Grow Your Group through the Power of Social Media

As the 2018-2019 school year gets ready for kick-off, we hope you’ve had a relaxing summer dreaming about your upcoming ACIS trip! Now that the school bell has rung and class is in session, it’s time to start recruiting new travelers. In today’s day-and-age, social media is a top-tier form of communication, and possibly one of the best ways to reach the students in your school. We’ve gathered some tips and tricks to create a buzz for your tour online!

1. First things first, recruit a Student Ambassador. Not only can this student leader help you stay organized, they can also help you keep social media pages like Facebook Groups and Instagram updated with the latest trip info and create excitement and buzz throughout the community. Student Ambassador Grace S. from Fort Smith, Arkansas put together a creative platform online to encourage students to join her on her France & Switzerland trip, regularly posting news and updates.

2. If your school has an active social media presence, encourage the social media admins to post about your trip on their various channels for a farther school and community-wide reach. They can share recruitment images, meeting dates and important information for potential travelers.

3. Create a Facebook Group to foster a sense of community and a sharing base for your students. Spanish Teacher Scott Saks from Pennsylvania has created a private Facebook group that all his travelers, past, present and future can join to stay up-to-date, see beautiful photos of their upcoming destinations and share photos and stories from past trips. Sr. Saks also shares birthday wishes, travel related videos and posts and overall has created a great sharing platform and community.

4. Creating an ‘official’ and unique hashtag for your trip, such as #CDSDFrance18 and encouraging students and parents to use it on their platforms, makes it super easy for parents, friends and anyone else interested to follow their group before departure and while on tour on Twitter and Instagram.

5. Encourage all your travelers to spread the word about your trip on their own personal social media profiles. Posting photos from meetings, from your destination and chatting about it online can help your trip gain traction in all different social circles and get new students excited for what’s to come!

The best thing you can do to recruit travelers is to create an exciting, buzzworthy community of sharing and engagement, whether it be online or in your school. No matter what other recruiting tools you use, we highly recommend taking advantage of social media’s awesome potential to grow your numbers and keep everyone enthused throughout the trip process.

Download the ACIS Social Media Guide for more information on growing your group through social!