The year is 2025, and the influence of a rapidly evolving social media space in shaping education marketing campaigns is as critical as ever. While it has undoubtedly brought up several opportunities for those in the picture, it has also thrown up a few challenges that require the right gears to navigate. The stats are quite interesting: An increasing number of Gen Z users now turn to TikTok and Instagram as search tools, often preferring them over Google for quick information and exploration. This simply means that having a social presence for your school is no longer open to debate, it is an absolute necessity.
Today’s prospective students spend a lot of time browsing through multiple social media platforms. They make key decisions about their academic future based on what they see on these platforms. This is why an active social media presence is a key part of today’s educational marketing campaigns. However, beyond being active on these platforms, it takes a deliberate and strategic social marketing strategy to curate and create winning margins in this space.
At Higher Education Marketing Agency, we have several years of experience helping schools navigate the social space, converting interest into enrollment, and producing positive outcomes for many schools. Our personal, tested, and tried social media playbook for education marketers combines insights from leading education marketing experts with real-world examples. This playbook is designed to help your institution not just survive but thrive in today’s digital ecosystem. Read on to find out how.
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The New Social Landscape: Multiple Platforms, Multiple Touchpoints
With social media evolving and becoming even more powerful, it is no longer a good idea to focus all your school’s attention on one platform. Today’s prospective students split most of their time among different platforms, and that’s why schools must be visible everywhere.
Prospective students might discover your school through a friend’s TikTok, research your programs on Instagram, watch alumni testimonials on YouTube, and check what parents are saying about you on Facebook, all before visiting your website. Your presence on each of these social media platforms will offer you unique opportunities to engage with different audiences.
Here’s a brief outline of the roles that different social media trends and platforms can play in your education marketing efforts.
- Instagram: Great for visual storytelling, event promotions, and engaging reels showing student experiences.
- TikTok: Ideal for short, fun, and informative content that drives brand awareness among younger audiences.
- YouTube: The best place to show long-form videos, student testimonials, virtual tours, and other educational content.
- Facebook: Essential for connecting with parents, alums, and local communities.
- LinkedIn: Great for professional connections and showing academic credibility, targeting parents and graduate prospects.
While having a presence across key platforms is essential, mastering the content formats that resonate most, particularly short-form video, has become equally critical.
Example: John Cabot University offers virtual tours of its campuses, some of which you’ll find via its social media pages, YouTube, and straight off its website.
Source: John Cabot University
Short-Form Video: The Undisputed Champion
The influence of short-form video in shaping social media trends is at an all-time high today. Gen Z and Gen Alpha consume information fast, they don’t want to watch traditional ads or sit through long videos all day. Prospective students want to see what life at a school looks like in under 60 seconds.
A large number of these students now turn to TikTok and its bite-sized videos for everything from study tips to campus tours. This is why things like TikTok and Instagram Reels have become key for student recruitment, school branding, and engagement.
“Your goal is to freeze the thumb,” as one marketing expert puts it, creating content compelling enough to make someone stop scrolling. For best results, it is crucial to create educational short-form videos along these lines:
- 1. Day-in-the-life glimpses: A student takes viewers through their campus routine
- 2. Quick tips/educational snippets: A professor explaining a complex concept in 30 seconds
- 3. Behind-the-scenes peeks: Showing areas of campus rarely seen on official tours
- 4. Celebration moments: Capturing authentic reactions during events like graduation or move-in day
- 5. “Did you know” facts about your institution’s unique features or history
How can schools use short-form video to attract students? The key to creating winning short-form videos is to go for authenticity. Start by identifying what makes your institution stand out, whether it’s a unique program, a beloved campus tradition, or exceptional career outcomes.
You can then showcase these elements through quick, visually engaging stories highlighting your unique value proposition.
The Authenticity Advantage: User-Generated Content
The content created by your existing community is a powerful tool for building trust and driving engagement. User-generated content (UGC) from students, faculty, and alumni offers authentic perspectives as it comes from a real person, hence its effectiveness. Research shows that 84% of consumers trust UGC more than polished advertisements.
How can we get user-generated content from students? One proven strategy in this line is to allow a student to manage your school’s Instagram Stories for a day, sharing their authentic campus experience. These glimpses into real student life help prospective students envision themselves at your institution in ways that traditional marketing cannot achieve.
Here are some ways to incorporate UGC in your education marketing efforts:
- Find your existing ambassadors: Search your school’s hashtags and location tags to find students already creating content about your institution. These natural enthusiasts often make the best collaborators.
- Create participation opportunities: Develop challenges, contests, or hashtag campaigns encouraging content creation. For example, a “#MyFirstDayAt[YourSchool]” campaign can generate authentic content while welcoming new students.
- Feature diverse voices: Ensure your UGC represents various perspectives, undergraduate and graduate students, international students, faculty members, alumni at different career stages, and parents.
- Provide gentle guidance without controlling: When working with student content creators, provide general themes or questions but allow their authentic voice to shine through. Over-scripting defeats the purpose.
