From television director in Tel Aviv to head of social media at Kaplan International English, Ido is passionate about telling stories no matter the platform. He speaks with The PIE about his transition from television to education and what even small providers can do to make a big impact online.
The PIE: Tell me a little bit about your background before you got into education.
IS: I’d been working in TV since 2004 doing many reality TV shows; I started working on Israeli Idol and worked my way up to direct shows. I did Israeli Big Brother and the Trinny and Susannah Show in Israel. I’ve also been doing lots of documentaries – lots of different formats such as seeing how a family deals with crisis.
The PIE: What made you decide to go into education?
IS: That’s a tough one! I was actually doing the Trinny and Susannah Show when I got an email from this guy from Kaplan International and I had no idea what it was and he said to me ‘I’ve seen your Instagram presence and I also heard about the things that you do’ – because I also did an international campaign that was featured on the Huffington Post and CNN. He said ‘I like the way that you share a story. Do you want to do a project together?’ I said I didn’t have time – I also said ‘I don’t do commercials.’ And he told me ‘If I want to advertise I can buy an advertising spot. I don’t want to advertise.’
Turns out this guy was Erez Tocker, the Managing Director at Kaplan International English. I went on their website and just have a look at what they were doing and it hit me – because this company has 40 schools all over the world, they teach English to international people and I loved it. So I got back to him, more interested, and I said ‘I can give you one month. Send me to New York. I want to see the story you’re talking about.’
So far we have 45,000 pictures on the #KaplanExperience hashtag on Instagram which is exciting
So he did. He sent me to New York to show me the story of study abroad. I had to promise to go to classes and all social activities. So along with the social media manager for Kaplan we started the #KaplanExperience hashtag on Instagram. That was two and a half years ago. So far we have 45,000 pictures on the #KaplanExperience hashtag on Instagram which is exciting.
The PIE: What was it like being a student?
IS: I was surprised, I was in the high proficiency level, but still it was hard! I guess it doesn’t matter your level, when you are not a native speaker there’s always room to improve. It was interesting. And I made amazing friends, I was sharing pictures of students and used the hashtag, showing what it’s like to study at Kaplan International.
The PIE: Was it a hard decision to leave TV?
IS: It wasn’t an easy decision because I also left my family and country and I still ask myself sometimes why I left TV and why I chose education – I think I know the answer better now after visiting 22 schools worldwide, from Australia and New Zealand to the UK.
Learning a language and being able to communicate with people is magic!
Learning a language and being able to communicate with people is magic! I met some Chinese students who didn’t know English at all. Within four months they spoke English and they were able to communicate.
So I find that amazing and I also find it challenging, because education is not sexy. It’s usually perceived as something boring – tests, exams, homework, lots of expectations and grades, however, I find learning language so important for someone’s future. From students who want to be able to communicate in English to those who are trying to get into universities abroad or have an international career. For me it was like: ‘There’s a challenge here. What can I do to make people understand that studying English with Kaplan is really interesting and important?’
The PIE: What are you doing now at Kaplan?
IS: What I do is work with my team to find a way to generate content by our students. It’s what we call user-generated content. The students are actually sharing their stories. It can be filming students or creating campaigns that will encourage students to share their stories.
The PIE: What do educators get wrong when it comes to social media?
IS: I think many brands are afraid to be transparent and show what they do, and I am trying to change that. So for example, in one city, the homestays are 45 minutes away. I said say the exact time and find a positive approach like you can actually read or study or sleep on the way to school!’
You find something that might be seen by the brand as a problem and figure out how you can communicate it in a positive way
You find something that might be seen by the brand as a problem and figure out how you can communicate it in a positive way and for the customers that will be good enough.
One of the biggest projects we did this year at Kaplan – and I’m really proud of it, is ‘This is how we do it’. We have two cameras filming six classrooms and 24 students. You can see them really studying in classroom, interacting with each other and even making mistakes. Then you see how the teachers are correcting them, which is beautiful! It’s something that I would be very happy to see as a potential student.
The PIE: Yes it would be interesting for schools too to see the inside of a major player’s classroom.
IS: Exactly. And we really opened it because you can see the methodology, the curriculum, how they use the smart boards, how students engage with teachers and can really get to see what it’s like to study with Kaplan. I wish other brands would do the same.
The PIE: Most schools can’t recruit TV producers to run their social media, so what tips would you give them?
IS: The first thing is to put yourself in the eyes of the customer. If you landed on your website, if you saw this content, would you like it? With posts on Facebook, I see some brands just spamming with links, links, links. Why would I follow them? Would you follow spam? No! Annoying!
The PIE: You mean links to their own page?
IS: It’s ok to post links on Facebook, but don’t be aggressive social media is about talking with people, not talking to people, so try to make it more personal. think about the content you share, if you were a student would you be engaged with it?
One other tip that I can give: ask your students to do selfies- it’s easy and doesn’t cost you, because students know how to do it!
One other tip that I can give: ask your students to do selfies- it’s easy and doesn’t cost you, because students know how to do it! So it’s knowing what’s trending – we know that selfies are trending, so you as a customer sees a selfie, you’d think, ‘Oh, that’s cool.’
The PIE: Do students ever take over social media accounts?
IS: In some of the schools they do. In Kaplan Berkeley, for example, we have students that love the school so much, you can see them on their lunch break being part of the staff. You can see the ‘senior’ students are taking the new students to see the city, which is beautiful. If you have this kind of ambassador student who is very engaged with your brand, ask them, to help you. You will be surprised – you don’t need to give them incentives. If you need to bribe students, don’t do it. It’s not going to be honest, it’s going to be fake. If you want real content, get people that really want to share it.
If you have this kind of ambassador student who is very engaged with your brand, ask them, to help you
The biggest thing is to be transparent. That’s something I learned from reality TV: use emotion; tell a real story; use real people; I can even say to you that in the Kaplan brochures, we use many students because we have great students, and they’re real!
The PIE: Those little details do really make a difference. People think “I can see myself as that student”.
IS: I love that you said that. When I started at Kaplan I interviewed a Korean girl and as a tv director I thought it was the most awful interview ever, because she was too shy but then I understood that people can identify with her. Now from time to time I see her video on our youtube and I like her even more because she’s real And being real will help your business.
