Video is quickly becoming an essential tool for public school public relations, communications teams, and school marketers. Not only does video help to engage parents and students, but it can also help to increase student enrollment and aid in teacher recruitment.
The Power of Video for Public Schools
With the rise of social media and the increasing use of mobile devices, video content is more accessible than ever before. It allows for a more dynamic and engaging way to communicate with parents, students and potential teachers.
Video is an effective way to showcase the school’s culture, programs and facilities, and to tell the school’s story in a way that words alone cannot. It can also be used to communicate important information such as enrollment procedures, and to promote events and activities.
In this blog post, we will explore how video can be used effectively to achieve these goals.
Engaging Students and Parent with Video
One of the most significant benefits of using video as a marketing tool is its ability to capture the attention of parents and students. Whether it’s a video tour of the school, a highlight reel of a recent event, or a message from the principal, video allows parents and students to see and hear firsthand what your school has to offer. This can be especially valuable for schools looking to recruit students from outside their immediate area.
Five Tips to Engage Students & Parents with Video
- Make it visually appealing: Use high-quality video footage and professional editing techniques to create a visually stunning video that captures the attention of viewers. Incorporate a mix of wide shots, close-ups, and angles to showcase the school’s facilities, programs, and extracurricular activities.
- Keep it short and sweet: Attention spans are short, especially when it comes to online videos. Keep your videos short, ideally between 1-2 minutes, to ensure that viewers watch the entire video and retain the information.
- Tell a story: Use storytelling techniques to create a narrative that resonates with parents and students. For example, you could tell the story of a student who struggled academically but found success at your school, or showcase how your school’s programs have helped students achieve their goals.
- Use testimonials: Including testimonials from current students, parents, and teachers can be an effective way to capture the attention of viewers. Hearing real-life stories and experiences can help to build trust and credibility with potential students and their families.
- Optimize for social media: With so many people spending their time on social media, it’s important to optimize your videos for these platforms. This means creating videos that are square or vertical to make them more engaging on mobile devices, and using captions and subtitles to make them more accessible to viewers.
By following these tips, you can create videos that capture the attention of parents and students and effectively communicate your school’s message. Whether you’re promoting your school’s programs, highlighting recent events, or recruiting new students and teachers, video is a powerful tool that can help to achieve your goals.
Increasing Student Enrollment Using Video
In addition to its engaging nature, video can also be used to increase student enrollment. By showcasing the school’s programs, facilities, and extracurricular activities, video can help to attract new students and their families to your school. Additionally, video can also be used to promote open house events and other enrollment-related activities, which can help to increase the number of students who attend your school.
Five Tips to Increase Student Enrollment with Video
- Highlight the unique features of your school: Use video to showcase the unique features of your school that set it apart from others. This could include specialized programs, state-of-the-art facilities, or a strong emphasis on extracurricular activities.
- Create a virtual tour: A virtual tour of your school is a great way to give potential students and their families a glimpse of what it would be like to attend your school. This can be especially valuable for families who live outside of your immediate area.
- Promote open house events: Use video to promote open house events and other enrollment-related activities. This can include videos that showcase what to expect at the event and why it’s important to attend.
- Share student success stories: Share student success stories through video to showcase the impact of your school’s programs and the opportunities available to students. This can help to attract new students and their families who are looking for a school that can help their child succeed.
- Use video to communicate with parents and students: Use video to communicate with parents and students about the enrollment process. This can include videos that explain the steps involved, answer frequently asked questions, and provide tips for filling out enrollment forms.
By following these tips, you can use video to increase student enrollment and attract new students and their families to your school. Whether you’re showcasing the unique features of your school, promoting open house events, or sharing student success stories, video is a powerful tool that can help to achieve your goals.
Recruit Quality Teachers Using Video
Another important benefit of video is its ability to aid in teacher recruitment. By creating videos that highlight the school’s culture, mission, and teaching staff, school districts can attract highly-qualified teachers to their schools. Additionally, video can also be used to showcase the professional development opportunities, mentoring programs and other benefits of teaching in the district.
Five Tips to Recruit Teachers with Video
- Highlight the school’s culture and mission: Use video to showcase the school’s culture and mission to attract highly-qualified teachers who align with the school’s values. This can include interviews with current teachers and administrators, or footage of the school in action.
- Showcase professional development opportunities: Use video to showcase the professional development opportunities available to teachers at your school. This can include workshops, mentoring programs, and other opportunities for teachers to grow and develop in their careers.
- Share testimonials from current teachers: Use video to share testimonials from current teachers about their experiences working at the school. This can help to build trust and credibility with potential teachers and give them a sense of what it’s like to work at the school.
- Highlight the benefits of working in the district: Use video to highlight the benefits of working in the district, such as competitive pay, benefits, and support for teachers. This can help to attract highly-qualified teachers who are looking for a district that values and supports its educators.
- Use video to communicate with potential teachers: Use video to communicate with potential teachers about the hiring process and what to expect. This can include videos that explain the steps involved, answer frequently asked questions, and provide tips for submitting a successful application.
By following these tips, you can use video to aid in teacher recruitment and attract highly-qualified teachers to your school. Whether you’re showcasing the school’s culture and mission, highlighting professional development opportunities, or communicating with potential teachers, video is a powerful tool that can help to achieve your goals.
Conclusion: Using Video in School Marketing
In conclusion, video is an essential tool for public school public relations, communications teams, and school marketers. It allows schools to engage parents and students, increase student enrollment, and aid in teacher recruitment.
By incorporating video into your school’s marketing strategy, you can effectively communicate your school’s message and attract the best students and teachers to your district.
Bonus Section: Boost Your YouTube Engagement: Tips for Optimizing Your Videos
YouTube is a powerful platform that allows businesses, organizations, and individuals to share their message with a global audience. However, simply uploading a video to YouTube is not enough to guarantee engagement. Optimizing your YouTube videos can help to increase views, likes, comments, and ultimately engagement from your target audience.
In this bonus section, we’ll explore some tips for optimizing YouTube videos to help increase engagement.
- Create a compelling title: The title of your video is the first thing that viewers will see, so it’s crucial to make it compelling. A good title should be short, descriptive, and include keywords that are relevant to your video. This will help to attract the right audience to your video and increase the chances of engagement.
- Use keywords in the video description: The video description is the second most important element on your YouTube video. It should provide a brief overview of the video, include relevant keywords, and include a call-to-action. This can be a link to your website, a request to subscribe to your channel, or a call to leave a comment.
- Optimize the video thumbnail: The video thumbnail is a small image that represents your video on YouTube. It’s the first thing that viewers will see when they scroll through their feed, so it’s important to make it eye-catching and relevant. Use a high-quality image that represents the content of your video, and make sure that it is consistent with the title and description of your video.
- Use end screens and annotations: End screens and annotations are YouTube features that allow you to add interactive elements to your video. This can include links to other videos, a call-to-action, or a link to your website. These elements can help to increase engagement by directing viewers to other content on your channel or to your website.
- Encourage engagement: Finally, it’s important to encourage engagement by asking viewers to like, comment, and subscribe to your channel. Responding to comments can also help to increase engagement, by creating a dialogue with your viewers. Additionally, you can use video cards to add external links and call-to-actions to your video, which can help to drive engagement.
By following these tips, you can optimize your YouTube videos to increase engagement from your target audience. Remember, engagement is key to growing your channel and reaching a larger audience. With a little bit of effort and creativity, you can use YouTube to share your message with the world and achieve your business or personal goals.
