By now, many schools have embraced social media platforms as a tool to communicate with parents, prospective families, and the general community about events and successes within the school. You could say, schools have finally begun to wave the banner which is the term we’ve coined to replace the adage of “telling your own story”. The widely held notion that it is important to “tell your own story,” often is greeted by the challenge of determining which platform to use to share the story. At School Spirit PR, we believe in a strategic, thoughtful and methodical approach to this question and encourage our teammates to leverage any of the available management tools available to provide the assist to both schedule and monitor the effectiveness of each message.
A January 2024 American Marketing Association story agrees by saying, “effective social media management is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity.” They go on to acknowledge as many of you are sure to understand as well, that managing multiple channels efficiently and effectively is increasingly challenging as the Big 3 platforms (X, Facebook, Instagram) continue to evolve.
It’s imperative to have a game plan. A key piece of your plan should include a process through which you identify the appropriate platform for your message. Gone are the days of blindly posting content across all platforms and hoping for strong engagement. We’re not the first to share that “hope is not a strategy,” so we believe it’s important to streamline and, if necessary, strategically abandon platforms that are not helping you achieve your overall desired outcomes.
Once you have a game plan for content and timing based on the need and receptiveness of your target audience, we encourage teams – whether you’re a one-man shop or a large team – to leverage a social media management tool. As we know from our decades of experience partnering with school systems across the country, many superintendents must balance this task among countless other demands. As such, it is important to be strategic in your messaging, and leverage one of the many tools available to manage content and understand its effectiveness. While we do not endorse any one tool, our School Spirit PR team has direct experience with Canva Scheduler, Buffer, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social. Feel free to ask us any questions about our experience.
Gone are the days when school systems could remain on the social media sideline. Before checking into the game, take a timeout with us to develop your plan. Already in the game? Great, but in-game adjustments may be needed and we’re here for you, too. Not sure where to start? Your team is here to help evaluate your current strategy and develop a game plan to help your school be more intentional about waving banners. Book a Huddle today.
