• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Looking for something?

Let’s connect!

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

The Virtual Marketer

Digital Marketing for Schools

  • Home
  • About
  • Training
    • Google Analytics
    • Google Ads (PPC)
    • Facebook & Instagram Advertising
    • Social Media Marketing
    • Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
  • Services
    • Virtual Open Days
    • PPC Advertising
    • Social Media Marketing
    • Digital Marketing Strategy
    • Google Analytics Reporting
    • School Website Optimisation
  • School Marketing Blog
    • Read the Latest
    • Select by Topic
  • School Marketing Webinars
  • Contact

How to Host a Virtual Open Day for Your School

Apr 12 2020

Many of you may have had upcoming Open Days planned for your school, but with the unforeseen impact of COVID-19, a public event is no longer an option. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t invite parents to explore your school online. With a Virtual Open Day, you can do just that. Not sure how to get started? Read on …

Determine Your Open Day Itinerary

The first step in going virtual with your Open Day is to decide what you’d like to share. What did you already have planned for your upcoming event or what have you previously done at Open Days? Try not to think of the logistics at this stage, just make a list of your desired itinerary.

  • Message from the Head
  • Tour of Your School
  • Q&A Session
  • Head Student Welcomes
  • Parent and Student Testimonials
  • Taster Classes

Establish Your Level of Expertise

Next, you’ll want to ascertain your level of technical expertise. Think of yourself and your team when answering the following questions:

  • Do you have the support of an IT team?
  • Are you comfortable with live video?
  • Is there a social platform you’re most familiar with?
  • Do you have a fast – and stable – internet connection at your home or school?

Keep your answers above in mind when moving on to the next step.

Select Your Virtual Open Day Platform

Aside from how comfortable you and your team are with technology—your budget will also impact your decision when taking your Open Day online. Below are a few platform hosting options for every technical skill level and budget.

1. Live On Social Media

You may have already been experimenting with Facebook, Instagram or YouTube Live on your current social feed. With zero cost involved, if you’re already comfortable with these social platforms and have a solid internet connection, then live video may be for you! (Never used live video on social media but want to give it a go? Pop me a message about online training.)

Pros:

  • You’re able to answer real-time questions for parents tuning in
  • You’ve got an existing following that can help spread the word
  • You can build excitement and energy for your Virtual Open Day

Cons:

  • You’re at the mercy of your internet connection
  • Given that most parents will now be home-schooling or working extended hours, your chosen date/time may no longer be an option (note however that you can record live video for on-demand later)
  • Depending on the platform you choose, data capture may not be an option

2. Pre-Recorded Videos Hosted on Your School Website

Probably the option that more schools will feel comfortable with are pre-recorded videos. Depending on how the videos are created and edited you’ll have little to no cost associated with this choice. Hosted on either your YouTube or Vimeo account, your videos should be easy to embed on your school website either by yourself, your web designer or someone like myself.

Pros:

  • You can do as many ‘takes’ as needed to get your desired results
  • All videos can be branded for consistency and maximum impact
  • Videos can also be created from existing photos
  • Hosting videos on your school website will help with your SEO (search engine optimisation)
  • Parents can ‘attend’ your Virtual Open Day at a date and time that works for them

Cons:

  • Your videos may not feel as natural or engaging as live video (a glass of wine prior to your shoot may help with that!)
  • This will require a time commitment from you and your team
  • Will also require an option such as an entry pop-up to capture your visitor data

3. Virtual Open Day and 360° Degree Software

Universities and Estate Agents have been using Open Day software for years so this option can be a very slick choice. Ranging from 360 tours to live Q&A sessions, your budget will most likely determine which option you choose. Of course, the ability to access the services or products during our current lock-down will also have an impact on your decision.

WorkCast and VFairs are both great examples of professional virtual event software platforms that allow you a combination of live events such as a Q&A session as well as pre-recorded videos (your virtual tour? Head’s welcome?) and downloads on-demand (your school prospectus?).

If your school facilities and surroundings are a big selling feature, a 360° video tour would certainly be worth looking into. Tours differ from vendor to vendor, from those that simply allow the viewer to ‘walk’ through your school, to others which provide more interactivity such as downloads and links to your school website. Check out a few of the companies I’ve come across, all experienced in the education space:

  • TourVista
  • 3Deep Media
  • Ambient Light
  • 360 Marketing Lab (my old colleague and friend, Taralyn Cox)

Pros:

  • A secure and stable connection for live events (should you want to go down that route)
  • The support of experienced and specialised teams
  • A professionally finished product
  • The ability to easily capture data (although this will differ for each platform)

Cons:

  • An additional cost (but obviously an investment that pays back)
  • Not all features may be available during this lock-down period

Given that many schools are being forced to revisit their budgets and the instability of many internet connections, Option 2 of pre-recorded videos could very well be the choice for many schools. With that in mind, I’ve got a few tips to get you started with your own video creation…

Video Tips for Your Virtual Open Day

Message from the Head

Now more than ever your message from the Head will speak volumes about your school, reassuring your current parents and putting prospective parents at ease. Don’t side-step the reality of the situation. Tackle how the coronavirus is affecting your school head-on whilst demonstrating the positives such as your move to a virtual school day. You may even want to include photos or video excerpts of pupils’ remote learning sessions in your final edit.

