8 Ways To Better Use Your School's Twitter Account
#1 - Update your profile picture
Your Twitter profile picture is a great opportunity to create visual recognition to your brand. It is the image that will appear to the left of all your tweets. It is therefore important that you choose the best possible image. Many schools choose their logos and this is usually a great tactic as long as you realise just how small your image is going to be. The school logo tactic becomes problematic when there is a lot of detail to fit into such a small space.
Things to remember:
- Ensure the image fits into the square box. When a profile picture is cropped or distorted it looks very unprofessional and cheap. You want your school to show it cares about the details - show it with your profile picture.
- Any copy in the image must be readable. If your logo contains words that cannot be read then there is no need for it to be included.
- Consider using a headshot. Many businesses use their CEO or Social Media Manager’s face as their picture. People connect with faces and we understand this schools and their Heads are hesitant to move forward with this technique. Businesses understand the need people have for a human connection with brands so why can’t schools? It is an option.
#2 - Rewrite your bio
Your bio tells the story of your school all in 160 characters. Three things to include in this space:
- Describe your school
- Explain what makes you different
- Show some personality
Tip: Make sure you include your location and your website address.
#3 - Organise who you follow into lists
Schools follow a wide range of accounts on Twitter - current parents, prospects, pupils, education specialists, competitors, local news, celebrities and many more.
Not many people are aware of the capabilities that Twitter lists can provide. Schools can organise who they follow into precise lists that help organise the plethora of content into actionable communications.
When you have your lists created you can quickly check what current parents are tweeting or if you are looking for latest news you can check up on education specialists.
#4 - Use lists for curation
When you are struggling to find content to share, lists can be a saviour! If you have a list that is dedicated to shareable content then you can create your own curation portal. Once you need inspiration you can simply go to your curation list and find some tweetable content.
#5 - Brand your background
Twitter allows you to customise your background. This enables you to completely brand your Twitter page and also provide extra information about your school. It allows you to create an impression on people who have no previous experience with your school.
Hubspot have put together a great list of 17 examples of Twitter brand pages. You should use this list for inspiration.
#6 - Follow your audience
You must follow your audience. There are so many Twitter users that do not believe they should be following people - they feel it may take authority/prestigiousness away from them. The reason social media has exploded for consumers and businesses is because of the way it has regenerated the ability to converse, collaborate and share.
It is not necessary for you to follow every follower but it is important to follow those who you are or may converse with.
Not only does it help build relationships but it also helps manage conversations.
Note: RGS High Wycombe make a very good point in the comments about following pupils.
#7 - Add photos to your tweets
Have you ever heard of Instagram? The free iOS (and now Android) app was recently acquired by Facebook for $1 billion. Photos are simple but yet tell you a visual story that your followers, in their time conscious world, consume in seconds.
Instead of just tweeting “We’re on a school trip” or “We have a famous visitor today” you should add a picture of your trip or the visitor at the school.
#8 - Review your content
Just as you review any plan you must also review your Twitter plan. If you have a publishing schedule or you just have guidelines you must look back and analyse your content. What worked and what didn’t.
Tweeting for 50 when starting out and tweeting for 5000 engaged followers require different tactics and content strategies.
Have you implemented any of these for your Twitter account? Have you got more ideas to add? Share your thoughts in the comments.