5 effective steps to school social media management

School Communications

5 effective steps to school social media management

Wednesday, 17 August 2022 by Weduc

Why should schools focus on their social media strategy?

According to market and consumer data powerhouse Statista, “The United Kingdom (UK) was home to 53 million social media users as of 2021.That translated to a social media penetration rate of 77.9 percent of the population of the UK.”

These stats reflect just how much social media is a way of life for a humongous amount of us.
To this end, it’s unsurprising that a high % of schools and colleges have followed suit, keeping in step with the way key stakeholders communicate and source information.

Read on for some snackable and actionable tips for quality social media management to help you shine online.

Top Tips for Shining on Social Media

There are entire courses and books about successfully managing social media accounts. Most of them champion the following principles as sold foundations on which to build your activity.

1) Go Behind the scenes – Don’t just wax lyrical about all the great things going on in your school. Show your audience photographs and video clips from assembly, the lab, the gym and a school trip (remember those!) to draw them in to your world.

2) Be Consistent – If content is king, then consistency is queen. This applies to the regularity of your posts. Stick with it consistently so your audience gets used to expecting regular quality content from you. In addition, it applies to your brand tone of voice. Having a few designated social media managers on your school team will help with this.

3) Don’t Post and Ghost – Respond quickly to any questions or feedback. If necessary, offer to take the conversation offline. Your proactivity will stand you in good stead, rather than looking like you’re winging it on a scattergun basis.

4) Engage, Engage, Engage – Reach out beyond your own social media account. You’ll achieve authority and growth by getting involved in conversations instigated by trade bodies, thought leaders and influencers in the educational sector.

5) Social Proof – The vast majority of social media users enjoy the feel-good factor that’s generated by applauding others. Shout loudly and proudly about the achievements of your students, the success of your events and any exciting developments in the school team.

Truth bomb: Despite the best will and intention in the world the occasional howler will happen. We’re talking schools, after all. You’re used to expecting the unexpected.

Take American school social media specialist Andrea Gribble. She snapped and posted some old sports day photographs a retiring teacher had pinned on a notice board. It was ideal content for a Throwback Thursday post.
Or so she thought, until it started generating engagement for the wrong reasons.

“The photo was of a couple of football players and someone had hand-drawn some human anatomy onto the photo,” Andrea recalls. “It was done in pencil on a black and white photo, so I must have missed it when I took the photo with my phone. But it was very clear on the Facebook post, and I was absolutely mortified.” Stuff happens. Delete. Move on.

Leverage your School App for Heightened Control over Your Social Media Activity

In addition to the fun parts, school social media management also involves factors like confidentiality, permissions and risk mitigation.

So, it’s also worth thinking about how a school app provides an additional safety net beneath your social media activity.
Weduc news stories can post to your social media accounts. But having a newsfeed where you can target specific groups, e.g. certain parent demographics, is safer than using normal social media with the risks it entails.

At Weduc, our brilliant school app provides your own digital domain that upholds your safety and security more effectively than public social media platforms.

Additionally, Weduc enables you to share your newsfeed content to the social media platforms of your choice, plus your school website, at a single click of a button.