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You're an art school administrator. Let us pose a question - are your social media posts effectively attracting new students and engaging the current ones?
We raise this question because we've observed many art schools facing difficulties in crafting impactful social media content that resonates with their audience.
That's why we've created a free social media planner template, specifically designed for art schools. This resource is designed to streamline your content creation process, helping you to inspire and connect with your community through every update.
Furthermore, if you're looking to enhance your art school's online visibility with proven tactics and strategies, consider exploring our Marketing Pack for Art Schools.
Continue reading to learn how you can utilize this tool to boost your art school's digital footprint and ensure that each post significantly advances your institution's goals.
What social media platforms are best for promoting an art school?
It's a common misconception that all social media platforms are equally beneficial for promoting an art school.
The effectiveness of each platform varies significantly due to differences in user demographics, content preferences, and interaction styles. For instance, LinkedIn, which is predominantly used for professional networking and business-to-business communications, may not be the best channel for an art school looking to connect with potential students and showcase artistic projects.
As an art school administrator, you should focus on platforms that support rich visual content, interactive features, and community engagement, such as Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. We've simplified this selection with the table below to help you make informed decisions.
Additionally, we have compiled comprehensive guides for each recommended platform in our resource pack tailored for art schools aiming to expand their reach.
The best social media platforms for an art school
| Social Media Platform | Relevancy Level for an Art School | Detailed Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| High | Instagram's visually driven format is perfect for showcasing student artwork, promoting exhibitions, and engaging with a community interested in visual arts through stories and posts. | |
| High | Pinterest is ideal for art schools due to its focus on visual inspiration. It allows for the creation of mood boards and the sharing of student work, which can inspire prospective students and be easily discovered through search. | |
| YouTube | High | YouTube provides a platform for detailed video content such as tutorials, artist talks, and virtual tours of your school, helping to engage potential students and showcase the educational environment and artistic process. |
| Medium-High | With its extensive user base, Facebook is useful for reaching a broader audience, advertising courses, and creating event pages for school exhibitions and open days. | |
| TikTok | Medium | TikTok can be leveraged for reaching younger audiences with short, creative videos that highlight dynamic art-making processes or quick art lessons, tapping into the platform's trend-driven nature. |
| Medium | Twitter is beneficial for real-time updates, sharing art news, and engaging in conversations within the art community, though it's less visual than other platforms. | |
| Low | While LinkedIn’s professional focus is less ideal for student recruitment, it can be useful for connecting with alumni and building professional networks in the art industry. |
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How to get started on social media for your art school?
Setting up and managing a social media account for your art school is a task you can absolutely manage on your own, especially in the beginning stages.
It might seem daunting at first, but with a little planning and creativity, it's quite manageable. We've broken down the process for each social media platform in our marketing strategy pack for art schools.
Identify Your Ideal Student
Firstly, determining your target audience is essential.
Your social media tone, style, and content should all be designed to resonate with this group. Think about the courses you offer, the culture of your school, its location, and tuition fees. Are you catering to budding young artists, professionals looking to enhance their skills, or perhaps retirees seeking a new hobby? Knowing who you are addressing will help you craft your messages effectively.
Optimize Your Social Media Profiles
When setting up your profiles, make sure your art school’s social media bio includes key information that immediately informs and attracts potential students.
This should include the types of courses offered, your location (essential), class schedules, and unique selling points like “Award-winning faculty” or “Innovative digital arts program.” Including links to your course catalog, enrollment pages, or main website is also crucial.
Time Commitment
Is managing social media time-consuming? Initially, yes, as setting up your accounts and understanding the best practices can take some time.
However, once you establish a routine, updating your social media can become as regular and straightforward as any other daily task.
Considering Professional Help?
Whether you need to hire a social media manager depends on how comfortable you are with social media and how much time you can dedicate to it. Starting on your own is an excellent way to learn what engages your audience.
If later on, your workload increases or managing social media becomes too burdensome, bringing in a professional with experience in social media for educational institutions might be a wise choice.
First Week on Social Media for Your Art School
Let's outline what you should focus on during your first week of launching your art school's social media presence. For a more detailed 30-day plan, please refer to our marketing strategy pack for art school owners.
| Day Number | Actions | How to Do It Well |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Select appropriate platforms | Choose platforms where potential students and art enthusiasts are likely to engage, such as Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. |
| 2 | Set up your profiles | Use high-quality images of student artwork for your profile and cover photos. Ensure all bio sections are fully detailed. |
| 3 | Determine your target audience | Reflect on who is most likely to enroll in your courses and tailor your content to their interests and needs. |
| 4 | Plan your content | Create a content calendar that includes a mix of course highlights, student testimonials, and behind-the-scenes content. |
| 5 | Begin posting | Introduce your school, showcase faculty expertise, and highlight unique aspects of your curriculum. Keep the tone inspiring and educational. |
| 6 | Engage with your followers | Reply to comments, direct messages, and mentions. Active engagement helps foster a community around your school. |
| 7 | Review and refine | Analyze which types of posts gain the most attention and engagement, and adjust your strategy to do more of what works. |
What are the best strategies to increase the followers of your art school organically?