Tour of Your School

It’s standard practice to take your parents for a walk around the property to explore inside and outside your school. If you had a 360° video in mind but don’t have the funds or means at this time there are plenty of apps out there that allow you to create tours using your own phone. Check out this article by Digital Trends on The best 360-degree camera apps for iOS and Android for some recommended options.

If visiting your school is a possibility, a simple video walk-around can still be very effective. Use your video editing tool post recordings to do a voice over for a smooth transition between spaces. A final alternative could be a video created from existing photos. A tool like Filmora will make this easy as well as give you the option to add your school’s brand touches. (See Video Editing Tools below for more on Filmora)

Recorded Q&A

Your marketing and admissions teams will most likely know all the questions parents ask at Open Days inside out. Have one of the team record a Q&A video, reading out and answering questions. Provide a link in your video description to allow parents to easily submit their own questions and include a downloadable document of your questions and answers as well. When editing your video separate each question with a frame break of the question in text, allowing you to easily add any additional Q&A if need be.

Head Student Welcomes

A message from your school’s Head Girl and/or Head Boy can be a fantastic addition to your Virtual Open Day, giving students a taste of school life from someone they can relate to. If you already have your Head Student welcomes on your website as text, why not ask them to record their messages in a video? Recorded from home and out of their school uniform, their messages may even come across more authentic and inviting to your prospective pupils.

Parent and Pupil Testimonials

Since many parents are already submitting photos and videos to the school to showcase their remote learning, why not ask those that are highly engaged to submit a short video testimonial as well? Use your editing software to compile your video submissions into one, adding your branding touches. Don’t forget to ask pupils (via their parents) as well!

Taster Classes

Since you’re not able to take parents through the school to experience a live class in session, think about compiling a video of some of the virtual classes your school is offering. There are so many brilliant examples being shared via social media already that between your Teachers and Marketing team this shouldn’t be difficult to put together.

Video Recording Options

Laptop – if you have a newer laptop you’ll most likely have a decent camera and microphone built-in. If not, you can easily order a webcam with a built-in microphone online. I did research a couple of years ago and purchased the older version of one of the top webcams on sale for only £25. Buy a desktop tripod with it and you’re all set!

Phone – the quality of video on phones these days is amazing. If you choose to use your phone to record your videos it’s probably best to rotate your phone horizontal to ensure a consistent layout, making it easier to stitch together and edit your videos down the road.

Don’t worry if your videos aren’t perfect. Every school is going to have different levels of support and technical expertise. Create your videos with a bit of humour and a smile on your face and you’ll be surprised how much is forgiven.

If you’re looking for inspiration, check out the fantastic array of Felsted Video Tours created by Sophy Walker, Director of Marketing at Felsted School using her iphone!  (Editing by Simon Jones of Bonjour  School Photography).

Check the schools (and University) below for a variety of styles of  Virtual Open Days:

  • St Edmunds College
  • The Leys
  • Woodbridge School (created by Ambient Light)
  • Plymouth University (created by 3Deep)

Video Editing Tools

You may already have a favourite video editing software, but if you are on the lookout for a tool that requires very little technical savvy I’d definitely recommend Filmora. Inexpensive (a one-time payment of $69 USD) and easy to use, you can do so much with this desktop (or app) software:

  • create branded covers
  • edit and stitch together multiple videos
  • do voice-overs
  • add music
  • add video credits
  • produce video from photos

I personally use Filmora9 but if you’re an advanced editor you may want to try FilmoraPro. Compare the two products here.

A little note on your video editing. Don’t try to do one video to cover everything. Remember not every parent is going to be interested in every aspect of your school. Create bite-size videos for your parents to pick n mix what appeals to them.

Promoting Your Virtual Open Day

Irrespective of the current situation, many parents will still be researching schools for their children so there is no reason you shouldn’t be promoting your event as you would have before:

  • Social Media
  • Google My Business
  • School Website
  • Google Ads and/or Social Media Advertising

What you will want to do is be sensitive to your tone and the images you use in your adverts. However, given the caring and cautious nature of schools, I very much doubt this will be an issue.

