How to Create Valuable School Marketing Content

If your school is using valuable resources to create marketing content, you want that content to help you reach your goals. And for content to help you reach your goals, it must provide value.

But creating valuable content can mean different things to your audience and your school. Here’s how to ensure your content is valuable to both.

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What makes content valuable to your audience?

It teaches something they want to know. It’s useful, helpful or meaningful.

It fixes a problem. Knowing what keeps your audience up at night is key to creating valuable content. If you can discover their most pressing questions or challenges, and use your expertise to create content that responds to those issues, your ideal family will find your school worthy of more than a quick glance.

It helps the audience make a decision. The best content gives its audience the unbiased information they need to make the best decision for their situation. Try creating content that follows their decision-making arc, so that regardless of where the audience is in their decision-making process, there is a piece of content to help them along toward visiting, applying or enrolling.

It can be trusted. Above all, none of the other factors matter if the audience feels they are being sold something. Valuable content is authentic. It cannot be solely self-serving. It must focus on helping the audience in a genuine way.

What makes content valuable to your school?

It positions the school as a leader. Effective content should demonstrate your expertise , and showcase your school’s unique offerings.

It moves your audience forward. The most effective content causes families to take an action—request more information, schedule a tour, apply, enroll.

It improves SEO. Content has a huge impact on search. If you want to improve modern SEO, you need strong content.

It builds a relationship. Create content that is real, valuable and in touch with what your audience cares about, and you’ll build a real connection.

What makes content effective for both?

It tells what to do next. For your audience, this means having a clear call-to-action – a next step to either find out more, start a conversation, or make a commitment. For schools, this means having a clear follow-up – a way for you to capture the audience’s content information, or direct your audience to additional relevant content.

It leads to lasting connection. Great content makes it easy for a reader and a school to connect in other ways in the future. This might mean prompting conversation on social media or signing up for an eNewsletter.

The best school marketing content isn’t self-serving— but that doesn’t mean it can’t serve your interests. Focus on these criteria and everything you create will have meaning to your school and your audience.