Riding the Carpool Whale - A Very Useful Tip on Timing Social Media

One advantage Social Media Managers in a school district have going for them is that we are a local operation. We do not have to worry about a global market. Our audience goes to sleep. You can see from the graphic below that our audience on social media is active from about 7:00 am until about 10:00 pm. I call this riding the whale because of the unique shape of the graph.

When you study your social media analytics, you must look for patterns and trends. We got our graph of active times of our followers from Facebook Insights, the company’s free analytic data for page users. Facebook gives you a wealth of free information that is very valuable.

Here is a great, yet simple tip for deciding on times to post messages on Facebook and Twitter.
Utilize your carpool drop-off and pick-up times for posting important messages for your elementary school parents. Why would carpool times impact your social media schedule? Think about what America’s new favorite pastime is… Interacting with their smartphone, especially while in the car. Sitting in the carpool lane waiting for the bell to ring is a perfect time for parents to check their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Capitalize on this.

Our elementary schools start at 7:40 am and get out at 2:55 pm, so we usually post a elementary school social media message at 7:30 am and 2:30 pm depending on the message. That way we can target the parents who get to the carpool lane early and have nothing better to do but check their social media accounts.

Think about this the next time you are going to post about Meet the Teacher or about the canned food drive at your elementary schools. Take advantage of bored parents. They might just enjoy it.

4 Reasons Why Our Real-Time Marketing Worked Like Oreo

Oreo became famous on social media when the lights went out in New Orleans. During the third quarter of Super Bowl 2013, where Baltimore battled San Francisco, the lights shut off causing a delay of over 30 minutes at the biggest game in the world.

Oreo wasted no time capitalizing on the famous moment. They tweeted a graphic of a “Lone Oreo” sitting in the dark with the line: You Can Still Dunk in the Dark. Fans loved it, and according to AdAge, the message was retweeted over 10,000 times in one hour. Pretty impressive.

The Tweet went on to get more buzz than most of the commercials that aired during the telecast. Thinking on their feet paid off for Oreo, but will it work for you? Well… It depends.

Real-time marketing got a lot of buzz after Oreo’s tweet. Many companies tried to replicate the viral tweet with a real-time marketing message of their own. They had little or no impact on social media. The most buzz they got was the trade publications commenting on their failed attempt to copy Oreo. Not the kind of press they were looking for.

The main problem with real-time marketing is that you should never go looking for things to go “Viral”. It’s going to happen if it is going to happen. Never create something thinking it is a VIRAL message. People like what they like, and they can smell unoriginality a mile away.

You also need to remember that you should not deviate from your overall brand message just to capitalize on a moment. If it fits your message, great, if it does not, do not force it. My advice is to count to ten before you try any real time marketing messages. Most of the time it is going to fail. And in turn, your message will fail.

Here is one that worked for us.

Here is my break down of why it worked, and why we tried it.

BACKGROUND

On November 23rd, the Dallas Cowboys defeated the New York Giants, but that is not what is remembered by the viewers. The highlight of the game was a catch by New York Giants rookie receiver Odell Beckham Jr. that some are considering the best in NFL history. The one handed touchdown grab was replayed over 20 times moments after it happened. And we took advantage of that moment.

We are a school district just outside of Dallas, so we knew our audience was watching the game. Minutes after the famous catch we tweeted the message below:

HERE ARE FOUR REASONS OF WHY IT WORKED:

1. Localized Message- like I mentioned above, we knew our audience was watching. Texas is obsessed with football, and Dallas fans love their Cowboys. It was pretty safe to assume that many of our followers were tuned into the game or knew it was happening.

2. Do it Fast- if we waited until that night or the next day to Tweet our message, it would have been lost in the clutter. To do real-time marketing well, it has to be real-time. The quicker you send your message, the more original it will seem to your audience. If you wait too long, someone else has already used it in their message.

3. Think Before You Send- even though you need to be fast, you need to think before you Tweet or post to Facebook. Is this the message I want to send? Is this message part of my overall brand message?

4. What is the Message- is what you are about to tweet aligned with your overall brand’s message? It has to be. Do not do real-time marketing because you want to be hip or cool. Do it because it is going to help your message.  We praised our teachers with our message. We love our teachers, and we gave them a high-five that day using “The Catch” as our catalyst.

My final words are, School districts and companies beware. Real-time marketing does not work 99% of the time. Find your time and capitalized, but do not get carried away.

Content Marketing is Like a Star Wars Advent Calendar

Your content marketing should be like a Star Wars Advent Calendar. Gift, Gift, Gift... ask to buy more Legos...

Follow the advice of Gary Vaynerchuk (@GaryVee)... Jab, Jab, Jab... Right Hook! Or if you use the Star Wars example... Gift, Gift, Gift... Daddy I want more Star Wars Legos!

You have to give your customers and clients useful content, and then ask for the sale. Give... Give... Give... And then don't be afraid to ask for something in return. If you give them a lot of great content, healing pain points they have, you are going to become the trusted resource and they will want to buy from you.

Try it this new year. I will try to give you great advice to help you deliver great content.