Here is a table of 12 highly effective and creative content strategies an art school can implement on social media to naturally grow their follower base, along with the types of content that typically see the highest engagement from audiences.
This table is concise and summarized. For a comprehensive guide, including detailed, actionable steps, and insights derived from real-world examples of successful art schools, please see our art school strategy pack.
| Strategy | How to make it so it brings you profit |
|---|---|
| Online Art Workshops | Conduct live art workshops showcasing various techniques and styles. Encourage participants to create along and share their artwork on social media using a specific hashtag. This not only engages your current followers but also attracts new ones interested in learning art. |
| Artist Spotlights | Feature stories about your instructors or notable alumni to give a behind-the-scenes look at their creative processes and achievements. This personalizes your brand and strengthens connections with your audience. |
| Art Challenges | Host monthly art challenges that prompt followers to create pieces based on specific themes. Offer prizes such as free courses or art supplies for outstanding works. This encourages user-generated content and increases your visibility. |
| Collaborations with Art Influencers | Partner with well-known artists and influencers to create content or conduct guest workshops. Their followers get exposed to your brand, potentially boosting your follower base. |
| Previews of New Classes | Tease new classes or workshops with sneak peeks of the content or guest instructors. Create excitement by allowing your followers to vote on class topics or workshop details, making them feel involved in your programming. |
| Themed Art Events | Organize themed art events, such as digital art nights or historical art recreations, and share these experiences on social media. These themes create a fun and engaging atmosphere that encourages sharing and participation. |
| Exclusive Art Sessions | Promote special access to intimate art sessions with renowned artists or instructors. Share these exclusive experiences on social media to attract followers looking for unique learning opportunities. |
| Interactive Polls and Quizzes | Engage your audience with polls and quizzes about art techniques, famous artworks, or feedback on what courses they wish to see next. This interactive content keeps followers engaged and encourages frequent visits to your profile. |
| Spotlight on Art Techniques | Highlight different art techniques or mediums each month through informative posts or videos. This educates your followers and showcases your school's diverse offerings. |
| Student Showcase | Regularly post about your students' success stories or feature their artwork, with their permission. This not only shows appreciation for your students but also inspires prospective students to join your school. |
| Eco-Friendly Art Practices | If your school emphasizes sustainability, share your green initiatives, such as using eco-friendly materials or recycling programs. This attracts followers who value sustainability and wish to support environmentally conscious institutions. |
| Special Enrollment Discounts | Offer time-sensitive discounts or special enrollment conditions exclusively to your social media followers. This creates urgency and encourages people to follow you to not miss out on special offers. |
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What are some common social media mistakes to avoid as an art school?
Art schools, like any business, can face challenges when navigating the complex world of social media. Below, you'll find a detailed table that highlights common mistakes art schools might make on social media platforms, the potential consequences of these errors, and strategic advice on how to avoid or correct them.
| Mistake # | Mistake Description | Consequences | What Not to Do | What to Do Instead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ignoring Student and Alumni Feedback | Damage to reputation and student satisfaction. | Do not overlook comments, complaints, or reviews from students and alumni. | Actively engage with feedback, addressing both praises and concerns promptly to show that you value their input. |
| 2 | Inconsistent Posting | Loss of audience engagement and visibility. | Avoid erratic posting or overwhelming followers with too many posts at once. | Develop a content calendar to maintain a consistent and balanced posting schedule. |
| 3 | Overly Promotional Content | Followers might disengage due to lack of educational or inspirational value. | Don't focus solely on enrollment drives and course promotions. | Balance promotional content with educational, inspirational, or behind-the-scenes posts that showcase school life and achievements. |
| 4 | Not Using High-Quality Visuals | Poor visual content can lead to a negative perception of the art school. | Avoid using low-resolution or irrelevant images and videos. | Use high-quality, visually appealing artwork and campus photos to attract prospective students and engage the community. |
| 5 | Ignoring Local SEO Practices | Missing out on potential local students and partnerships. | Don't neglect to include location-based keywords and hashtags in your posts. | Optimize your content with local keywords, hashtags, and tag your location to improve visibility to local audiences. |
| 6 | Not Collaborating With Other Educational Institutions or Artists | Missed opportunities for community engagement and collaborative projects. | Avoid isolating your social media presence from your educational and artistic community. | Engage in collaborations with other schools, local artists, and galleries for cross-promotion and to build a stronger network. |
| 7 | Failing to Highlight Unique Aspects of Your School | Difficulty in standing out in a competitive educational environment. | Do not rely solely on generic content that could apply to any art school. | Share unique aspects of your school, such as special programs, successful alumni, or exclusive workshops, to differentiate yourself. |
| 8 | Neglecting User-Generated Content | Missing out on authentic content created by your students and faculty. | Don't overlook the power of content such as student artwork, testimonials, and event highlights. | Encourage and share user-generated content with proper credits to build community and showcase real-life experiences at your school. |
| 9 | Poor Handling of Crisis Situations | Potential viral negative publicity. | Avoid deleting negative comments or responding defensively. | Address any issues transparently and professionally, showing commitment to resolution and improvement. |
| 10 | Lack of Personality in Posts | Failure to connect with your audience on a personal level. | Don't make your social media presence too formal or impersonal. | Inject personality into your posts, showing the human side of your institution, to foster a stronger connection with your audience. |
| 11 | Not Tracking Analytics | Missing insights into what content performs best. | Avoid the "post and forget" approach. | Utilize social media analytics tools to track engagement and adjust your strategy based on data-driven insights. |
| 12 | Not Adapting to New Social Media Trends | Falling behind in an ever-evolving digital landscape. | Don't stick rigidly to old strategies or ignore new platforms and features. | Stay informed about new social media trends and features, and experiment with them to see what resonates with your audience. |
How to implement a successful system on social media for your art school?
