I’ve been working in social media for schools since 2014.

Want to know the number one concern from nearly every school I talk to? I mean— hands-down—this comes in first place by a MILE!

Content. How do we get content to post on social media?

I’m a bit amazed that this is the number-one issue. When I walk into a school, I look around and can instantly see 10 things that could be shared out with the community.

A simple photo of a teacher tying a student’s shoe.

A short video interview with the child holding the door for other kids.

A picture of the artwork that a teacher has displayed in the hallway.

However, when you’re so close to it, it’s hard to see. You have a lot of other priorities on your plate, and I understand that it can be tough.

Well, today our goal is simple. I am going to share 9 different ways to generate awesome content. You are going to LOVE the advice.

Why? Because it works.

How do I know?

#SocialSchool4EDU manages social media for more than 70 schools across the country. And guess what? We aren’t physically located inside of the schools we serve. We can’t run down the hall and grab a photo ourselves. We have to rely on others.

And I think this is part of the magic recipe. Great social media doesn’t rely on one person. Creating awesome content requires a system. It also requires a village of people willing to spend a few seconds to capture the amazing things happening in your school.

And so even though we aren’t in the schools we serve, we are posting on channels such as Facebook more than twice per day. We help the schools’ posts be seen by 5,000 or more people each week.

I know you want those same results at your school, so we won’t delay any longer. Here are the 9 strategies explained. If you want a simple one-page PDF to remember them, grab that here!

1. It takes a village – every staff member submits one thing per month
   You can’t be in every classroom. You also can’t attend every special event within your district. But guess what, nearly everyone on your staff has the equipment they need to help you out. A phone!
   Snap a picture, send it to a unique email set up for social media content, and then you can take it from there. Make sure there is an expectation set by your leadership team for each staff member to send in at least one thing per month.
2. Student contributors – Leverage their talents and perspective
   The most important stories happening in your school should come from those that you serve – your students! Make sure you share what they are up to and involve them in the process. Videos created for classroom assignments are great for social media.

   Ask your students what they love most about your school and create great graphics showcasing their responses. And after high school, what are their plans? Those stories need to be shared with your community!



3. Crowdsourcing – follow your unique hashtag and other pages, and pull that content for your pages
   You have hundreds or even thousands of people talking about your school on any given day on social media. Pull those stories together with a hashtag that is unique to your school. You can then retweet those stories or even grab them to share on other social channels.

   And if you have classrooms, clubs, or sports teams with their own Facebook page—follow it in your pages feed! When you see something that is worth sharing with everyone in the district, download the photos and post on your page (don’t simply share the post, the reach will not be as good as an original post).

4. Winner-Winner – create contests with simple awards
   Everyone loves a contest, right? Well, I do! I’m one competitive woman. A simple contest can make submitting social media content fun. We have a great idea of a staff social media BINGO challenge in this blog. A traveling light-up “hashtag” symbol may work as well (another helpful blog here). Prizes can be jeans on Friday or a donated gift card from a local business.

   And contests don’t need to just be for staff. You can have them for your followers as well! Check out this post that happened during the polar vortex in Wisconsin in the winter of 2019! It created more than 35 comments and got families focused on reading.



5. Keep it simple sweetie – repurpose great content
   You only have so much time during your day. Sharing exclusive content on each social media channel is not required. Instagram is all about visuals – so use the best photos that you share on Facebook on that platform. You may want to utilize the best photos for special promotional posts – or future cover photo collages.
6. Instagram & FB Stories – Empower staff & students to takeover
   Around 1.45 billion people are using stories every day (Social Media Today). This means that our schools need to be there too! But it doesn’t have to be YOU. Ask a staff member to help share stories. It doesn’t need to be daily. And remember, stories go away after 24 hours, but you can save them to your highlights! I realize that having students help may be scary, but we have a very helpful blog for you!



7. Build relationships – mass emails don’t work; ask individually
   If you are low on content, it may be tempting to just put out an email to all staff saying “I need more photos for social media. Please send them in.” But this approach doesn’t work. We find that building one to one relationships is what really moves the needle.

   Be as specific as possible. Talk to the art teacher and compliment him on the amazing artwork on display in the hallway. Ask him to send a simple description of the unit along with a couple of photos to you. He’s so busy, he doesn’t take time to even think about it – but once you ask, he will! Building key relationships with a handful of people in each school building will have a ripple effect!

8. Make it easy – create a system & remind staff routinely
   Your teachers, administrators, and support staff are busy people! You need to make it really easy to submit content for social media. We suggest setting up a unique social media email address in your domain. Ask staff to submit one thing per month to that email address with a photo and a short description.

   If you give them too many options (email, text, complete a form, or send a Facebook message to you) – you’ll create confusion. Pick one method, and then remind them frequently in staff meetings, staff newsletters, and other ways you communicate.

9. Show them the impact – measure your efforts and share it back
   You must share your social media wins with your staff and school board. If you have a post that reaches 10,000 people, let them know about it! If you receive great comments, make sure to highlight them. Don’t assume your staff reads every post on social media.

   You need to put together a report card to share metrics back with them. If they see the impact you are having, they will likely participate more in the future. Here is a link to an example of a report card that we create for our coaching and management clients. Interested in having this done for you? Learn more at this link.

There you have it – our 9 proven strategies for more content for your district social media platforms. Which strategy are you going to utilize first? Let us know in the comments below.

And if you loved this advice, you’ll want to make sure you are signed up for our bi-weekly newsletter that delivers great tips like this for your school! When you download our one-page PDF here, you’ll also be signed up for the newsletter.