Grow Your Program

You know your program needs to be on social media. Apparently, that’s where course marketing is happening these days. But you’re not a professional social media marketer and it often feels like you’re posting into the void.

Social media metrics can help you track your social media impact to see what’s working. They can also give you the insight you need to make smart decisions about what, where, and how to post.  

Are you wondering how would you measure the right social media metrics? We’ll show you the metrics that matter for course marketing. For each one, we’ll talk about what it is and how to track it. Plus we’ll show you how to troubleshoot if you notice your metrics aren’t where you’d like them to be.

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Maybe the student enrollment system for your arts education program is less of a system and more of a loose collection of tools. You lose time and resources with every enrollment and you know something needs to change. Even so, you’re not sure those high-tech online enrollment systems are as great as they claim. You don’t want to invest in one unless you’re sure it’s worth it.

So now you’re wondering: What are the advantages of online enrollment systems? Could they help your arts education program save time, avoid errors, and enroll more students? 

We’re here to answer those questions. We’ll explore the five advantages of online enrollment systems to help you decide whether it’s worth investing in one for your arts education program. Plus, we’ll show you how you can integrate your online enrollment system with the patron management and ticketing systems you already have. 

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You’ve heard people talking about TikTok. Maybe you’ve seen TikTok videos shared on other social media platforms. You might even be on the platform yourself. It seems like just about everyone is these days. From pre-teens offering each other dance challenges to colleges and universities employing TikTok influencers, everyone seems to be finding their niche on TikTok. All this has you wondering: Should your community education program use TikTok? 

Would TikTok help you promote your classes, attract more students, or reach a wider audience? It might. But as with any form of social media, you need a good understanding of the platform and a solid strategy before you try to use TikTok for education programs.

Think of this blog post as a crash course in TikTok. We’ll explore what it is, how you might use it to promote your programs, and what you need to thrive on TikTok. Let’s get started. 

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The internet connects us to people and businesses all over the world. But we also use it to find things in our own community. You might type in “burgers near me” to find a new burger restaurant or use voice commands to find a gas station when you’re in an unfamiliar part of town. Whatever you’re looking for, near me searches have become a common way to find it.

So why haven’t you already optimized your course catalog to help your classes show up in near me searches? 

If you’ve never considered location based search, or if you have, but weren’t sure where to start, this post is for you. We’ll walk you through why and how to optimize for near me searches so more local students find your classes.

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Choosing the best class registration software can quickly become overwhelming. You don’t just want the most popular solution or the one with the most bells and whistles. You want class registration software that fits the needs of your education program and your students. Ideally, it should make class registration simple and intuitive. 

Obviously, we think CourseStorm is pretty great, and we’re always working to make it even better. But our goal is to help you find the class registration software that’s right for you. Whether you’re running the education department for a theater or the adult ed program for your region, you and your students deserve a system that works. That’s why we put together this cheat sheet to help you choose the best class registration software.

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In the world of Snapchat, streaming television, and short attention spans, video can be an entertaining and engaging way to tell potential students about a course. A course marketing video can boost awareness of your course offerings and encourage registration. But any old video won’t do the job. Videos work best when you include the right elements to capture the attention of learners and invite them to enroll. 

Three simple ingredients turn a simple course marketing video into a course registration magnet—the hook, branding, and call to action. Leave one of these essentials out of the mix, and you probably won’t see maximum results. So if your course marketing video efforts aren’t raking in the registrations, check that you’ve optimized all three parts. We’ll show you how. 

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Holidays and other special events like birthdays or anniversaries offer an opportunity for enrichment and education programs to sell courses as gifts. All you have to do is convince shoppers that your course will put a smile on the gift recipient’s face. It should be an easy sell.

Popular wisdom tells us that experiences are better than things, especially when it comes to receiving a gift. According to a Harris Poll, 63% of U.S. adults say they would prefer an experience gift over a material one. Meanwhile, more than half of U.S. shoppers believe giving experiences is easier than shopping for material gifts. 

So all you have to do is make sure that shoppers think of your courses when they think of experiential gifting. Bonus points if you can show them the value of taking the course with the recipient. It’s pretty easy to market courses as gifts, all you need are these marketing tactics aimed at gift-givers. 

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Deciding to remove a class from your course catalog is never easy. You’ve invested time and money to develop it. You may have an instructor or board members who have adopted it as a pet project. Former students may even speak fondly of it. Yet all of those reasons may not outweigh the practical considerations. 

Every course you offer demands time and resources. Holding on to an underperforming course can stunt program growth and negatively impact how students perceive your program. That’s a situation you just can’t afford.

If you’ve found this article, you’re probably thinking about cutting at least one course from your catalog. Before you make your decisions, we have five questions you should consider.

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When you think about ways to promote classes for free, you probably think of social media or blog posts. Both can be valuable channels for class promotion, but they’re not the only options available. Publicity in the form of local media coverage helps spread the word about your adult ed or enrichment courses. Members of the media can share information about your course with a much wider audience than you could reach on your own. 

Journalists, editors, and media presenters have to keep up with everything happening in their communities and then make quick decisions about what might interest their audiences. Getting their attention isn’t always easy. Fortunately, there are some tried and tested ways to cut through the noise. Better yet, these strategies don’t have to cost you a thing. Let’s take a look at some proven ways to promote a class for free. 

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A press release is a powerful way to promote a new class. You might think that they’re old-fashioned, but writing a press release is still a good way to organize the information you want to share with the press. A well-written press release can grab the attention of journalists and editors. Plus, they’ll be more likely to run your story since you’ve already done some of the leg work for them.

Press releases tend to follow a consistent format. It includes everything the editor needs to know to decide whether the story will be interesting to their readers. If you leave out an essential part, you’ve made their job a little harder. Since journalists often receive hundreds of pitches and emails a day, they’re unlikely to follow up on a press release that’s missing details. Here are the six parts of a press release you absolutely must include to promote your new class. 

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