Video Marketing Strategies for Private Schools

This guide is here to help you create the effective private school video marketing strategy you need. Let’s get started!

According to the 2021 Vidyard Video in Business Report, the average education institution in 2020 created a stunning 433 videos – up 203% over 2019. And according to Cisco, video is anticipated to be 82% of all web traffic this year, up from 75% in 2017.

If your private school advertising strategy doesn’t include video at all, or it’s only a small fragment of your digital marketing plan, you’re probably falling behind. And with competition for students continuing to increase, your school can’t afford to ignore the power of school marketing videos.

Define the Goals of Your School’s Video Marketing Strategy

To begin building the right video marketing strategy for your private school, you need to define your goals clearly. Creating videos only because you see your competitors doing it will not be as effective as laying out what you want your videos to accomplish before you film and distribute them.

Some potential goals for your video marketing campaign could include:

• Increasing enrollment
• Increasing your conversion rate
• Building awareness of a new program or open house event
• Getting more engagement on your social media channels
• Building brand engagement through storytelling

Once you’ve defined your goal for the campaign, your messaging and content should all link back to that goal. Suppose you want to raise awareness of a new program, for example. In that case, your video content should focus on events about that program, and perhaps teachers discussing why it’s an exciting addition.

Targeting the Right Audience

The audience for your school marketing videos is also vital to determine before you begin creating them. Are you targeting the students who might be interested in attending your private school, or are you targeting their parents?

Parents are ultimately the ones who will invest in your private school – so target your content accordingly.

The messaging for each audience will be different, and where you distribute the videos may be as well, so you should determine it before you start creating videos.

Types of Videos for Your School

Once your goals are set, you can begin creating video content. Unsure where to start? These private school marketing video ideas might inspire you for your upcoming campaign.

Virtual Open Days

With open days and on-campus tours often canceled because of the pandemic and long-haul and international travel disrupted, creating compelling videos that replicate the open day experience is essential for schools.

Your school tour videos should be both engaging and informative. You can take students virtually into a classroom with a charismatic teacher, a popular student hangout, and around the school with a student guide, just as you would in-person.

Personalized Video Content

Creating one-size-fits-all videos isn’t always good enough to convert leads into enrollments these days – personalized videos are more effective and becoming the norm in digital marketing for schools. Personalized videos also have much higher open and click-through rates.

You can personalize videos for prospective parents and students based on your information about them. Some ideas for personalized school promotional videos include:

• Explainers about the application process
• Custom campus tours
• Explanations of the financial aid process
• Individual acceptance videos

Sample Course Content

Potential parents and students want to know what the courses they could take will look like before applying. Creating sample course videos that give them an idea of what a class will look like or what a semester will cover can be very appealing.

Livestream Events

One low-cost way to create more video content is to live-stream events you have already planned on your website and/or your social media channels. This strategy gives your events more exposure while showing potential students and their parents some of what they can expect to experience at your school if they are offered and accepted admission.

Student Alumni and Faculty Testimonials

Hearing from successful and proud alumni can help encourage your prospects to convert to enrollments, and the same applies to testimonials from long-time teachers and faculty at your school. What makes your school different and worth the price of admission? These testimonials can tell that story, as well as the testimonial video below.

 

Source: YouTube

The Importance of User-Generated Content

Out of those 433 videos the average education and public service institute created in 2020, 256 were user-generated. These videos are authentic and engaging, but they’re also low-cost and low-effort for your school to produce and share. Leveraging the videos your community is already creating can have a big pay-off.

Video Content Ideas for Private K-12 Schools

Many of the best school promotional videos come out of events or content you already have – it’s simply a matter of producing and strategically sharing them. Others you’ll need to purposefully create but will reap the rewards for your private school’s enrollment and engagement.

Overview of School

What should your prospects know about your school – the history, setting, courses, academic expectations, and more? Making a video that gives them an overview of what your school stands for and what sets you apart can increase your brand reputation and grow your enrollment funnel.

In the video below, The Gilbert School does a great job of giving viewers and prospective parents and students an overview of the school to increase awareness and, ultimately, enrollment.

 

Source: YouTube

Introduce Faculty, Staff, and Administrators

Getting to know the people who work at your school is another great use of school promotional videos. You can have interviews with faculty and staff who articulate the school’s values and administrators who can speak to the school’s mission and vision.

Classroom Updates

You can encourage retention and brand advocacy for current enrollees by sharing important and exciting classroom updates via video. They can also be a good way to show potential enrollees what life at your school looks like.

Field Trips

Making videos of field trips can give parents a sense of what life will look like for their kids on those special school days.

Extracurricular Events

The same goes for your extracurricular events, like competitions or sporting matches.

Behind the Scenes

Giving your viewers a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes at your school can make them feel more informed and connected.

School News Updates

What do parents and possible students want to know about what’s happening at your school? Share the news in a video instead of the regular newsletter.

Fundraisers

Do you hold fundraisers that are moving or exciting? Share the highlights from that event, like a speech, in video format on your social media channels or website.

A private high school in Texas did just that. They created a fundraiser video for their annual event.

 

Source: YouTube