Start with Twitter: Monitoring #SchoolStories
“The thing I really like about Twitter is the speed with which information reaches me. You find out things from Twitter long before they’re on the news.
That, I think, is valuable.”
Twitter is an incredible asset for schools using social media. It offers users a quick and intuitively simple way to share #SchoolStories as they happen.
Having a sound strategy in place, and a willingness from all teaching staff to use the platform, Twitter can be the place parents go to to see all the amazing things that happen at your school each and every day 👍
School Wide #SchoolStories
Most schools have a presence on Twitter. Most of the time this will take shape in 2/3 different accounts:
- main school
- sport / PE
- head / principal
This is great - it gives your school three different outlets to share #SchoolStories from.
But what if we began to extend this? What if parents wanted to see more of what is happening in the drama department, or were interested in all the trips your school goes on each year? So we create a drama account - maintained by your drama teacher(s) - and a school trips account. Now let's take this further - why should any subject be exempt? (TOP TIP: they shouldn't!!!)
Imagine this...
It's the middle of the school-day. Lessons are happening all across your school. Now freeze that moment!
If you were to walk around and look at everything you'd be seeing 20, 30, 40 different #SchoolStories. It might be a pupil sinking a sweet 3-pointer in sports; your chemistry teacher burning different elements to produce a rainbow of flames; a pupil nailing a guitar solo in band practice; your head / principal delivering an incredible speech. It could be many, many things!
These are all #SchoolStories that your community will want to see and share. But how do you share all of these stories - you can't possibly be everywhere at once?!!
The answer is simple: TWITTER 😍
In having Twitter set up in this way you are facilitating the sharing element. For an investment of just 30 seconds your staff...and your school...can share awesome #SchoolStories as they happen throughout the day.
It's a marketing goldmine - it just needs to be well implemented!
Learn more about social media strategy from your friendly, neighbourhood prospectors - we will come to you and train your staff 😎.
What do I share?
Composing a Tweet is not - and never should be - a time-consuming act. This is the guiding principle behind Twitter and explains why characters are limited to just 140.
It is also why Twitter is such a good platform for sharing stories and news on. In fact, with regards to news, it is often the first place most people go to see breaking stories! Traditional news outlets (i.e. news channels) just cannot keep pace with the world of social media and, particularly, Twitter.
Here is a simple #SchoolStory template, to help boost your Tweet game:
- WRITE WORDS (always a good place to start!): What is the subject / point of the Tweet?
- CONDENSE THOSE WORDS: No time for essays: how can you condense it down?
- ADD MEDIA: Social is more and more about the visual game! If you are Tweeting about the awesome nativity play your school has just put on then show the awesome nativity play your school has just put on! Add media such as photos or short videos
- TAG YOUR TWEET: This is where we often see schools fall down. Using tags (#hashtags in Twitter's case) is a perfect way to categorise and archive what you share. For example: click this hashtag to see how the school uses it across their different subjects and year groups 👉 #BSAKinnovation.
THE GOOD TWEET GALLERY: Note the content & hashtags used 👍
All hashtags are followable - clicking on any of them will direct you to a wall filled with Tweets that contain that particular hashtag. Use school name / acronym / nickname as a prefix to keep them "branded" to your school.
With a good hashtag strategy in place, you are able to accurately categorise your content more effectively. These categories can include:
- year groups - #intSchoolsYear6 | #intSchoolsNursery
- departments - #intSchoolsHistory | #intSchoolsDrama
- types of sport / activity - #intSchoolsBasketball | #intSchoolsBookClub
- school principles / strap-line - #intSchoolsWebsite | #intSchoolsCreative | #intSchoolsSocial
How to monitor #SchoolStories
As your school's marketer, knowing how to monitor these Tweets is essential. Yes, when it comes to Twitter, you are handing the reigns over to your teaching colleagues - but you need to keep them on track, and on-brand!
There are plenty of tools to help you with this - understandably having to watch over 30+ Twitter accounts can be something of a task! That is why you want something to make this as simple as possible.
Enter TweetDeck - hands down our favourite tool for Twitter monitoring. With a small amount of investment and knowledge, you can have TweetDeck set up to monitor and actually control all those accounts at your school. It is invaluable!
Click to enlarge
Read our comprehensive guide on managing your Twitter accounts using TweetDeck.
There we have it - how to share (and monitor) top #SchoolStories with Twitter. We are huge fans of what Twitter can offer schools and believe that with the right knowledge and strategy in place, it will be a platform to really promote your school.
Schools - don't miss out or get left behind!
WE CAN HELP WITH THIS (and more)!!!
If you are interested in Twitter and how it can help market your school get in touch to talk to us about social media training or marketing strategy. Through understanding and effective use, Twitter and social media in general allows you to really ✨STAND OUT✨ from your competitors.
As always - we love to keep the conversation flowing. Please do leave comments about what you have read or thoughts on the Twitter game below. ✌️