Do you have staff members who want to use social media to celebrate their classroom, organization, or team?

Awesome!

You want more storytellers in your district!

But you also want to provide some guidance to them. This topic comes up ALL THE TIME – so today I’m going to share some dos and don’ts that you can share with your staff. Rather than rewrite these all myself, I’m adapting this incredible list from Mary Beddell’s Communications Handbook from Plain Local Schools in Ohio.

Mary provided some insight into why she created this section in her handbook.

I find that in my district, my staff was really open to being a part of sharing our school’s story on social media, but they struggled with right vs. wrong and they did not want to disappoint me. So much of social media is not black or white but shades of gray, so I tried to put together a list for them that was easy to understand and tangible.”

Well Mary, you did such a great job that I think the rest of your #SchoolPR peers will want to see it! You can find the complete handbook at this link.

Maintaining a school social media page is a great way to connect with students, parents, staff, and stakeholders. The big three (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) all have benefits and appeal to different audiences. However, maintaining a school social media page is a commitment.

Here is my list of tips to keep your school page on brand:

Do: Share photographs and videos of students and staff! Parents LOVE to see what their kids are up to. They also love to support not only their teachers but coaches, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, maintenance staff, and more.

Don’t: Use Google images, clipart or other non-brand specific photos. You have an entire school full of people to take pictures of. Do not use your posts to share someone else’s image when a picture of our kids could do the job. Clipart waters down your brand because it is available to everyone. Additionally, most Google images are copyrighted materials. The general rule of thumb is simple: unless you created it, do not use it!

Do: Help promote fundraisers, special events, PTO events, etc.

Don’t: ONLY post fundraisers, special events, PTO events etc. While it is important to post about special events and support our partners and PTO’s posts, these posts will not get attention without faces of the kids. You have to post “important stuff” while mixing in the “fun stuff.” Think about what grabs your attention when you are on social media: It is not a photocopy of a flyer for a car wash. However, a picture or video FROM the car wash probably will grab your attention.

Do: Make your profile picture our official school logo and don’t change it. You want to keep the logo consistent.

Andrea’s note: I’m going to deviate from this advice. I think it can be confusing if numerous Facebook or Twitter pages all use the same logo. I think you can select a logo using school colors, use a variant of the logo (for example, the logo with the words “Wrestling Team” beneath it), or you can use an image that represents your classroom, sport, or organization.

Second Don’t: Use a bad version of it. If you post a logo and it is blurry… take it down! We want the best version of our brand available to the public.

Do: Make your cover photo fun and change it often!

Andrea’s note: Look at the uploaded cover on both your desktop and your mobile phone. If you add words, make sure you can read them on both platforms. My suggestion for Facebook is to use “white space” at the top and bottom of your image so that it looks correct on both mobile and desktop.

Don’t: Make it a photo that is hard to see! Think of photos with lots of smiling faces or ones that show off something our community would be proud of!

Do: Share often! The best social media pages are sharing multiple times a day. Starting a social media page is a time commitment but the more often you share posts, the easier it becomes.

Pro Tip: Schedule posts on Facebook. You can write your posts in advance and schedule them to post later when you know parents are on Facebook (like around bedtime!)

Check out this helpful video tip on “The Four Best Posting Times for Schools on Social Media.”

Don’t: Worry that the things happening in your building aren’t “newsworthy.” Did your classroom ace a test? Post it! See something new in the lunch line? Post it! Students working on a group project? Post it! It does not need to be “special” to be relevant. People just like to see what is going on.

Do: Ask for help! Have an idea but you aren’t sure if it is OK to post? Want to try a social media campaign but you need help? Ask! Your communications team is passionate about increasing your school’s social presence.

Don’t: Go it alone! You have an entire staff full of people who are in the mix of all sorts of great content. Ask them to send you photos, videos, etc.

Do: Monitor who in your building does not have a media release on file. Make sure your staff is in the habit of not including those students in any classroom photos. Even if you don’t plan to use them for social media, you may not remember that later – the best bet it to make sure photos of those students are not taken.

Do: HAVE FUN! Social media is wildly successful because it is a fun experience. Your school has a personality. Do not be afraid to show it.

Don’t: Make it personal. Remember you are representing your school and the district as a whole every time you post. Don’t see this as a reason not to use social media. Just remember to think before you post. Consider: “Does this represent my school the way it should?”

It’s that easy!

Do you have more suggestions that we forgot? Comment below – we’d love to hear them!

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