Keeping your school's brand consistent on Twitter
With more and more schools using Twitter with multiple accounts, there is the worry that your school identity may become fragmented on the channel.
The idea is that schools are wanting to provide a more tailored communication, based on interests and communities. And we’re seeing more and more schools adopting this approach.
This means that people can follow specific accounts of the schools that they are interested in. For example, a parent or pupil may want to follow the sports, arts, boarding house, and trips accounts.
Even if you do not plan on using the account at this time, there is the benefit of reserving your brand names for future purposes.
Take a look at these examples of how schools have multiple sub-accounts:
A Twitter search for Surbiton High School:
https://twitter.com/search?q=surbiton%20high%20school%20&src=typd&mode=users
A Twitter search for Wellington College:
https://twitter.com/search?q=wellington%20college&src=typd&mode=users
Naming
The clearest solution is to ensure your Twitter handles abide by naming conventions. An example could be that you initialise your school name to form your collection of Twitter handles.
Surbiton High School use this method effectively. Their accounts often use the abbreviation of SHS.
NameChk is a very useful tool to determine the availability of username on many social media channels.
Lists
Lists are a great way for schools to organise their followers. A list of official accounts can be created to show all the school’s official Twitter accounts. Simply create a list, and add your accounts as members. You can then link to the feed, or members list, on your website and other social channels.
An example from Bablake School:
https://twitter.com/bablakeschool/bablake-twitter-sites/members
BBC have also used lists very well, as they have hundreds of associated accounts.
Although lists are a great idea and very useful, there is the issue that lists are not well known or highly visible. Lists are hidden behind the ‘More’ button on your profile.
Following
Another option is to only follow your official Twitter accounts. Of course, you should be following them anyway, but they may be lost in a feed of hundreds of other accounts you follow.
Header Image
Header images can be used to either add it your official accounts, or to add an ‘official badge’ to denote that the account is related to the school.
Tweeting
Yep, this is pretty simple. But it is very effective to retweet and tweet your sub-accounts. This creates awareness as somebody may not be aware of a certain sub-account, but by retweeting or tweeting to that account their visibility increases.
Description
There is the option to add a URL to your Twitter profile but this should be used to link to your school website. You can use your Twitter description to add in the link to your list of official accounts.
How does your school manage, and promote, multiple Twitter accounts? Let us know in the comments.
Does your school require training on social media? Book a social media training day with us!