When it comes to social media management for art schools, the focus is as much on showcasing the creativity and uniqueness of your students' work as it is on promoting your courses and workshops.
Developing a strategy for this involves a blend of thoughtful planning and genuine representation of your school's artistic environment.
How to track results?
For monitoring effectiveness and outcomes, analytics are crucial. Each social media platform provides specific tools for this purpose.
On Instagram and Facebook, you can utilize Insights; for Twitter, there's Analytics, among others. These features help you measure engagement rates, follower growth, and the overall reach of your posts.
Key performance indicators for art schools might include interactions on posts showcasing student artwork, the number of inquiries about courses, and user-generated content, such as students sharing their progress or final pieces online. An increase in these metrics usually signals a successful strategy.
What marketing budget?
Regarding the appropriate marketing budget for your art school, there isn't a universal figure. However, for small to medium-sized institutions, starting with a weekly budget of $100 to $500 on paid advertisements can be an effective trial.
This budget allows for testing various ad formats, targeting options, and platforms to discover what delivers the best return on investment. Based on the results and your campaign goals, you can adjust your spending accordingly.
While paid advertisements are not essential, they are highly beneficial. We delve deeper into this topic in our strategy pack. With the decline in organic reach on social media, paid ads are an excellent method to ensure your content reaches both existing followers and potential new students.
The advantages include increased visibility, targeted reach (allowing you to focus on specific demographics, locations, interests), and crucially, actionable insights from ad performance data. This information enables you to continuously refine your strategies for improved outcomes.
How often should you post?
Regarding posting frequency, the key is to prioritize consistency over quantity.
For art schools, posting once a day on visually-driven platforms like Instagram and Facebook is advisable. Utilizing Stories and live features can also provide daily, informal engagement opportunities. On Twitter, where interactions are more rapid, two to three posts a day can keep your audience informed without overwhelming them. The objective is to maintain a steady presence that keeps your followers interested and engaged without overdoing it.
Make your art school more profitable
We have studied the strategies of the best art schools in the world. All their tactics are explained in our pack!
Where can you get the social media strategies that will actually work for your art school?
We understand the reservations many art school administrators might have about venturing into the realm of social media marketing.
It's not unusual to view the landscape of digital promotion as intimidating, particularly when phrases like "audience engagement" and "brand visibility" appear overly technical.
Running an art school is already a full-time commitment, and carving out time, resources, or budget for what might seem like an optional extra can feel overwhelming. This is compounded by previous marketing efforts that may not have yielded results, or the belief that the intrinsic value and quality of your educational offerings should naturally draw in students.
Acknowledging these hurdles, our team has developed a strategy pack specifically designed for art schools like yours.
This toolkit is crafted to simplify the marketing process, translating complex terms into clear, manageable actions. We've concentrated on strategies that are both affordable and straightforward to execute, ensuring they don't demand significant initial investment or deep marketing expertise.
Our art school strategy pack tackles each issue, from the misconception that substantial financial input is essential, to the challenge of keeping pace with the fast-changing digital marketing landscape.
We provide clear, concise solutions that underscore the benefits and effectiveness of social media, aiming to turn skepticism into confidence.
By doing so, we strive to make it easier for you to recognize the potential in using social media to boost your art school's visibility and student engagement, without compromising the core activities of your institution.
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Most art school owners don't know how to grow their business. Let us teach you the right strategies.
