It feels as if social media can take on a “life of its own.” It’s somewhat like a child. When your child cries in the middle of the night, your first instinct is to run to see what’s happening. You get that feeling of impending doom if you can’t get there quickly enough. Are they sick? Did they see a monster? Your job as a parent is to watch over, manage, care for, and love your child, as well as ensure their success.
And as a steward over your school’s social media, the same tactics apply.
You must raise and nurture your school’s social media platforms if they are to be successful. Here are four ways to nurture your social media channels.
Get Educated
With your first infant, you read every book you can get your hands on! You soak up knowledge like a sponge. Soon the sponge is full of tried-and-true knowledge and begins to overflow with information. Likewise, as you start your social media page set-up, there are many references out there. Many how-to guides describe every step of the social media setup process. It can be overwhelming at first. But unlike being unable to pass off a crying baby in the middle of the night, you can let someone else take this one from your already-full plate. School Webmasters can do all the work for you.
Do you know that each platform appeals to different groups of people? Different platforms serve different purposes and people use the various platforms in different ways. Check out our website to learn more about the social media platforms schools use most often.
Do you know who you are marketing to and how? We highly recommend conducting a survey of your stakeholders to learn more about the platforms they use and what they want to see from you on their favorite social media channels. When you understand the purpose behind your social media and you can tailor content for your audience, your school’s social media efforts will be a success! If you have questions, feel free to reach out to our social media experts.
Implement Safeguards
What if you could build a protective shield around your kids to help them withstand hardship? What if you could empower them to rise above the pounding factors that rob them of their confidence and buoyancy? What if you could safeguard their mental health?
Similarly, we want to protect our social media pages and make them safe and secure. We need to shield them from “page trolls” or the “negative” contempt and criticism of an angry school patron with a personal vendetta.
It should go without saying (but we’re going to say it)—setting up and managing your school’s social media isn’t the same as setting up a personal page. One of the most important steps we take when establishing social media pages for our clients is to set privacy and security settings according to best practices and professional standards.
When School Webmasters sets up a page for you, we follow all the safety protocols that will let you control your page. You can be sure that the comments seen on your page are helpful and relevant to the voice of your school. We recommend setting up the “message” button so your visitors can ask questions privately. Here are some additional tips to safeguard your Facebook page.
Have Fun
Your child—aka your social media page—has now been born, and safeguards are now in place. Now the fun begins! Just as children are a parent’s pride and joy, your social media pages can be a place of pride and joy for your school. Have fun with it. Let it grow and take on a life of its own. How? Some of the more common tactics include holding a contest—a giveaway. You’ll want to create excitement or engagement that will add quality interaction to your page.
How are you portraying yourself in your community? Show them that you are caring, fun, and, most of all, the best place for your community’s children to attend school. Show kids playing at recess, learning in the classroom, and interacting in the hallways. Let your pages do the talking—social media is the best “show and tell” time for you.
Interact with your followers. You are here to be a part of something and represent your school. Your social media manager needs to have good communication skills to engage well with your community. Respond to positive comments. If you receive negative comments, take the conversation off social media by stating something like, “Thank you for bringing this to our attention; we’ve sent you a direct message.”
In the case of local businesses, teachers, and staff members, be sure to follow your followers back, and interact with their posts. Like and comment on your local business’ posts, and share/repost appropriate content from your staff and teachers.
Be Watchful
While your child is learning and growing, who is measuring them? Just as you take a child to the pediatrician where they measure the child’s height and weight—and give helpful advice, Facebook and other social platforms have their own “insights” pages that tell you exactly how well your platform page is performing.
Perhaps the best, most inclusive way to measure your analytics is by using your scheduling software. We use Hootsuite, which measures page growth, new followers, follower demographics, and the best and worst times to post to your page. There is a treasure trove of information available to you to ensure that your “child” is growing correctly and quickly.
It Takes a Village
Perhaps the most fun part of having an effective social media page is the teaching and learning that takes place. The landscape of social media is ever-changing and growing. It can be a lot to manage. The team at School Webmasters is continually learning new rules and techniques and becoming familiar with trending topics to ensure that your pages stay on topic and are brand relevant. We go to conferences, take specialized training, and have open, active communication with our school representatives to ensure that we are going above and beyond for our clients!
Social media is at the forefront of your school’s image; make sure you are correctly representing your school. If you need additional information, help, or resources, we are just a call or click away. Contact us today to see how we can help your pages grow!
