In our technological culture, people are constantly captivated by screens, inundated by hundreds of messages every day. But one type of messaging stands out among the rest: video. Production is powerful. Videos can capture moments and tell a story in a way that pictures and words often fall short. This is an exceptionally powerful tool for schools when it comes to turning prospects into enrollments. We’ve compiled a list of 5 ways videos boost enrollment, and how you can put it into practice. 

#1: Videos Bring Your School to Life

Utilizing video is an effective way to show parents a more complete depiction of life at your school. While your website or other marketing materials may offer a description of your school’s mission, values, or programs, a video allows you to capture the community, culture, and school spirit. These are important aspects that families take into consideration when selecting a school. Being able to experience the school through film allows families to truly envision their child as a part of that community. 

Put it to Practice

Start by capturing snippets of students, faculty, and the campus in day-to-day activities. Consider highlighting projects, events, arts, music, athletics, and academics to showcase various characteristics of your school and feature different types of students. When producing marketing materials, use these clips to bring your school to life. 

#2: Videos Increase Family Engagement

Video is a proven method to capture and retain attention online. As compared to other methods of promoting your school, video is king when it comes to engaging your audience. Engaging content is far more likely to lead to action, such as a student application. Additionally, videos serve as a valuable way to engage current families at your school. Engaging current families is just as important as engaging new ones, as it improves student retention. 

Put it to Practice

Ensure your school’s videos generate interest in the first couple of seconds and are easily shareable. Additionally, consider creating content that invites student and family participation like contests and challenges. Remember, current families may have a longer attention span than prospective families, so keep your audience in mind. You will have different calls to action depending on the viewer. Utilize tools to track and monitor the engagement on your videos to have a clear understanding of their performance. 

#3: Videos Create a Lasting Impression

Video can evoke emotion in ways that words alone cannot. Remember that parents may be looking at multiple school options for their child, so differentiating your school is a must. By tapping into emotions, videos create a longer-lasting and more impactful impression on families. Additionally, these types of videos provide greater entertainment. While it’s important to be informative, remember that entertainment is a crucial factor for your videos to receive views.

Put it to Practice

Use videos to tell a story and paint a picture for your audience. Student feature stories are a great way to showcase students overcoming challenges, achieving success, and the impact your school has made. This is powerful content that evokes emotion and creates a lasting impression on both current and prospective families at your school. 

#4: Videos Build Your School’s Credibility

As parents show interest in your school, demonstrating credibility is crucial. While you may interact with parents via email or phone, videos can help put a name to a face and feel more connected to the school. Videos bring a sense of authenticity to your school, therefore building its credibility as perceived by families. It also demonstrates your school’s commitment to providing families with the resources they need to guide them in the enrollment process. 

Put it to Practice

In addition to showcasing students, feature faculty and staff who play a significant role at your school. Create virtual tours, application tutorials, messages from administration, or answering parent FAQs. These kinds of videos are remarkably valuable to parents and position your school as an institution of credibility, trust, and dedication. 

#5: Videos Are an Inexpensive Marketing Material

You don’t need an extensive budget to create eye-catching content. Videos can be captured on a smartphone and edited using free or low-cost virtual tools. Additionally, distributing your school’s videos is completely free using YouTube, social media channels, or uploading it to your school website. Strategic spending of your marketing budget helps free up funds to invest back into the classroom where it belongs. 

Put it to Practice

iMovie and Premiere Rush are free and easy-to-use video editing platforms and encompass your video production needs. You can also invest in paid products such as Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro, which are still relatively inexpensive options. Additionally, you can purchase lighting, microphones, and a tripod adaptable to smartphones for higher quality production. 

Videos can be an impactful tool on the road to enrollment for schools. Their ability to increase engagement, evoke emotion, and create a lasting impression all play critical roles in converting prospects into enrollments. But video creation goes beyond just serving as efficient marketing material. They allow families to connect with the rightschool, so their students can have a successful learning experience.  

How Schola Can Help

Not sure where to start? You’re not in this alone! Schola is here to help you on your video production journey. We are committed to helping schools differentiate themselves to attract student leads who are the best fit for their school. Our team travels across the country to connect with school leaders, conduct Schola School Chats, and produce videos for schools. Additionally, we invite you to attend our weekly webinars where we cover topics like video production and other marketing practices. We’re here to help you become the experts, so you can reach your enrollment goals and improve education outcomes. 


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