Here at #SocialSchool4EDU, we love getting feedback from districts that use all our resources – from webinars to social media guides, to blog posts like this one!

That’s why we were so happy to hear from Affton School District, located near St. Louis, Missouri. With 2,700 students and over 3,600 likes on Facebook, they are clearly are doing something right in connecting with their community and beyond.

Thanks to Erica Chandler, APR, Director of Communications for the district, we got a glimpse into the social media techniques that Affton employs. Erica has been working in this position since 2012, and with nearly seven years of social media management under her belt, she has a wealth of information to share!

When did your school district start using social media?
Affton School District began using social media in 2011, starting with Facebook, adding Twitter about a year later, and Instagram in the past year. Originally, our social media was done as a volunteer position, but after a website redesign and the establishment of a positive social media presence, our Board of Education moved on their own to make it a full-time position in the fall of 2012. Since then, each of our schools now has a Facebook and Twitter presence and have added, or will add, Instagram by next school year.

What strategies do you use to gather content for your social media channels?
I ask others! As a one-person shop, you simply can’t be everywhere all the time, and nor should you have to be. Our district is filled with storytellers who just need to be empowered to share the small moments along with the big successes. Almost all of our Pre-K to 8th-grade classrooms have their own social media accounts, as do each of our schools. Most will use our district hashtags, which makes it easy to find posts to share, but I will review pages about once per week for unique content to share from the district.

What impact has social media made for your school or district?
Social media has helped form a relationship with our community. No longer do they look at us and see snow days and standardized test scores, but they think of the faces of our students, staff, and volunteers. Hands down, social media has helped build trust with our stakeholders by allowing us to have a vehicle for transparent and honest two-way communication.

What type of social media campaigns or features do you use?
The most impactful change we have made to my social media strategy this year has been to focus on developing evergreen content that can be scheduled but is still meaningful. We’ve implemented two (mostly) weekly features: #MondayMotivation with quotes from our teachers, staff, and even students, and #FlashbackFriday with photos from yearbooks.

We’ve also developed two recognition programs – one for adults and one for students – that have become extremely popular social media features: “#AfftonStrong Students,” which recognizes those who exemplify our district’s core values and are quietly making a difference for those around them, and “Cougar Compliment,” which honors staff, volunteers, and community partners who live our district’s mission, vision, and core values.

Like many great ideas, both #afftonstrong Students and Cougar Compliments have been borrowed and adapted from other districts who’ve had success! One of the things we love the most are the stories we’re hearing about these remarkable students and adults. Not only do they allow us to recognize more kids and stakeholders as a district, but our community is celebrating right along with us. The comments left on these features are solid gold!

What is your school or district hashtag, and how do you promote it?
In Affton Schools, we have three hashtags used and promoted successfully by our staff. #Afftonlearns is used to share classroom moments and resources with other staff members. #Afftonserves highlights the different ways staff and students give back to our community, and finally #Afftonstrong celebrates accomplishments, highlights special moments, and connects with our community.

What are some of your favorite time-saving tricks?
The most life-changing tool I’ve put into place is an editorial calendar. This is something I’ve struggled with for several years, but in 2017, I made the commitment to find a tool that I could modify to work for me and use it with fidelity. Over the course of two years, I’ve found that our social media content is more regular, is of better quality, and has higher engagement. I try to schedule posts up to a week ahead of time, and while I still will add stories or posts on the fly as needed, I spend less time trying to scrounge for content or come up with ideas. This leads to much better results!

How has #SocialSchool4EDU helped your school tell your story through social media?
The tools provided by #SocialSchool4EDU are extremely valuable. Even as a communications professional with over 20 years of experience, I’m continuously learning new things, gaining new ideas, and trying new tools thanks to the #SocialSchool4EDU team.

Once again, thank you so much to Erica for sharing her very own #Afftonlearns social media tips and tricks with us! By getting to know Affton School District, we hope you are inspired to take your social media game to the next level.

A guest post from Hannah Feller, our youngest account manager! She is currently completing the BA program in English Literature and Linguistics at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She is thrilled to be able to apply the theory she works with at university to social media for schools.