New School Year, New Social Strategy
#Culture
Lexi Beecher
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Lexi Beecher
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Lexi Beecher Edtech Thought Leader |
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Social media is an amazing tool to boost your district’s brand, celebrate successes, and showcase culture — take it from a truly exceptional, passionate, and inspirational K-12 professional who is blazing trails with her storytelling expertise on social media.
To get an inside look at how social strategy can elevate a district’s presence, we sat down with Sarah O’Donnell, director of communications at Stevens Point Area School District and recipient of the “Power of Social Media Award” in the 2024 SocialSchool4EDU Best of School Social Media Awards.
There are many communication channels a K-12 district may have. In what ways does social media offer a unique ability to share stories?
“Social media provides an outlet for smaller stories and updates that might not be fit for an article or email, but are important to share nonetheless. It’s also a great way to engage staff in the storytelling process. Teachers are the hardest working professionals in the universe, and I love helping them find ways to highlight what is happening in their classroom.“Additionally, while social media is a great tool for short-form storytelling, it can also move audiences to your district’s long-form content. If we have a blog on our website, we can tease it on our social pages and get the story out to a wider audience. Social media has a large reach in our community extending beyond parents, students, and faculty.”
Why is storytelling such an impactful social strategy?
“Storytelling connects everyone. It allows me to share things people wouldn’t usually understand if they’re not in the educational setting every day. Human connection is something we’re all looking for.”When everyone in your district has a schedule filled to the brim (yourself included!) how do you collaborate with others regarding social media efforts?
“We’ve structured our social media presence to include district-level and school-level accounts. More recently, some of our sports teams have wanted their own accounts, too.“Each account has social media managers assigned to them, and we make sure they’re trained on expectations, privacy policies, and uniform branding. Even though each school has its own logo and colors, we want to keep things looking consistent.
“I also send out a monthly staff newsletter including requests for stories, and we have a specific email account where folks can send photos. As we’ve built a stronger social media presence, faculty have become more receptive to submitting stories. People enjoy being able to see what is happening in classrooms each day.”
Schools should ensure they have parental permission before including students in media. How do you streamline this process?
“We really respect parents’ privacy. We send an annual opt-out notice to families allowing them to specify whether they want their child in media. Then, we’ll send that list to faculty, and student names will stay on the list permanently unless a parent would ask for it to be removed.“On the back end, we make sure faculty fully understand the implications of the opt-out policy. If a family doesn’t want their child in content, that also affects other forms of media like live streams for school concerts. We’ve found this process to be successful.
“To further protect students, we’re cognizant of the types of pictures we’re posting. If I wouldn’t want that picture of me online, I won’t post it of a student. I don’t know where the future is going with AI and digital facial recognition, so we’re very aware of the responsibility we have to protect our students and represent them in the best light.”
How would you describe your creative process, including strategizing and brainstorming content?
“We create an editorial content calendar outlining topics to feature throughout the year. That way, we have content planned and scheduled while allowing for flexibility. Stories will always pop up, and you want to have the time and space for them.“During the school year we try to post at least twice a day, and we’ve identified timeframes where we see the most engagement. We’re always trying to compete against the algorithm, and we encourage our team to engage with likes, comments, and shares.
“A great way to strategize for future content is by noticing what posts your audience likes best. We also work to provide equal coverage to all our schools. We’re lucky they each have their own accounts, because it’s easy to share their posts on the district-wide page.”
Are there specific metrics you consider when evaluating the performance of your content?
“Our big metric is engagement. We keep an eye on who is following us and how many people have seen our content, but above all I take note of what’s getting likes, comments, and shares. By knowing what resonates with your audience, you’ll know what to share in the future.”Can you describe a piece of content that performed particularly well?
“We shared the story of two boys on our cross country team who stopped mid-race to help a competitor cross the finish line. From an engagement perspective, that story performed extremely well. Not only was it great on social media, but we were able to capitalize on some Good Morning America coverage, too. It’s a great example of using social media as a platform to reach an audience much bigger than your own.”If you were to give a piece of advice to others in a K-12 communication role, what wisdom would you share?
“Plan for what you can, and then deal with everything else. Trust whoever you are in that moment will be able to take care of the problem. “Next, try to connect to a professional organization. I’m the president elect for Wisconsin School Public Relations Association, and I’ve found many of us in school communications are teams of one or two. It can feel very isolating because others don’t always understand what your job is or what you’re trying to accomplish. Find those people who you can text for advice or when you’re having a bad day.“Lastly, find a way to sit in on the decision-making process at your district. That way, when it comes time to communicate announcements, you have a better understanding of why decisions were made. When you’re well-informed, you’re empowered to do your job better.”
Remember, creating and maintaining a school district’s social media presence is no quick afternoon project. Before committing to a new communication channel, solidify branding, tone of voice, content creation processes, and overall strategy.
Take a closer look at the amazing work from Sarah and her team by visiting the Stevens Point Area School District’s Facebook page. Then, enjoy these follow-up resources to help your district strengthen parent engagement with social media and help your students stay safe while surfing the social media waves.
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Lexi Beecher Edtech Thought Leader |
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