to take his school’s social media to the next level.
Enter K12 Social Media expert, Arias! Ok, it’s Arias writing this case study, so I will now be switching to the first person! I was a teacher at Journey School for eight years before diving into the marketing world. After seeing the work I had done for my clients, Gavin asked me to help them with their marketing efforts. I LOVED Journey School and was over the moon to help!
Once we started posting consistently with a strategy in place, we were able to reach 7,000 people every week. The best part was that enrollment applications started coming in, and retention rates improved.
Yes, I created engaging graphics and gathered images, but my main focus was to create compelling posts that attracted prospective parents AND put current parents at ease. Each post showcased the thoughtfulness, strong community, and singular experiences their children would only find at Journey School.
I aimed to demonstrate the mission, feel, and purpose found at Journey School as well as create an emotional connection with our audience. After implementing these changes, more parents were compelled to engage (e.g., like, comment, follow), take action (e.g., begin the application process), and share our posts with a broader audience, getting us in front of more prospective families.
How do prospective families find a school on social media? From the school’s website header or footer, word of mouth, our current community members sharing our posts, OR through Hashtags.
I used location-based hashtags, as well as hashtags that reflected the school’s educational philosophy, and hashtags that our parents of our community generally resonate with.
By doing market research, and implementing a strong hashtag strategy, we were able to become one of the top viewed posts for #WaldorfEducation – our school’s pedagogy.
This strategy attracted more followers, boosted our engagement, and got us in front of more prospective families.
With Facebook and Instagram advertising, we were able to target parents of specific aged children, with unique interests, in our area. It is a wonderful tool for schools that want to expand awareness of their school and get prospective parents to take action!
When Journey School had an Open House coming up, we launched a campaign to get in front of more people and receive more sign-ups!
One of my favorite parts of the process is seeing parents and teachers commenting on the posts, tagging their friends, and engaging with the content. It is a meaningful point of connection for the community.
When parents and teachers share the posts with their communities, this 10xs our posts reach and potentially attract families to start looking into your school as an option for their children. What could be more compelling than current families singing your school’s praises to their friends and family?
Being on top of the social media accounts 24/7 allowed me to catch enrollment opportunities that may have been missed and engage with the community in meaningful ways. Frequently asked questions from prospective parents came through in direct messenger and the comments, and I made it a point to respond swiftly and thoughtfully. As you can see in the corresponding image, an enrollment opportunity was created by educating and responding to a prospective parent’s disappointment!
Once we started posting consistently with a strategy in place, we were able to reach 7,000 people every week. The best part was that enrollment applications started coming in, and retention rates improved.
K12 Social Media skillfully captures the essence and spirit of our school and connects deeply with our parent community, teachers, and students. They have attracted new families to learn more about our school, resulting in a DRAMATIC increase in our enrollment numbers. I could not be happier with their work for us!
Executive Director, Journey School
“Their amazing work boosts our school spirit and helps us grow! The glowing response from our community has been incredible. They just get it and get results.”
Enrollment and Outreach, Journey School
We would love to learn more about your school and your social media goals and share ways we think we can help!
We'll send over a proposal that meets your school's needs. Once you pick one of our packages, we kick things off!
This is the fun part! After gathering a bit more information, we will begin creating your custom social media strategy and start posting in two weeks!
Helping schools shine, one stellar social media post at a time! Some of the most inspiring stories come from within the four walls of your classrooms.
Our mission is to help schools safely, efficiently, and confidently share their stories on social media, attract prospective families, and boost school spirit.