Following Up with Virtual Open Day Attendees

Lastly, depending on which platform you choose, you may or may not know who has ‘attended’ your Virtual Open Day. If you’ve chosen to host videos on your website and haven’t included a data capture option, an effective way to ‘follow up’ with attendees is via remarketing. Whether that’s through Facebook / Instagram or Google adverts, creating a campaign that targets visitors of your Virtual Open Day page ensures you’re top of mind when parents are making their final decision. But don’t forget to turn on your remarketing capabilities via Google Analytics now if you want to use this option!

Virtual Open Day Support

Although I can’t cover everything here, I hope this blog has provided some guidance and food for thought on how you might go virtual with your Open Day. If you need assistance in organising and/or implementing a Virtual Open Day at your school let’s chat about how we can work together.

Good luck. I look forward to visiting your school online!

Contact Me

 

Related Posts

  • Spring Clean Your Schools Marketing StrategySpring Clean Your School Marketing Strategy
  • Super-Charge Your School Marketing
  • #TellMeHow …To Optimise My School Website Photos for Search Engines
  • Social-Media-Marketing-for-Schools-5-Easy-StepsSocial Media Marketing for Schools – 5 Easy Steps

Categorized: Event, SEO, Strategy

Primary Sidebar

Alta Justus, The Virtual Marketer

Alta Justus, The Virtual Marketer

Recent Posts

2021 Digital Marketing Checklist for Schools

Facebook vs Google Ads: Which Should Your School Use?

How Can I Help?

A passionate digital marketer with 18 years marketing experience, I’ll work with your school to maximise your online presence. Don’t get left behind — contact me today!


Contact Me

Blog Categories

FOLLOW ME

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Strategy
  • Social
  • Training
  • Reporting

Footer

ABOUT ME

An equally creative and analytical Digital Marketing Consultant with over 18 years education and commercial marketing experience, I'm passionate about helping schools succeed in the digital arena. Read More…

CONTACT ME

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Follow me on social media, fill out my contact form or reach me directly @

  alta.justus@thevirtualmarketer.co.uk

 (44) 0742 879 2799

#tuesdaytip: Have a Google account? Use it or lose #tuesdaytip: Have a Google account? Use it or lose it! Google's recently announced accounts that haven't been used in a couple of years, or exceeded their storage, will be at risk of deletion. If you're like most school marketers you'll probably have a few Gmail accounts and a Google Drive or two that you haven't looked at for a while. Of course, I'd always recommend using a verified school email over a Gmail account but if are using a random Gmail and Drive to store photos or to access your Google Analytics, etc, make a point to check those accounts. It will be a while before your data is deleted, and you'll receive a couple of warnings, but as we all know tasks like this can be set aside until it's too late. Don't risk losing valuable data or photos - review your Google accounts today. And while you're at it why not switched to a Google verified work email so you don't miss any important messages like this one 😁

How to verify your school email with Google: 
Visit my blog via my bio or go to
👉 https://thevirtualmarketer.co.uk/how-to-use-my-school-email-for-my-google-accounts/

#vmdigitaltips #digitalmarketing #googlenews #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing
I love this quote about being productive vs busy. I love this quote about being productive vs busy. And this article — 11 Differences Between Busy People And Productive People — gives some great examples of the differences as well as tips to become a more productive person. I know I'm bad at saying 'Yes' a little too quickly for my own good so a great reminder for me. Who couldn't use a few tips for improving productivity... 😁

👉https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/11-differences-between-busy-people-and-productive-people.html

#mondaymotivation #timemanagementtips #digitalmarketing #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing  #strategicmarketing
I'm so pleased to see an increase in schools reach I'm so pleased to see an increase in schools reaching out for SEO training and support. Yes, digital advertising is the fastest way to get in front of your parents, but you should still be thinking long-term. That may very well include digital campaigns, but ideally, you'll want to grow your organic traffic to the point that you can reduce your advertising spend. At the very least you'll want to maintain your school website's SEO rankings.

When it comes to optimising a website for search engines there are a few things that have remained consistent throughout the years - like these 5 SEO tips. Still relevant after all these years and yet many schools have failed to do them. Why not grab a cuppa, have a read then make a plan to optimise your school website in 2021. Every little helps...

👉 Visit my blog via my bio or copy the link below

https://thevirtualmarketer.co.uk/5-seo-tips-every-school-marketer-can-implement/

#thursdaythoughts #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #seotips #seostrategy #studentrecruitment #2021goals
Do the computers in your ICT classroom default to Do the computers in your ICT classroom default to your school website? If they do you'll want to filter out your internal traffic from Google Analytics to get a true sense of your data. It's not difficult to do but you'll first want to have a chat with IT to get a list of your IP addresses.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀:

👉 Start by creating a new view. Once you filter traffic out of GA you can't get it back so create an additional view such as 'Filtered Traffic'
👉 Next, create a filter on your new view. Go to Admin > Filters and click +Add Filter
👉 Name = Exclude Internal IPs (or whatever you choose to call it)
👉 Filter Type = Predefined
👉 Select filter type = Exclude
👉 Source = Traffic from the IP addresses
👉 That are equal to = your IP address or range