- Amplify and appreciate contributors: Always credit creators when sharing their content and express genuine appreciation. This encourages continued participation while signaling to others that their contributions are valued.
Example: Harvey Mudd College frequently posts user-generated content of its students on its social media pages, like this one featuring a day-in-the-life of a sophomore engineering student posted on TikTok.
Source: HMC
Social Media as Search Engines: Optimizing for Discoverability
Today, social media platforms are increasingly taking on the role of search engines for young people. Two-thirds of Gen Z use social platforms to research topics, including potential schools. A teenager is more likely to find your school by watching videos and posts on TikTok or Instagram than by visiting your website or Googling the school. This brings us to Social SEO, a way to optimize your content to be discoverable via social media platform searches.
What is social SEO, and why is it important? Social SEO is the practice of optimizing your content to be discoverable through social media platform search functions. It’s important because younger audiences now use platforms like TikTok and Instagram as search engines. Optimizing SEO for visibility on these platforms helps schools reach and engage prospective students where they’re already searching.
Here are some key steps to improve your school’s visibility in social media searches:
- Profile optimization: Treat your social profiles like mini homepages. Use clear, keyword-rich descriptions, consistent branding, and up-to-date contact information across all platforms.
- Content that answers questions: Create videos and posts that address common queries, such as “What’s the student-faculty ratio at [Your School]?” or “What’s housing like at [Your School]?” These directly match what prospective students search for.
- Strategic hashtags and keywords: Research what terms and keywords your target audience uses when searching for educational content. Incorporate these naturally into your posts, captions, and hashtags.
- Geo-tagging: Always tag your location in posts. Many users search by location when researching schools in specific areas.
- Consistent posting: Regular activity signals relevance to algorithms, improving your visibility in search results.
It is important to note that these social platforms have different search algorithms; a hashtag strategy that worked on Instagram may need to be adjusted for TikTok or LinkedIn. To make your school more discoverable, explore and learn what best practices apply to each platform and what topics drive current conversations.
Example: Randolph-Macon College frequently posts social media content featuring catchy headlines and hashtags, such as the one seen here promoting its athletics team, the Yellow Jackets.
Source: Randolph Macon College
Platform-Specific Strategies That Drive Results
Although maintaining a presence across multiple social platforms is great, using a tailored approach for each one is even better. Here’s how you can leverage the strengths of major platforms.
Often dismissed as an “older person” platform, Facebook continues to be key to reaching parents who double as key decision-makers for many prospective students. It is great for community building and event promotion. Here’s how to successfully use Facebook marketing for schools in your social marketing campaigns:
- Use Facebook Events for open houses, application deadlines, and virtual info sessions
- Create targeted ad campaigns using Facebook’s detailed demographic filters
- Establish groups for admitted students or parents to foster community
- Share longer-form content like student success stories and program highlights
Instagram is a predominantly visually driven platform favored by people of different age groups. It is great at showcasing campus aesthetics and student experiences.
- Post high-quality photos showcasing campus beauty and student life
- Use Stories for day-in-the-life content, quick announcements, and behind-the-scenes glimpses
- Create highlight collections for key topics (Admissions, Student Life, Athletics)
- Utilize Reels for short-form video marketing
- Leverage the Explore page for discovery by new audiences
TikTok
TikTok, the fast-growing epicenter of youth engagement and viral content, is important for reaching Gen Z. Some students now select schools based on how the schools will look on TikTok.
- Create authentic, entertaining content that aligns with platform trends
- Feature charismatic students or faculty who connect naturally with viewers
- Participate in challenges relevant to education (with your institutional twist)
- Use TikTok’s native editing tools and popular sounds to boost algorithm visibility
- Don’t be afraid of humor and personality. TikTok rewards authenticity over polish
YouTube
YouTube for education favors long-form content and resources that can be searched.
- Create structured playlists organized by topic (Campus Tours, Student Stories, etc.)
- Produce both longer videos (3-10 minutes) and YouTube Shorts
- Optimize video titles and descriptions with relevant keywords
- Use cards and end screens to guide viewers to related content
- Consider hosting live Q&A sessions during key decision periods
LinkedIn is an underutilized tool that can help shape your education marketing. It is great for engaging parents, graduate prospects, and professionals.
- Share thought leadership from faculty and administrators
- Highlight alum success stories and career outcomes
- Post about research innovations and academic achievements
- Engage in industry conversations relevant to your programs
- Encourage faculty and alumni to mention your institution in their profiles
Example: The University of Connecticut regularly posts news about its recent graduates, alumni, and students on its LinkedIn page. The LinkedIn post below highlights the success of its recent graduates.
