5 things your Headmaster/Headmistress can tweet
Last week we spoke in detail about why a Head should be blogging. This week we are going to take a look at a few examples of Heads that tweet.
Why a Head should be on Twitter
Most likely, your school will already be on Twitter - 73% of independent schools are. However, in some cases the school’s Twitter account is branded as the Head. We believe the Head and school’s account should be separate, as they serve different marketing purposes.
The Head can be tweeting from the school’s account but should not be using it as a personal account. We have found that school’s with a tweeting Head tend to have a high social authority. You can see example of this in the comparisons below.
An example of a Head branding their Twitter account as the school is Cokethorpe School - @HMCokethorpe. The school Twitter account is also the Head’s. This can cause confusion as the handle suggests it is the Headmaster but the name is branded as the school. We would suggest changing the name to the Head’s real name. The description should still contain ‘Headmaster of Cokethorpe School…’ as this will give clear indication to the user and also aid discovery.
5 things your Head could tweet
- Opinions - Head’s tend to be very opinionated. These should be shared to encourage discussion and thought motivation. Opinions on developments in the education sector are particularly interesting and help spur debates.
- Stories - Every school has a story. We advocate the sharing of stories within schools because that is what makes you different.
- Works - The Head can be sharing the work of pupils. Parents enjoy seeing their child’s work being showcased and it serves as great content.
- Updates - Content and news from the school should be retweeted and shared by the Head.
- Education - It may sound obvious, but this is a strong marketing opportunity. Heads tend to be associated with their favoured subjects and could be tweeting educational content.
You can see from these 5 examples that the Head should not just tweet about the school. There should be a certain level of personal tweets involved too.
Introduction to Social Authority
Social authority measures your school’s influential activity, primarily through the number of retweets. Its a 1 to 100 point scale based on a user’s influential content. It highlights the schools that are incredibly effective in engaging their followers. If you want to learn more, please check out our blog post about Social Authority.
Comparison of some top Heads
This above table provides a good starting point for understanding the different levels of authority that Heads have on Twitter. Take a look at their Twitter accounts and think about how your Head could be tweeting. There are endless possibilities.
Below you can view each Head’s social authority compared to their school. All the example schools have an above average social authority.
You can see how these schools that also have their Head tweeting - have a good social authority too.
Do you think your Head is, or would be good, on Twitter? Would you like to know their #SocialScore? Tweet us @intSchools and we can use them next time on our blog.