2024 in Review: AI & the future of School MarComms
The proliferation of AI in school marketing and admissions is crucial for its ability to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and personalization, addressing key challenges faced by professionals.
These challenges include shrinking budgets, limited team capacity, and a market that increasingly expects unique, individualized digital experiences.
AI-powered tools can automate repetitive tasks such as application processing, lead nurturing, and email campaigns, freeing up time for staff to focus on strategic efforts. By analyzing data, AI can identify trends, segment audiences, and predict enrollment behaviors, enabling targeted marketing strategies and improved conversion rates. Overall, AI enhances productivity while providing a data-driven, customer-centric approach to school marketing and admissions.
This article will highlight some of the most successful AI integration use cases in the Independent School sector and provide you with an inside track on the best technology currently available.
Automated Content Creation
Use Case: Create engaging content for social media, blogs, newsletters, and website copy.
Efficiency Boost: AI tools can draft blog posts, captions, or articles, freeing up time for refining and tailoring the tone rather than writing from scratch.
Tool Suggestions:
ChatGPT (OpenAI): For blog writing, email drafts, and personalized parent outreach messages.
Jasper AI: For marketing-specific content like ad copy, SEO-optimized blogs, and promotional emails.
Canva Magic Write: AI-driven copywriting integrated into a design platform for social posts and banners.
Personalized Email Campaigns
Use Case: Create, segment, and send personalized emails to parents, alumni, and prospective families.
Efficiency Boost: AI tools can segment audiences based on their behavior and preferences, then generate customized email content for each segment.
Tool Suggestions:
HubSpot: For automated email workflows and segmentation.
ActiveCampaign: AI-powered email campaigns with advanced personalization and A/B testing.
Chatbots for Parent Inquiries
Use Case: Handle FAQs, provide virtual tours, and assist prospective families 24/7.
Efficiency Boost: Reduces time spent answering repetitive questions and ensures a timely response to inquiries.
Tool Suggestions:
Intercom or Drift: Advanced conversational AI for parent inquiries on the school website.
ChatGPT API or Tars Chatbot: Customizable bots tailored to your school’s unique offerings.
Social Media Management
Use Case: Plan, post, and analyze social media campaigns across multiple platforms.
Efficiency Boost: AI tools can suggest post ideas, create visuals, and analyze engagement metrics.
Tool Suggestions:
Hootsuite or Buffer: AI-assisted scheduling and analytics for social platforms.
SprXdata: School-specific brand story analysis, focusing on quantifying content strategies
AI-Driven Video Marketing
Use Case: Create promotional videos, virtual campus tours, or testimonial videos from parents and alumni.
Efficiency Boost: AI tools streamline video editing and even create videos from text prompts.
Tool Suggestions:
Synthesia: Generate AI-driven video content with professional avatars and voiceovers.
Pictory: Turn text or blog posts into short, engaging video snippets.
Animoto: AI-assisted video creation for school events and promotions
Predictive Analytics for Enrollment Trends
Use Case: Analyze past data to predict enrollment trends and plan marketing efforts accordingly.
Efficiency Boost: Identifies patterns, allowing schools to allocate resources more effectively and focus on high-performing channels.
Tool Suggestions:
Tableau with AI Capabilities: Visualize enrollment patterns and marketing ROI.
SprXdata: School data unifier, collating website, organic, SEO & Admissions data to create live customer journeys.
Personalized Parent and Student Experiences
Use Case: Tailor school tours, events, and communications based on specific family interests or student profiles.
Efficiency Boost: AI can gather data from inquiries to create hyper-personalized experiences for each prospective family.
Tool Suggestions:
Zapier (with AI integrations): Connects inquiry forms with personalized email or event follow-ups.
SprXstories: Retargets social media posts throughout the admissions funnel, dynamically adjusting content based on user intent
AI for Competitive Analysis
Use Case: Benchmark your school’s performance against competitors.
Efficiency Boost: AI scrapes and analyzes competitor content, reviews, and offerings to identify gaps and opportunities.
Tool Suggestions:
Crayon: Tracks competitor digital activities, including social media and campaigns.
SprXdata: Native Ahref integration to provide real time SEO analytics
Event Management and Promotion
Use Case: Automate tasks for open houses, orientations, and parent-teacher events.
Efficiency Boost: AI tools can handle invitations, reminders, RSVPs, and post-event follow-ups.
Tool Suggestions:
Eventbrite with AI Plugins: For automated event promotion and data collection.
Calendly (AI-integrated): Schedule school tours and consultations efficiently.
Whilst AI will fundamentally change the face of school MarComms, should we all begin to look elsewhere for employment? We believe not.
The future of school marketing and communications will not be (and should not be) determined by AI or AI personalization. It will always be about being data & content driven.
AI like much that has preceded it is a fantastic tool in the right hands. Its true power rests in its ability to support automation and increase individual capacity. This trade off must be met with a renewed effort by all MarComms professionals to commit themselves to the fundamentals of school storytelling.
Prospects, current parents and your alumni deserve real content, driven by real people. AI will never replace that.
If you would like to learn more about how schools are utilising any of the outlined technology systems then please reach out to us. You can book in time with a member of the team here.