For more details on how to create your new view or filter visit https://support.google.com/ or ping me a message 😊

That's it! Now you'll be able to see both your filtered and all data dependent on the view you select! 👍📊

#tuesdaytip #vmdigitaltips #googleanalytics #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #strategicmarketing
I'm not sure about you but I certainly don't belie I'm not sure about you but I certainly don't believe marketing can be learned in a day! And as marketing is continuously evolving, are any of us ever 'Masters'? But I agree with the intent behind the message—marketing is a profession where your training never ends. Or shouldn't! When was the last time you did any training—digital or otherwise? Why not make CPD a priority in 2021! 👍

#digitalmarketingtraining
#socialmediamarketing
#digitaladvertising
#seo
#googleanalytics
#schoolmarketing
#educationmarketing 
#studentrecruitment 
#mondaymotivation
Does your school brand reflect what parents are lo Does your school brand reflect what parents are looking for and engaging with online? The internet has evolved over the years and so have our audiences. They're savvy to sales pitches and blatant self-promotion. What they want is to connect with businesses and people they can trust—especially with their child. For brand authenticity, you need to be perceived as reliable, respectful, and 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡. Does that sound like your school...?

#morningcoffeethoughts 
#brandidentity 
#schoolmarketing 
#educationmarketing 
#contentmarketing 
#socialmediamarketing 
#schoolwebsite
You've probably heard me mention many times the im You've probably heard me mention many times the importance of gaining control and optimising your Google My Business account to improve your search engine rankings.
 
One of the fields that has a direct impact on your SEO is your Business Category. You may currently have one or two added, but did you know you can have up to 10 categories? Google is updating their categories all the time so it's worth looking at this field when you're adding new photos or sharing your latest blog within the platform. 
 
I came across this fab website the other day that can quickly show the different categories available outside of GMB. Select your country and add your term (i.e. 'school') and see all the options available. Of course, you can also do the same in GMB but this may be the prompt you need to add those additional categories and improve your school's SEO!
 
👉https://pleper.com/index.php?do=tools&sdo=gmb_categories
 
Just a note, I'm having difficulties accessing this site this morning (not sure if it's me or them??) but hopefully, you'll have no problem getting in 🤞
 
Not sure what Google My Business is? Have a peek here: https://www.google.com/intl/en_gb/business/
 
#tuesdaytip #vmdigitaltips #digitalmarketing #seotools #seotips #seostrategy #seoservices #schoolmarketing
Since how you think dictates how your week goes, w Since how you think dictates how your week goes, why not start on a positive note?! It's not always easy but there are ways to help you develop a more positive mindset. 

If you have 5 minutes, grab a cuppa and have a read of this article by @womenontopp, 𝟱 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹:

👉https://www.womenontopp.com/5-ways-to-develop-a-positive-mindset-to-help-you-become-more-successful/

(you can also search 'improve your mindset' in Google to find it) 

There's some great advice in there to help shift your mindset, so definitely worth the read. 

Here's to a fantastic week, everyone! 😊

#digitalmarketing #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #digitalmarketingtraining #wellbeing #mondaymotivation
I know Monday is the last thing on your mind on a I know Monday is the last thing on your mind on a Friday afternoon but if you can do these few tasks today I guarantee you'll feel so much more positive and in control of your week:

👉 Plan for the week ahead. Tuesdays are apparently the most productive day of the week so schedule any of your big projects for that day and see if that's the case for you.

👉 Keep Monday as your flexible day. Monday is the day that sets the tone for the week and if you pack too much into the day you'll start the week off feeling behind. Schedule smaller tasks and keep as much time open as you can.

👉 Do a little digital housekeeping today. With energy usually low on a Friday afternoon it's a great time to tidy up your computer files. It's easy work, but also immensely rewarding. While you're at it, maybe give your desk a little dusting off as well. A clutter-free desk and mind are the best way to start your week!

I'm off to clear my own desktop files. I'm terrible at 'I'll file that away later'... 😁

Have a fabulous weekend everyone. See you Monday!

#fridayfeeling #organisedchaos #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #digitalmarketing #digitalmarketingtraining
Follow on Instagram
  • Home
  • Training
  • Services
  • Blog
  • Webinars
  • Contact

Copyright © 2021 · vivien theme by Lovely Confetti DMCA.com Protection Status

Welcome to my website! Just so you're aware, I use basic cookies to ensure you have the best possible experience when visiting. If you continue on my site, I'll assume that you're happy with that. If not, I'll use a cookie to remember your preference and you won't be tracked. Easy peasy. Have a lovely day! OkNo