If you’re someone who needs (1) tips on how to reach out to people on social media, (2) strategies that work for educators and education businesses and/or, (3) advice for introverts who want to break out of your box…
So first of all I will be the first to admit that I consider myself a little bit of an introvert. So I know how it feels when you want to reach out to a new individual or a new group of potential customers, and you are unsure how to approach it. You have the uncertainty of how to get more students, turn more phone calls and emails into clients and paying customers, and how to even get new students and paying customers in the door or logged into the virtual classroom.
It can be difficult to increase the number of calls per week. You might have high competition in your small local area which you can’t do anything about. So it can really be frustrating if you don’t have a plan. And you can feel like you are sort of tossing money out there and not getting any return. Worst of all, it can feel like you don’t really have enough time to handle your students, the marketing side, the business side and of course not enough time for the personal side — like spending time with your family.
So let’s talk about how to stop wasting time, creating posts no one shares or cares about and finally get folks engaging with your content and interacting with your school, learning center, or private tutoring program online and how to leverage some social media platforms like your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, to build those long term relationships with families, and grow your potential student base.
Here are some steps that I use when I am breaking my comfort zone to reach out to new people in the education community.
Full disclosure: I go through these steps every single time I am doing something I am not comfortable with.
Step 1 – Have a plan. I have a joke in the education marketing world that we are all operating in organized chaos. Yes there are unprecedented events that occur outside of our control: weather events, COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, hurricane, family emergencies, etc. Sometimes even if you are working in a large school district, there could be issues about who’s doing, what or when information can be released that can take you away or distract you from your priorities. So have a plan. Have a step by step plan for parent and student engagement.
How are you going to make parents and students aware of what you are going to offer?
How are you going to convince people who are on the fence to choose your school or program over others in their area? And then once they have selected you, How are you going to get them to engaged to come in for an introduction to get to know you or get them to sign up for your course and program?
If you have a plan in place for parent and student engagement and a procedure to combat negativity like a school PR pro, you will find it is easier than you think to adjust and keep moving forward with confidence when an unprecedented event occurs.
Step 2 – Get personal. Find out what the folks you are reaching out to really care about and make sure it’s something you care about, too. You don’t want to talk to people that don’t value you. I can teach you value framing – a research-based communications strategy developed by the Frameworks Institute – which talks about how you relate your educational offering to the things that your parents and students really value. There are specific education metaphors and phrases that you can use to clarify for parents the real value of enrolling their student in your program. I use these strategies in my own outreach because they are personal and they speak to what parents and students really care about. So that’s Step 2, and it’s a great step to start building those relationships.
Step 3 – Release the attachment to the outcome.
Just take a deep breath. Let it go…
Because to truly overcome the fear of putting yourself and your business out there, you really need to change your mindset. As Carol S. Dweck writes in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success you must think of any potential setbacks as opportunities for learning and improving your outreach.
You can mess up. It’s going to be okay. Learn from that experience, and then get out there and reach out to a new person with the new knowledge that you have.
Those will be my 3 steps for anybody working in education – whether you’re an introvert or not – who wants to get out there, break out of the box, try something new and start building connections with folks on social media.
If you have any questions about my method or the steps above you can Download your Free Social Media Guide For Educators Now.
I hope you enjoyed the article and found it helpful. If you have other questions, I would love to hear from you. Here’s how you can contact us, and I hope you all are having a wonderful day.
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