There are nearly 4 billion people using social media in the world. And with the majority of people owning a smartphone or tablet, more often than not, on the daily commute or during break times, many of us will be swiping through the likes of Facebook and Instagram looking at our friends and family’s latest updates, as well as our favourite brands.
That’s why social media should be an integral part of your school’s overall marketing plan. Using school social media is an inevitable step in your marketing efforts these days.
We’ve written before about how you can write an effective social media plan for your school, and today we’re going to be sharing what we think are the best practises you should be following when implementing that all-important social media plan.
Here are our six best practices for your school on social media.
#1 Be consistent
If you’re going to establish a presence for your school, someone within the school (ideally in the marketing team) has to be responsible for posting regularly.
An inactive social media page (on any platform) is clearly not one of the best practices for your school and even worse than not being on that platform at all.
Like we said in a previous blog, not all of your social media content needs to be methodically planned out – it just needs to be authentic and show your schools ethos.
#2 Make sure you’re telling parents about social media
Most schools will already be asking permission from parents to share children’s photos on social media, and if you’re not – this needs to be at the top of your to-do list. You need to make sure you have permission to share student images on your accounts.
If some families don’t want photos of their child used online, make sure whoever is in charge of the different platforms is aware of these restrictions.
#3 Encourage your community to get involved
The quickest (and most effective, in our eyes!) way to build your school’s social media presence is to connect with students and staff members and make sure they’re getting involved in the conversation online.
Start by asking your school’s community to follow/like your social accounts, and then subsequently they’ll start liking, sharing and commenting on your school’s social media content going forward.
#4 Use visual content
Posts that use photos or videos (videos in particular) get more engagement than posts without. In fact, you’re likely to see a 37% increase in engagement if your social media posts are optimised with compelling visual content.
We always recommend that schools make the most of video content. As a school, you have the best video stars at your fingertips in your staff and students, plus, they’re the best advocates for your school so make sure you’re making use of them! It’s also nice for prospective families to be able to see what ‘life is like’ at your school.
Take a look at some video ideas we’ve put together for you here.
#5 Stick to your brand
All your efforts on social media should inevitably drive traffic to your school’s website. Therefore you need to make sure that the branding you’re using on your school profiles match those on your website, otherwise, you run the risk of people becoming confused and leaving your website without taking a look.
Here are our top tips when it comes to brand consistency.
#6 Always be responsive
Make sure you’re always responding to questions posed on your school’s platforms in a timely manner!
Sometimes it’s best to continue the conversation offline but it’s also important to show that your school is responsive online. So I would reply publicly to all messages, and if needs be, say something along the lines of “Thank you for your message, we’ve sent you a private message in response”.
Final thoughts on social media best practices for education
Social media is such an important part of any businesses marketing plan, and it’s no different for schools. Make sure you’re following our social media marketing best practices and your school is sure to shine on social media.
For more blogs to help your school on social media, click here, and for some helpful, downloadable resources to help your school on social media, click here.