Social Media for Schools: Optimising Your Channels

When was the last time you reviewed the settings in your school’s social media channels? A properly optimised social platform can be the difference between your school being found by new parents or not. Use the list below to ensure your social channels are effectively optimised to boost your school’s online profile!

1. LinkedIn

Many schools overlook LinkedIn as part of their social marketing strategy, feeling it’s more of a business to business platform. The fact of the matter is, if you haven’t already created a school page for yourself it’s possible LinkedIn may have! So whether you choose to regularly share content or simply use it as a brochure page, you’ll want to ensure your school profile on LinkedIn is accurate and contains all the essential information.

Header & Logo Images

• Be sure to use the recommended image sizes in the table below to ensure the best possible output
• Keep in mind your header image may resize on different devices so if you’ve added content on your image, check how it displays correctly on at least a mobile as well

For those of you who don’t have graphics software like Photoshop or InDesign, Canva is a free online tool that will allow you to quickly create drop and drag templates so you can easily resize your logo and photos. Note: Canva do have a Linkedin Banner template already but I would advise creating a custom size at the recommended image size below.

Page Info

Click the pencil icon below your cover photo to update your page information. Double-check all your information is current and correct.

• Page info: Ensure your school name and tagline are consistent with your brand
• Buttons: Customise what a click of the button will do – i.e. website visit, email, etc
• Overview: Add your school description, website URL, school size, date founded and specialties (Nursery School? Sixthform?)
• Location: If you have more than one school, you’ll want to ensure both are added here
• Hashtags: add up to 3 hashtags associated with your school. Do your research in LinkedIn and be sure you’re picking those appropriate to your school

Tip: click the ‘View as Member’ button in the top right corner above your cover image to see what others will see.

Staff Connections

Having staff on board will not only assist with future staff recruitment but will also widen your reach when sharing content.

• Check that LinkedIn hasn’t automatically created a page for your school. If they have, either request to take ownership or have it deactivated (contact LinkedIn directly)
• Ensure school staff are connected to the correct page

Speaking of staff recruitment, you’ll definitely want to check out Teaglo as a free alternative to LinkedIn for recruiting. Again, you may already have a profile automatically created there so it’s worth checking and updating even if you choose not to use it.

Showcase Pages

Used to highlight certain aspects of your business, think of using showcase pages in the same way you segment audiences on your school website. So, if you are a nursery, pre-prep and prep school consider creating a showcase page for each area. Parents can follow a showcase page just like they can follow your main school page, but the difference is the content will be more relevant. You’ll find the option to create a showcase page under your Admin Tools menu on the top right-hand side of the page.

LinkedIn pro-tip: Why not promote your Open Day for free using LinkedIn’s Events!

2. Twitter

Twitter may not be the most exciting social platform out there at the moment, but it does have its perks. The biggest being that your bio and tweets are indexed by Google and Bing (more exposure)! With that in mind make sure your school profile is looking sharp…

Profile & Header Images

• As always start with the highest resolution images you have to ensure your final image remains crisp
• Use the specs below for the optimal sizes across all devices. You may even want to consider an animated gif as your profile pic

Again, Canva has some great (free) templates if you’re looking to update your cover photo seasonally or for a special event.

Profile

• Name: Keep in mind your name is different than your Twitter Username and can be changed at any time without losing followers. It’s important to clearly identify who you are especially if your Username is not available (like mine!)
• Bio: Don’t overlook adding your school bio. As mentioned, your bio can appear in search results so be sure to include your keywords. You may also want to add your own branded hashtag here
• Location: Be sure to include your school’s location for local SEO optimisation
• Website: Of course you’ll want to make sure you’ve added your school website URL. But what about directing visitors to a page other than your homepage? Why Choose X School? Perhaps test it to see the response you get

Settings & Privacy

• Username (or Twitter Handle): If you’re looking to make all your social names consistent – which is a good idea if you can – again, you can safely update your user name here without losing your followers
• Direct Messages: under Privacy and Safety you have the ability to update your settings to allow parents to directly message you through Twitter. If you choose to do this be sure you have your notifications switched on so you don’t overlook any DMs

 

Twitter pro-tip: Try a Twitter Moment to showcase particular tweets. Perhaps FAQs? Or maybe Open Day info…?? Check out my Digital Marketing Tips for Schools moment.

3. Facebook

Often the platform that schools have the most followers, it’s also the platform that offers the most opportunities for optimisation. It may be a bit clunky to work with but it’s definitely worth keeping your profile up to date.

Cover & Profile Images

• Why not grab your visitors’ attention with either a video or slideshow as your cover image. Using the pro version of Canva you can create a simple video from images
• Remember it is best to resize your logo and cover images before uploading. Use the recommended image size below

Call to Action Button

Beneath your cover image is the option to add a call to action button. Be sure what you have selected the best option for you and that the link works properly. Do you want a visitor to email, phone, instant message or visit your website to learn more?

