Lion Academy Trust
Digital marketing | Social media | Marketing strategy
The brief
Communitas has planned, created content and executed a number of successful social media campaigns for multi academy trust Lion Academy Trust (LAT), which has schools in east London, Essex and Northampton.
Facebook admissions campaign
We were commissioned to create a Nursery, daycare and Reception class marketing strategy to increase admissions at Lion Academy Trust’s three primary schools in Walthamstow. The Communitas team developed key messaging around the Trust’s USPs. These include having well-qualified staff and well-resourced Nursery, daycare and Reception class environments, as well as the convenience offered by having 2 and 3 year old provision located within a primary school.
In addition to a printed leaflet for local distribution, we created film and graphic (meme) content for use on Facebook, for both organic and promoted posts. The films featured parents talking about the school environment and the support that Lion Academy Trust had afforded their children around specific challenges that our research had identified were significant factors in choice of school or Nursery – e.g. support for special needs, parental engagement, outdoor environment.
Results included growing Facebook follower numbers to over 500 in 10 months and the Trust confirmed a clear increase in numbers applying to join their schools.
Instagram NQT recruitment campaign
Lion Academy Trust also commissioned us to support its NQT recruitment campaign. Owing to the age profile of its users we identified Instagram as a key social media channel to use within a multi-channel campaign, which also included face to face engagement via universities and content on the Trust’s own website.
Working with current Lion Academy Trust NQTs, we created a series of short films and memes for social media, on themes that our NQT research showed us are important to them, and to teachers in general. These included support from NQT mentors and the wider teaching team and what advice they would give new NQTs just starting out. We also filmed some recommendations around must-have classroom resources and great guided reading picks. In Phase 2 of the campaign we spoke to Middle Leaders who began their teaching lives as Lion Academy Trust NQTs in order to illustrate the career trajectories that are open to them and the kinds of qualities that successful NQTs need.
Our well-researched hashtag strategy has ensured that posts are targeted to the UK teaching workforce as far as possible, and within that at trainee teachers looking for their NQT placement. Our engagement rate across the campaign was between 10 and 14 per cent.
Communitas has provided us with an excellent service. We have found the team knowledgeable and extremely professional. I don’t know how they do it, but they always deliver even when the deadlines are really incredibly tight!
Communitas has helped us to raise awareness of our schools through the school websites, media relations, newsletters and other comms channels, including social. We see Communitas as a key strategic partner and we will continue to access guidance and support from the team as the Trust and its schools grow and thrive.
