new media usage in school?

odonohue

I'm wondering how to use new media in promoting a secondary school?

Stargal

Moved to the Internet Marketing/SEO forum.

Just a couple of random tips.

1. First up, decide exactly what you want out of using new media to promote the school (btw, I'm assuming that when you say new media, you mean social media, and not just new technology such as the interwebz!). Don't just set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account because you've heard that they're good (although obvs they are!). Take time to think about why you're doing it. Presumably it's to give off a good impression of the school; to pass on information to parents and students; to promote extra-curricular activities, school concerts, etc - things like that. Make a list of these reasons before you do anything else.

2. Decide what sites you want to use. Facebook and Twitter are an obvious place to start (once you've taken the caveat above into account!). Do you have a budget or are you just a teacher who wants to try out something different? If you do have money, do you want to take out advertising (e.g. to encourage parents to pick the school for their kids - or is that a totally separate thing?). Search through Facebook and Twitter for any local schools (hell, any schools at all) and see how they're using the sites. Make a note of anything that looks good (e.g. putting up photos from a school trip) or anything that doesn't.

3. If you decide to set up a Twitter page: Firstly, choose a clear name so there's no ambiguity. Something like @DominicanCollegeD9 or @WesleyCollege. Keep the bio short and simple: "Updates for parents, students, alumni and staff on what's happening in St. Michael's.". Something like that. For the photo, choose the school logo or a pic of the school - this isn't a teacher's personal account; it needs to be associated with the school, not a person.

When you start tweeting, choose a tone and stick to it. Remember, it's 140 characters so clarity is king. Stuff like "TY fashion show will be on in the main hall tonight at 7.30pm. Tickets €5 at the door. Come early - always sells out. Good luck to all!" is good. Stuff like "6th yrs btr show up for final days of school this yr r else!! LOL!!" is, obvs, bad. Use it for announcements, congratulating students, giving information to alumni, stuff like that.

This bit is important: Don't start following hundreds of random people. Put up posters around the school letting the students know that the school is on Twitter and let them follow you (but make sure to follow them back!). If you have an alumni email list, let them know. Mention it in a note home to parents. Again, make sure to follow all these people back.

Tweet regularly. Don't let the account gather dust. This doesn't mean several times a day: you'd probably only need to do it a few times a week during term time.

4Set up a Facebook page for the school. This is going to sound really obvious but I'll say it anyway cos I've seen waaaay too many people make this mistake: Make sure to set it up as a page (where anyone can look at the page and Like/Become a Member of it) rather than setting it up as a person (whereby people have to becomes friends with you). It's a long story but basically it's way easier for you to control a page.

Again, as with the Twitter page, you're probably going to mainly use it to give out information about the school, plus put up videos, photos, etc. The obvious thing to look out for here is that the students don't start putting up stuff about how **** the school is/how much they hate it, etc. Most students should be fine about it, but keep an eye on the page and delete/warn any kids who try something like that.

Also, now that I think about it, there's probably child protection rules about putting up photos or any identifying stuff for a kid under 18. If you're a teacher you'll know more about this than I do!

As with Twitter, update this regularly (weekly, maybe?) so people know that they can go to it for relevant information.

5Depending on what your school website is like, it might be a nice idea to set up a blog. It'd be good to have one person in charge of doing regular updates, but you could have a lot of guest-posts: maybe a teacher talking about something interesting they're working on with one class, the principal giving an insight into what the job is like, students writing about their Young Scientist project.

That's pretty much everything I can think of off the top of my head right now. I'm not an expert or anything but most of this is common sense. Bit random but hopefully it's a start. Best of luck with it!

Edit: Jaysus, this post is a lot longer than I thought it'd be!

odonohue

Dear contributor
Thank you very much for your response to my query. It was my first query on boards.ie & i was hoping someone would respond.
The situation is that this is a fee paying secondary school & it needs to increase pupil numbers. Its a v effective school but its not one of the "well known" ones. Current school parents recommend the school to friends but the challenge is how to get the message out there to more parents. The school will of course continue with traditional marketing but I wondered if using Twitter, Facebook, blogs. Linkedin effectively, could help achieve this objective too. as you suggest I will see if primary schools use the new media - as our school may be able to link to them - but I have my doubts because of the child protection issues.

I will read the content of your email again later in as I really liked the ideas & found it encouraging too.

Once again
Thanks for taking the time
I appreciate it