One of the ways that schools are increasingly finding creative ways to showcase their school is using Facebook Live.
I love this tool, even though I certainly don’t like being on video myself. However, that should not deter you from experimenting. Below you will find a variety of ways that schools might want to use Facebook Live:
In the classroom – train teachers (and make them an admin of your page) so they can create spontaneous snapshots of something they are doing in the classroom. Perhaps they are about to engage in a project that traditional only been for the students’ eyes, but Facebook Live allows you to bring in their families and even future families, too. Even some of your older elementary kids are savvy enough to point the phone in the direction of the 5th grade teacher doing a fun science experiment.
in chapel or assembly – Christian schools have regular worship times and this is a neat way for schools to let parents in on the experience. Again, even your future families want to know what chapel is like. Perhaps you assemble the school for announcements, awards or other accolades – give your at-home or working moms and dads an opportunity to be a part of the special day by turning on Facebook Live.
from the top – Facebook Live can be a fantastic way for heads of school to be more visible. They can articulate a vision, interview students or just do a student or teacher feature of the week.
longer shows – you may wish to turn on Facebook Live for Grandparents Day, Homecoming pep rally, the out-of-town playoff game, or even the spring choir concert. For the latter (including any fine art performances, just ensure you are not violating any copyright by broadcasting your show.
parent perspective – have a parent run Facebook Live periodically, allowing them to interview faculty, some older students or even other moms and dads during the pick up line. Coach them on representing the school appropriately. If done right, this could give you a great tool for interested future moms and dads because they might presume the parent is more authentic than the admissions teach might be.
Facebook Live is also one of the areas that Facebook is suggesting you use more and more in order to be seen in the news feed. So this is definitely worth exploring. Click the link below to receive full access to a FREE webinar on this topic.
Early in January 2018, Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, made a major announcement about upcoming changes to the Facebook newsfeed.
The main theme: getting Facebook back to being more about connecting people with one another than a newsfeed cluttered with public content from sources like business pages who want to broadcast to us.
The main group this seems to hurt the most: businesses or organizations (including schools) who have Facebook pages and are constantly trying to garner traffic from Facebook by frequent posting of videos, graphics, links, photos, etc.
Immediately, everyone panicked. “Facebook is dead to us,” some cried out. “Marketers are out of a job,” others said. The funny thing is that while professionally we might have a tendency to hate the changes, personally, we all probably prefer Facebook to declutter itself.
So how do these changes impact schools and school marketers like yourself?
Well, here’s our take. Facebook is in the business of making this work. They have shareholders and they have a gazillion users. So they are simply making adjustments. The sky has fallen before with Facebook changes, so this is no different. While some of the announced (or hinted) changes are pretty challenging and will definitely change the way school use this platform, there will still be significant ways you will be need to be present on Facebook representing your school. It will just be different until the next round of “sweeping changes” comes along!
To give time for the dust to settle, time for rumors to stop flying around, and time for everyone to watch the very early real impact these changes are going to have on school Facebook pages, we are announcing a webinar to review the changes with you and provide highly effective, practical solutions for your school’s Facebook strategy.
Sign up below and you will receive FREE immediate access to the on-demand webinar we launched on Thursday, February 22nd.
When I am looking to optimize my content management strategy, productivity is important.
In our online content strategy, I am looking for content that is valuable to you (our audience), inspirational, insightful and instructional. When I am not creating content on our website or School Marketing Podcast, I curate content from around the web. I discover resourceful articles via:
Twitter (I use Hootsuite to management this application; also love the way I can set up streams of specific content that I am searching for; basically whenever someone tweets content with my identified keywords, it automatically show up in the pre-set stream)
Pinterest (I rarely look at recipes or decorating tips, but I love this tool for searching for great ideas for schools – we have over 60 boards and close to a 1000 pins….all to help you market your school).
Facebook (while I love Facebook for connecting with friends, I also find it a gold mine for great content).
Regarding the latter, here are 2 videos that show you how I use these two productivity tips on sharing great content that I find when I am on Facebook.
When I am looking to optimize my content management strategy, productivity is important.
In our online content strategy, I am looking for content that is valuable to you (our audience), inspirational, insightful and instructional. When I am not creating content on our website or School Marketing Podcast, I curate content from around the web. I discover resourceful articles via:
Twitter (I use Hootsuite to management this application; also love the way I can set up streams of specific content that I am searching for; basically whenever someone tweets content with my identified keywords, it automatically show up in the pre-set stream)
Pinterest (I rarely look at recipes or decorating tips, but I love this tool for searching for great ideas for schools – we have over 60 boards and close to a 1000 pins….all to help you market your school).
Facebook (while I love Facebook for connecting with friends, I also find it a gold mine for great content).
Regarding the latter, here are 2 videos that show you how I use these two productivity tips on sharing great content that I find when I am on Facebook.
[NOTE: This post is written in October 2014 – things with Facebook change almost without notice and they change it often, so our tips regarding Facebook should be followed in light of Facebook’s ever-changing landscape.]
If you are an Facebook admin of several Facebook pages, you know the frustration of having to switch back-n-forth between identities on Facebook. Even if you do not manage any other Facebook page, you still have to navigate between your Page and your personal profile.
In this brief video [6 minutes], Randy explains how easy it is to like, comment and share on various posts.
Just because social media is “free” (and it’s increasingly costing more to participate), it does not mean it is a venue for “free advertising”! And worse, it does not mean it is a venue for incessant self-promotion. In reality, you have to understand this mantra when it comes to social media:
“It’s not about US, it’s about THEM.”
When all of your social media postings are about your school, this is what I consider as “scrapbook” content. It is not evil, but it requires an important question be asked.
Who’s the audience?
Scrapbooks are typically a lot more interesting and compelling for those who have experienced something (a summer camp, a vacation, etc.) If you gather your friends who experienced this with you and shared your scrapbook with them, you could sit for hours and reminisce about all the wonderful memories. Everyone would already recall the specific people involved (i.e., those funny camp counselors or that hiking guide who seemed to always get his facts wrong!) You would find yourself pouring over that scrapbook for a long time, oo-in and ah-ing over every visual reminder of the experience!
Now try and gather 5 friends who did not experience what you did. This is common on mission trips to far-away places (I was a missionary for 10 years, so I got this feeling a lot). You get out the scrapbook and start to share detailed accounts of every photo and feeling that same enthusiasm — except that your realize your audience of 5 is less engaged. Sure, they start out interested, but eventually, they cannot make the connection because they do not have the emotional attachment that you do. In a matter of minutes, you find yourself flipping hurriedly through the stack of photos only to hear them say at the end, “Wow, that was neat. Now, where do you want to go to lunch?”
When your school exclusively posts “scrapbook” content on your Facebook page (or other social platform), you will showcase some interesting things about your school, but it is unlikely that your content will resonate with your prospective families.