Page Info

Edit your school’s page info using the pencil icon just below your cover image. There you’ll want to update the following:

• Description: These 255 characters are what show up in search results, both in and outside of Facebook, so be sure to include your school’s keywords
• Categories: Choose the three categories that best represent your school – the first you choose is your default category. Again, this is how you’ll be found in search so choose carefully
• Contact: Ensure your phone number includes the right area code and extension
• Email: This is the email you want parents to contact you on so be sure that’s up to date and being monitored
• Location: If your school doesn’t have a number, zoom in on the map to be sure you’re showing up in the right location. Reposition as required
• Website: Be sure the URL you’ve added it your updated secure site i.e. https
• Hours: Add your school hours or your extended school hours here
• Privacy Policy: Add a link to your school website privacy policy here

About

Update more about your school under your About tab. Here you can update the following:

• Username / Vanity URL: if you haven’t already done this be sure to update your Username. If available, the name you enter here will be translated to your URL. So instead of seeing the default numbers you’ll see a vanity URL like https://www.facebook.com/thevirtualmarketer/
• Business Start Date: Showcase your authority by adding the year your school opened
• Mission Statement: If your school has a mission statement be sure to include it
• Edit Other Accounts: Cross-promote by adding your other social platforms here
•  Company Overview: This section has been flagged to be removed by Facebook (yours may be gone already) so be sure to move any important messaging to your description section instead 
• Awards: Do you have awards you’re proud of? Showcase them here!
• Story: A story is a great opportunity to say more about your school while including those important keywords. You may see a story here already but it’s possible that it’s a draft created by Facebook so click to update and press the Publish button!

4. Instagram

We all know that Instagram is growing leaps and bounds each day. So even if you haven’t yet made the leap yourself  I’d advise you to secure a business account in your school’s name before someone else does (I’ve seen it many times!). You can always ask to have your account temporarily disabled until you’re ready to use it. But on to optimising our final social account…

Account Type

One of the key things you’ll want to do first is to make sure your Instagram account has been converted to a Professional Account. To do this you’ll want to log into Instagram via your mobile app.

1. Go to your profile and tap  in the upper right corner
2. Tap Settings
3. Tap Account
4. Tap Switch to Professional Account
5. Tap Business

Linking Facebook

Linking your Instagram and Facebook pages will allow you to easily share posts between both. In addition, when you make the connection it will notify your Facebook followers that you’re now on Instagram making it much easier to grow your audience.

1. Go to your profile and tap .
2. Tap Settings.
3. Tap Account, then tap Linked Accounts.
4. Tap Facebook and enter your Facebook login info.

Updating the rest of your account is probably easiest done on your desktop. You can log in at https://www.instagram.com.

Edit Profile

• • Profile Photo: Although your Instagram profile pic (or logo) will show up at 110 x 100 pixels on a mobile, it will appear larger on a desktop so ideally you’ll you want the image to be 180 x 180 pixels minimal
  • Name: Your Account name is what shows in your posts and alongside your bio. Here you can use spaces and even add your keywords if your name doesn’t spell out what type of school you are – i.e. Prep School
  • Username: Your Username is your Instagram handle. Ideally, it should be your school’s name and match your other social platforms. If the name has been taken you have other options such as using a hyphen or full stop in your name to closer match your brand i.e. the.virtual.marketer
  • Website: You have one URL option that you can include here, unless you use a tool like Linktr.ee that allows you to add multiple custom links (see my Linktr.ee example). You can add links to your Open Day, Why Us, Day in the Life, Contact etc!

• Bio: Your bio says everything about your school so make the most of your 150 characters. Add keywords, branded hashtags, hard returns, alignment, and even emojis to make it – and you – stand out
• Phone: Make sure you’ve got the correct phone number associated with your account and that it’s in the correct format i.e. +44 7428 792799
• Similar Account Suggestions: This is a very important one! If this is ticked when someone follows you they’ll also get suggestions on other like accounts – possibly competitors! Equally, if you untick this you won’t show up as a suggestion on other pages. So give this one some thought. I would say it’s probably worth keeping ticked…???

Privacy & Security

• Story Sharing: Be sure to tick this option so parents can share your Stories and spread the word!
• Comments: Click here to add any words you’d like filtered out of comments. Perhaps there is a comment that is reoccurring? Add a few keywords and those comments will no longer show. Or to filter out obscenities that Instagram has already flagged simply click ‘Use Default Keywords’

Favourties

Favourites aren’t a necessity but I’d highly recommend you utilise them to make your school profile stand out. You can update Favourites regularly or simply set them up as a one-time way to showcase areas of your school. Some highlight suggestions:

• Why Your School
• Testimonials
• Boarding /A Day in the Life
• Message from the Head
• Our School in Numbers
• Whatever makes your school unique!

It’s easy to add a Favourite—it simply has to have been a Story at one point. You can work around this though by posting the Story for a few minutes before deleting it. Just be sure your setting are turned on to archive your Stories. To do that you’ll need to access Instagram via the app:

1. Go to your profile and tap 
2. Tap Settings > Privacy > Story
3. Next to Save to Archive, tap 

To add a Story as a Favourite just click the heart Highlight symbol at the bottom of your Story. I used Canva, along with free icons from Flaticon, to make my Favourite covers. Check out these easy step-by-step instructions from Plannthat.com on how you can do the same.

Congratulations—you made it to the end! Now that your school social media channels are optimised you can focus on sharing all your amazing content! Or maybe it’s time to re-think your content strategy ….??

If you need help to maximise your social media ROI or just have a question or two, let’s chat!

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