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.