Source: University of Connecticut
Making Engagement Fun: The Gamification Advantage
Education marketing should be serious and informative, but serious does not mean bland and uninspiring. This is where gamification comes in, for fun and engaging learning. With gamification, you incorporate game-like elements and interactive content into your school’s content, effectively turning passive scrolling into active participation. Here are some gamification content and approaches:
- Instagram Story quizzes about campus facts or traditions
- TikTok challenges that showcase student creativity
- Digital scavenger hunts across your website and social platforms
- “Day in the life” simulation content where viewers “choose their adventure”
- Trivia contests showcasing interesting institutional facts
Tapping Cultural Currents: Trends Worth Embracing
Trends are the main driver of conversations across social media. Connecting your content to a broader cultural conversation can give your school more relevance in the social space. Follow these three trends to place your institution in a position of opportunity.
- Nostalgia Marketing: For institutions with some history to draw from, using content that brings back some memories of the past can provoke nostalgic feelings and add value to social marketing campaigns. This is nostalgia marketing. For best results, share throwback campus photos, compare “then and now” scenes, or invite alumni to submit memories. This content typically generates high engagement and shares.
- Values and Social Impact: Today’s students care deeply about the position their schools take on issues of social and environmental relevance. To leverage this situation, highlight your school’s sustainability initiatives, community service programs, or research contributions. Point students to recycling initiatives and green campus programs via your social media videos and blogs.
- Wellness and Mental Health: Any content that addresses student well-being will resonate strongly with prospects and parents concerned about support systems. This is why you must ensure you share resources from your counseling center and feature student wellness initiatives in your content. Also, create content acknowledging the stresses of academic life and how your institution helps students manage them. A student testimonial about how a mentor or counselor helped them thrive can help humanize your brand, so consider it.
Example: The University of Illinois runs a mental health and awareness program with a full complement of staff and resources committed to student and staff welfare on campus.
Source: University of Illinois
Be Data-Driven and Adaptive
Successful social media marketing calls for consistency in learning and adaptation. Platform algorithms are subject to regular changes that affect content visibility and engagement. Here’s what you can do to stay visible and ahead of the curve:.
- Monitor metrics to identify which content types perform best
- A/B test different formats and approaches
- Stay alert to algorithm changes and platform updates
- Focus on generating quality engagement (comments, shares)
- Adopt new platform features early for visibility boosts
- Use AI tools for social media marketing thoughtfully to enhance (not replace) your creativity
From Likes to Links: Driving Website Conversions
Although social engagement is key to positive brand building, it’s not the ultimate goal. That would be converting interest into action, from website visits to inquiries or applications.
To effectively bridge the gap between interest and action, here are a few tips worth considering:
- Optimize your social profiles: Link every platform you’re active on to relevant landing pages. Consider using “link in bio” tools that offer multiple destination options (Apply Now, Virtual Tour, Financial Aid, etc.).
- Strategic calls to action: Not every post needs a CTA, but regularly include invitations to learn more, especially on high-interest content. For example, after sharing a student success story, add something like “Discover how you can follow in Sarah’s footsteps—check out our Business program (link in bio).”
- Track and analyze traffic sources: Find out which social platforms and specific posts drive the most valuable traffic using resources like UTM parameters. With this information in hand, you can refine your strategy toward what converts.
- Amplify high-performing content: When a post generates strong engagement organically, extend its reach to similar audiences by allocating an ad budget to it. By putting out content that resonates with your existing community, you can reach prospects who share similar interests and achieve the desired engagement result.
- Align social and search strategies: While many prospects might discover your school on social media, they often go on to later search your name on Google. This is why you must ensure that your search engine marketing complements your social strategy for a seamless user journey.
Building Your School’s Social Media Playbook
As social media continues to evolve and draw more prospective students, today’s schools have to target it with intentional and strategic content. The most successful education marketers approach social media as conversations with future students, current community members, parents, and alumni.
The goal of these conversations goes beyond promoting your institution, it involves bringing its unique culture and value to life in ways that traditional marketing can not achieve. This is why schools must develop an effective social media marketing strategy that factors in all the essentials and adds some extras. While at it, remember a few things: authenticity resonates, visual content engages, and genuine connection converts.
By embracing short-form video, leveraging user-generated content, optimizing for social search, and maintaining a strategic presence across platforms, you create multiple pathways for meaningful connection. Add gamification elements and cultural relevance, and you have a formula for visibility and genuine engagement that drives enrollment outcomes.
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Struggling with enrollment?
Our expert digital marketing services can help you attract and enroll more students!
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: What is social SEO, and why is it important?
Answer: Social SEO is the practice of optimizing your content to be discoverable through social media platform search functions. It’s important because younger audiences now use platforms like TikTok and Instagram as search engines. Optimizing for visibility on these platforms helps schools reach and engage prospective students where they’re already searching.
Question: How can we get user-generated content from students?
Answer: One proven strategy in this line is to allow a student to manage your school’s Instagram Stories for a day, sharing their authentic campus experience. These glimpses into real student life help prospective students envision themselves at your institution in ways that traditional marketing cannot achieve.
Question: How can schools use short-form video to attract students?
Answer: The key to creating winning short-form videos is to go for authenticity. Start by identifying what makes your institution stand out, whether it’s a unique program, a beloved campus tradition, or exceptional career outcomes.
You can then showcase these elements through quick, visually engaging stories highlighting your unique value proposition.
