How Smart Social Media Marketing Fueled School Zone’s Growth by 184%
Behind the scenes of a growth story that turned educational content into a learning brand powerhouse.
School Zone Publishing has been helping kids learn for over 40 years, long before every classroom became equipped with laptops. But even beloved legacy brands can hit a wall. When School Zone came to us, they had the trust, the products, the mission, but lacked the digital momentum and reach to match.
This is the story of how a blended social media ads and organic growth strategy helped this educational brand shine brighter than ever, driving a 184% increase in overall reach and giving parents and educators a smarter, easier way to find and purchase the classroom supplemental tools and resources they need.
Whether you are an educational brand or a consumer-focused product or service brand, wondering how to make ads and organic content work together on social media instead of competing for budget, you’ll want to keep reading.
Meet School Zone
When School Zone came to our team at Summary Content Marketing, they weren’t starting from scratch. The company had decades of credibility, bestselling workbooks, a desirable and proven educational gaming app named Anywhere Teacher, and a strong mission to make learning accessible, engaging, and joyful for kids. But the digital landscape was shifting faster than they could keep up with, and their digital footprint was struggling to align with the brand's mission and goals.
Parents and teachers weren’t just searching for learning tools anymore; they were seeking guidance, credibility, and research-backed reassurance. Traditional SEO techniques were insufficient to keep pace with the new era of TikTok micro-moments, shifting search intent, and algorithm-driven decision-making.
School Zone needed a strategy that could bridge long-term trust-building (organic content) and short-term growth and conversions (paid ads). So, this is how we did it.
Organic Content
Organic growth for School Zone was driven by a platform-first, micro-storytelling content approach focused on creating consistent, relevant social media posts tailored to how each brand audience consumes media across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Rather than chasing trends alone, we prioritized value-led content that supported both brand awareness, parent and educator lifestyle moments, and long-term discoverability.
The strategy is centred on sustainable growth. Content was planned to educate, entertain, empathize with, and support purchase intent across various stages of the customer journey, ensuring organic channels worked in tandem with paid activity rather than in isolation. Each platform was treated individually, with content formats adapted to maximize reach and engagement while maintaining a cohesive brand voice.
Over 12 months, this organic-first approach delivered a steady 2.5% monthly page growth and a significant increase in visibility and engagement. Overall reach increased by 184%, resulting in a total of 1,935,825 impressions across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
These results highlight the impact of a long-term organic strategy focused on relevance, consistency, storytelling, and audience-led content.
Paid Ads
Over the course of the year, we built a high-functioning paid ads funnel designed to drive direct-to-consumer sales, working with a total annual budget of under $8,000. Ads were primarily run across Meta and Google, with each campaign strategically aligned to different stages of the funnel.
Rather than driving traffic straight to product pages, ads directed users to tailored landing pages, blogs, and other content designed to educate, build trust, and warm audiences before conversion. This approach allowed us to maximize performance on a limited budget, keeping costs low while increasing reach, intent, and ultimately sales conversions.
This sales funnel delivered strong results, including an average return on ad spend (ROAS) of 4.66%, a cost per click of $0.24, and a cost per engagement of just $0.11. This ROI demonstrates that a well-structured, fully functional social media sales funnel can outperform higher-spend campaigns when strategy leads the way.
A Word from School Zone
"Working with Summary Content has been a fantastic experience! Elisabeth Thomas and her team bring a well-rounded approach to social media marketing, helping School Zone build a strong, strategic presence across Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. They are responsive, insightful, and seamlessly integrate with our team, making collaboration effortless. Elisabeth's depth of marketing expertise and strategic mindset guide the overall approach, while their paid ad specialist crafts data-driven strategies that maximize performance. Their Social Media Manager executes the plan—handling content creation, scheduling, and client coordination to keep everything running smoothly.
Beyond their core team, they also can bring in outside services, such as photography or design work, ensuring we have everything we need to enhance our brand.
What's been especially great is their ability to start with the essentials and adapt as we grow, ensuring we get the best possible results. We're grateful to have Summary Content as a partner and look forward to continued success together!"
Barb Peacock, Managing Director, School Zone Publishing.
Key Takeaways
A clear social media sales funnel beats a big budget. With under $8K in ad spend, a well-structured funnel delivered a 4.66 ROAS by focusing on intent, not volume.
A platform-first content approach drives results. Treating Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok individually allowed content to perform where it mattered most, contributing to a 184% increase in overall reach.
A well-rounded content strategy, focused on consistency and storytelling compounds. Steady, story-driven, and SEO-led organic content delivered long-term visibility and engagement, generating nearly 2 million impressions over the year.
Ready to See Results Like This?
Want to achieve results like this without overspending on ads or burning out on content for your brand?
Whether you’re looking to build a high-performing ads sales funnel, to grow your organic social media presence, or make your marketing budget work harder, Summary Content Marketing can help.
