Education Public Relations Playbook

Why PR is Vital in the Education Sector

Why PR is Vital in the Education Sector

The education landscape in Singapore is both competitive and diverse, with over 1,800 pre-schools and a robust public-school system catering to nearly 500,000 primary and secondary students as of 2023 [1]. In addition to the local demand, Singapore attracts approximately 55,000 international students annually [2], drawn by its reputation for academic excellence.

PR is essential for educational institutions to:

1. Attract Global Talent: Institutions can use PR to highlight their achievements, programs, and partnerships to entice international students and faculty.
2. Enhance Brand Reputation: Building a trusted reputation among parents, students, and educators through strategic campaigns.
3. Support Enrollment Campaigns: Tailored PR campaigns can boost enrollment in competitive programs or underrepresented courses.

Key PR Strategies for the Education Sector

1. To Build Credibility for the Brand – Building a Narrative Around Achievements

• Highlight success stories such as outstanding alumni, innovative research projects, or the institution’s real-world projects to get students better equipped once they graduate.
• Pitching profile stories of people behind the education business e.g. faculty members of universities or founders of tuition centres 
• Cutting-Edge Facilities: Showcase how technology and infrastructure enhance learning experiences (e.g., AI-driven tools, smart classrooms).
• Innovative Teaching Methods: Highlight how educators are adapting methodologies to cater to modern learners, like gamified learning or interdisciplinary studies.
• Thought Leadership: Position faculty or alumni as experts commenting on trending issues or publishing op-eds 

2. To Attract Youths – Leveraging Digital Platforms

• Use social media campaigns to connect with prospective students and parents. Instagram, Tiktok and LinkedIn are ideal platforms to share stories about campus life, faculty, and student experiences.
  • Student take over – Allow students to take over the Instagram or Tiktok account for a day, sharing their personal experiences.
  • User-Generated Campaigns – Invite students to tag the institution in their posts/stories/reels as part of certain challenges
  • Day in the Life – Feature students or faculty sharing a day in their lives, covering classes, co-curricular activities, and downtime.

3. To Attract Youths – Organizing High-Impact Events

• Host open houses, virtual tours, and international education fairs to showcase unique experiences at the institution that prospective students cannot get anywhere else.

Achievers’ Dream Innovates During the Pandemic

30 features across mainstream and lifestyle media such as CNA 938, Channel 8 News, Channel 5 News and The AsianParent.

The Mission

Achievers Dream is the first Chemistry tuition specialist in Singapore fully-equipped with an NEA Certified Chemistry laboratory (Awarded the NEA HS Permit) with a qualified lab technician. They were able to open their second outlet at New Tech Park Mall despite the pandemic. They were looking for opportunities to reach out to mainstream and parenting media. Additionally, they hope to improve their search rankings and bring in more business.

Services

• Media Releases
• Media Pitching
• Media Interviews
• Factsheet
• Media Invite

The Outcome

We pitched a narrative about the founder’s story – Mr Jerald Lie’s inspiration, challenges, journey and future plans. On another occasion, we sent out a media invite to our parenting influencers for a fun Chemistry Event held at the AD Chemistry lab. Unfortunately, closer to the date, many of our parenting influencers backed out due to rising Covid-19 numbers and we had to postpone the event. We decided to find different angles to make news and we were able to secure a broadcast interview opportunity for AD’s founder that was aired across all the different news channels in Singapore.