Visual Storytelling: Part 3 - Tell a Story

CFBISD has increased engagement on their social media platforms by over 100 percent the last six months by transitioning to a more visual storytelling model for its posts. The majority of our messages contain either a picture, video, infographic, SlideShare, or visual link. Remember, visual communication has been around 32,000 years. We have only been writing for 5,000 years. Most people prefer visuals.

This is part one of a five part series on visual storytelling. Much of my ideas are modified from an excellent book called The Power of Visual Storytelling by Ekanterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio. Part one begins with be engaging in your visuals and part two dealt with knowing your audience.

Part 3: Tell a Story

It sounds pretty simple, but this is usually the hardest thing to do when you are dealing with visual storytelling. It can be pretty hard to tell a story with a photo or a graphic. Many people think that any pretty picture will do the job.  However, you have to find the right picture to evoke emotion in your audience. You have to find that one picture that is going to turn an average story into a great story.

Here are some tips on how to tell a story:

1. Establish a Setting

Your audience should know where the story takes place. If someone looks at your picture, will they have a good sense of the location? Can they use context clues to know which school, stadium or complex the narrative belongs to?

2. Establish the Character

 All great stories have great characters. Does your picture feature a student or teacher doing their thing? People love to see action, especially if it is their child. Show your character doing something interesting and you will have an interesting, engaging story.

3. Bring the Emotion

The best stories play on our emotions. Is your picture compelling? Will it heighten the emotion of your audience? It could bring fear, happiness, joy, or excitement. Just as long as your audience wants more. 

Recent Example

We recently featured a student who had to sit out a year of football due to medical issues. The whole school, the whole district was behind this student. The one thing we all wanted to see is this young gentlemen play the game he loves… football.

 He got his chance, and we were able to show not only his triumphant return, but show the support from his team and the community. The picture to the left tells a story. The story of a man who beat an illness by suiting up and making it back onto the football field.

We also filmed a video that was equally as powerful. Sometimes moving pictures help tell a more powerful story. You can see the emotion as it unfolds.  Always be ready to capture the stories.

Simple Steps to Schedule Posts on Facebook

I am not a big fan of publishing programs like HootSuite for social media. They tend to take the personal touch out of posting content. For one, they let your audience know that they were responsible for scheduling your content by advertising at the bottom of your post. Second, they tend to never get your full message across due to links or visuals not making it to your post. I try to avoid these services when I can. I want my audience to know that I took the time to post each one of my messages. It lets them know you care.

There is a great way to schedule posts in Facebook without using a third-party scheduling site or program. It is a simple button built right inside your Facebook post. The schedule button in Facebook lets you schedule your post just like posting a regular post, except you can schedule a future date and time for your content without a third party stamp. Simple, yet effective. And the best part is that no one will know this your post was a scheduled post.

Here is a step by step list of how to use the Facebook schedule button:

1. Write your post just like you would a normal Facebook post

2. Do not click the Post Button, but the down arrow beside the word Post

3. Click the Schedule Post from the list of options

4. Enter your desired date and time in the boxes, and then click Schedule

5. Check your date and time in the confirmation box

* You can always go back and edit your message or your date and time for your post

** The schedule options is only available for pages and not on personal accounts yet

Visual Storytelling: Part 2 - Know Your Audience

CFBISD has increased engagement on their social media platforms by over 100 percent the last six months by transitioning to a more visual storytelling model for its posts. The majority of our messages contain either a picture, video, infographic, SlideShare, or visual link. Remember, visual communication has been around 32,000 years. We have only been writing for 5,000 years. Most people prefer visuals.

This is part one of a five part series on visual storytelling. Much of my ideas are modified from an excellent book called The Power of Visual Storytelling by Ekanterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio. Part one begins with be engaging in your visuals.

Part 2: Know Your Audience

Creating a pretty picture is only the beginning. Not all pictures are going to appeal to the group we are trying to reach. That is why it is vital to know your audience.

The great thing about our audience is that it is not global… yet. We have boundaries setup by the state that define who we are communicating to.  However, in the last ten years, education has become big business. What I mean by "Big Business" is that there are many choices in education for our audience to choose from.

We are competing against private schools, charter schools, online schools, home schools and even the internet itself. Also, our audience is not just our students and parents. They make up our audience, but we also have to remember about all the potential families that will make up our districts as well as our community and business supporters.

Here are THREE TIPS to define and go after your audience for optimal reach:

1. Find the Niche - Broad messages are out this year. You can not just publish a tweet saying that your district is the best everyday. There are times to do that, but most of your messages should have a very narrow group you are trying to reach. Some examples are your Fine Arts Parents, Middle School Athletes, or Gifted and Talented Elementary School Students. Not only does this help you have a more defined message, you are also highlighting groups that sometimes feel left out.

2. Are They Hurting - what kind of message are they looking for. How can you help them fill a void they are missing. All audiences or customers have a pain point. And everyone in pain wants their hurt to go away. You must give them something that is going to heal their pain.  For example, are band parents complaining about their student getting second chair? Let them know of private coaches that work with your fine arts programs. Are parents of juniors in high school confused on the college application process? Conduct a twitter chat in your district with your parents and your district’s college counselors. You are here to help… remember that always.

