How To’s

You think you might want to try Instagram for education marketing. You’re wondering if and how Instagram can be used for education. You’ve heard that higher education programs are using it. Maybe it will work for community ed, community colleges, arts organizations, camps, and informal education programs like yours, too? There’s just one problem. You don’t really understand how Instagram works.

Maybe you have a personal account, but you’re no Instagram guru. You follow a few big names and wonder how they do it. The good news is, you don’t need a digital marketing agency or pricey influencer to promote your program on Instagram.

This article will give you the basics you need to get started on the platform. We’ll show you how to set up your Instagram account. Then we’ll tell you what to share and offer tips on finding your target audience.

Read more

If you want to improve learner satisfaction and build the community around your program, student groups on Facebook are a good place to start. Not only do they offer a social forum, they also give you a direct line to what students are thinking and talking about. Whether you’re teaching theater or offering Certified Nursing Assistant training, groups can offer students a more positive experience.

You’re probably already using Facebook for some of your social media marketing. That means you have a business page for your program. Starting a group is an easy next step. But before we show you how to use Facebook groups for students, let’s take a closer look at why you should. 

Read more

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.

Read more

Sometimes you have to cancel a class. It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s one you’re almost certain to face at some point. Maybe the instructor got sick or the weather isn’t cooperating. Sometimes enrollment for the class is low and you can’t justify holding the session. Whatever the reason, you want to cancel the class without upsetting students who have already enrolled. 

You might worry that disappointed students will seek out classes elsewhere. They might think your program is not dependable and hesitate to register again. You can minimize the impact of class cancelations by applying the four tips in this post. Plus, we’ve included a class canceled email template to help you write that tricky message. 

Read more

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.

Read more

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. 

Read more

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. 

Read more

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.

Read more

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. 

Read more

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. 

Read more