Schools are always looking for strategies to connect with more families and increase student applications. With the pandemic still hampering the safety of in-person events and canvassing, recruitment teams are attempting digital solutions to plug the gaps.

You may be wondering if Facebook paid ads will increase applicants. The answer is “yes”, social media advertising can work to attract students. However, there are more ways to get it wrong than to get it right. My goal is to highlight common pitfalls and outline strategies that make ads worth your investment. This article will not serve as a Facebook Ads tutorial, but rather a guide to help you decide if ads are right for your school.

What Are Facebook Ads?

To put it simply, your organization can pay Facebook to place your content in the feeds of users who meet your criteria. The advantages are obvious, you can extend your reach beyond your network. Unlike TV, Radio, or Billboards, you get to select what type of people see your ads.

As organic social media becomes less and less effective as time goes on (only 10% of your followers see your posts), we are becoming more dependent on ads to reach families. The bad news is there is only one consistent winner in this scenario: Facebook. They continue to make it easier for you to spend money and more difficult to get results.

Common Facebook Ad Pitfalls

There are many ways to run ineffective Facebook Ads. Here are the top five mistakes I consistently see:

Boosting Posts with No Game Plan

Everyone who manages a Facebook page has seen that “Boost Post” button promising to turn your post into a viral sensation. Don’t click it. Or rather, don’t click it unless you have a plan in place (for example, your post is a lead magnet or event with an email sequence on the backend). Stand-alone ads rarely perform well. Most effective ad strategies take place in the context of a campaign rather than a single post. The Ad Center on business.facebook.com will give you the most control over your ad and allow you to build and visualize campaigns, not the “Boost” button.

Choosing the Wrong Audience

The Ads Center gives you lots of control over your audience, and you need to take advantage of that. Don’t stick with the default age 18-65. Although there are exceptions, few 18-23-year-olds or folks older than 55 are deciding where children go to school. Women are still the dominant decision-makers on schooling, so you can exclude men from your demographics. Charter schools have specific zip codes that they can legally serve. Don’t use the default “City + 10 miles” because you will attract families who have no priority to be at your school. Enter the specific zip codes that you serve.

Forgetting to Set Up Facebook Pixel

The Facebook Pixel is a snippet of code that can be injected into your website. The pixel allows you to track user behaviors on your site. Facebook Ads become more successful when you can retarget your website users. If you forget to set up your pixel on the front end, you are losing valuable information.

Asking for Commitment Too Soon

Great marketing follows the arch of normal human relationships. Trust must be built over time before asking someone to commit. Asking folks to "Apply Now" in your first campaign is asking for too much too soon.

Not A/B Testing Your Copy & Media

Facebook allows advertisers to A/B test copy and media to see what lands with your audience. To maximize your ad spend, make sure you are leveraging copy and media that captures attention.

Strategies to Improve

Drive People to Your Website to Narrow Your Audience

Using the “Traffic” objective in your campaign, run an ad that will pique interest and encourage people to visit your website. You can use your tagline or one-liner as the copy. The “Learn More” button linked to a landing page works great. With a pixel installed, this campaign can create a custom audience for your next series of ads.

Advertise a Lead Magnet

Using the custom audience that visited your landing page, you can follow up with a lead magnet. This is a resource that you can offer families in exchange for an email address (or even phone number). This lead magnet could be a virtual tour, an info session, or a video series. People will be more likely to sign up for a resource than to fill out an application. This allows you to continue to build trust.

Have Follow-Up in Place

It is crucial to have a series of messages or touchpoints in place for people who sign up for your lead generator. Use your email marketing software to build an automated campaign after someone has signed up. This email campaign needs to further educate families about your school and how you will make their lives better. After you have educated your audience and built trust over time, ask them to apply!

Conclusion

So, should your school invest in Facebook advertising? If you are looking for one-off quick wins, then the answer is no. However, if you have the capacity to run multiple campaigns with intentional follow-up, then yes, Facebook ads will work for your school.

Sawyer Schafbuch is a StoryBrand Certified Guide and founder of Everydesk, helping quality schools recruit students. He recently moved to Des Moines, IA with his wife and daughter.