3. Have Fun with Their Personality - not only can you help solve a problem, but you can also have fun showcasing the different personalities your groups provide. A high school in our district called R.L. Turner High School has incredible school spirit. We try to highlight that every chance we get. We film and post their morning pep rallies or post a great picture of their student body going above and beyond the traditional school spirit. It’s fun, and also accomplishes the fact that everyone loves to see their picture posted (most people) in the media, as long as it is positive.

Know your audience, and have some fun them.  Let me know what you do in your district.

Check out Part One Here: Be Engaging

Part Three deals with Telling Your Story… Coming Soon.

If you are interested in Ekaterina’s book, you can find it here:

Instagram Leaves Some Friendless: The Great Purge of 2014

Here is a great article from Engadget about Instragram trying to clean up the spam accounts that litter their platform. Some are too young to remember MySpace, but some accredited its demise to spam and fake accounts.

Instagram purges spam fake accounts, costing celebs millions of followers by Engadget

A good tip to remember... It is not really about PAGE LIKES, it is more about engagement and your call to actions being followed. Go engage!!!

6 Awesome Tips to Use Vine Videos for School Messages

Vine is a short form video sharing service. And when I say short, I mean all you have is six seconds to tell your story. Six seconds that could be very powerful for your school or school district. Why? Because it is owned by Twitter.

Being owned by one of the most popular social networking sites on the planet is a pretty big deal. What is even more important is that you can embed Vine videos into your tweets. This can be great way to send out a message to your followers. SA message that is different from the traditional text Twitter message.

Here are SIX SUGGESTIONS for Vine videos you could embed in your school’s Twitter feed:

1. School Announcements- got an important announcement you want to get out? What not record you or a student saying the message.
2. School Spirit- send an encouraging message to your team before a big game.
3. Video Map- have an open house or meet the teacher? Create a quick video showing the correct door for parents to enter.
4. Homework Reminder- why not remind your students by video of important assignments that are due. Great on Snow Days.
5. Thank You’s- send a quick thank you to your PTA or teachers for all their hard work.
6. Meet the Teacher Videos- send brief bios or introductions of all the great teachers in your school. Highlight one week.

Vine is app for your SmartPhone. It runs on iOS, Android, and Windows Phones

Can you think of any other ways to implement Vine into your school. Let me know in the comments section.

**Extra Tip: Putting a link to a YouTube video inside your tweet also embeds a video in your message

You Are Using Your Twitter Favorite Button Wrong

Most people use the favorite button on Twitter for the reason you think you should use the favorite button… to favorite a Tweet. You are telling the author of the tweet that you like their stuff. You are giving them a thumbs up or a like that you might use on Facebook. But did you know there is much more power in the Twitter favorite then a simple Facebook like? Welcome to your Twitter File Database.

There is something very special that happens when you favorite a tweet on Twitter. Your favorites get stored in a special section on your account that you can access at anytime. Maybe you find a great article about 21st century learning someone tweets… Favorite it to read later. See an awesome recipe a company Tweeted out… Favorite it to recall for your next dinner party. There are many creative ways you can use the favorite.

In a sense you are creating a VIP database of the best things you find on Twitter. Favoriting a pic of the school assembly is nice, but favoriting the top five tips to pass STAAR has more power.  Power that you can access at anytime.

** Twitter Now Uses the HEART

Here is a step by step outline of how to use your favorite button:

1. Favorite a tweet by clicking on the Heart Icon located on the tweet. This could be in various locations depending on what app you are using to access Twitter.
2. Access you favorite list by clicking on you Account Icon that looks like a cartoon head.
3. Click on Likes and Twitter will populate your favorites list.

 ** Items might be different locations depending how you access Twitter

Now you can use your favorite option as a smart alternative to bookmarking links and Tweets on your browser. Enjoy, and start favoriting.

Visual Storytelling: Part 1 - Be Engaging

CFBISD has increased engagement on their social media platforms by over 100 percent the last six months by transitioning to a more visual storytelling model for its posts. The majority of our messages contain either a picture, video, infographic, SlideShare, or visual link. Remember, visual communication has been around 32,000 years. We have only been writing for 5,000 years. Most people prefer visuals.

This is part one of a five part series on visual storytelling. Much of my ideas are modified from an excellent book called The Power of Visual Storytelling by Ekanterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio. Part one begins with be engaging in your visuals.

Part 1: Be Engaging

We all love a pretty picture… especially if it is of us. There is no difference when dealing with education and students. Here are my four tips to create a more engaging visual:

1. Create a Stunning Image

You do not want to be blah. With smart phone technology you have a nice portable camera in our pocket. There is no excuse not to get a nice photo. Don’t settle for average. Tell a story with your photo. Be creative. Be engaging.

2. Close-Ups are Key

Get the camera in the face of your subject.  The closer the better. When I taught film, I always told my students that the eyes are what tell the stories. Take pictures that tell a story by showing the emotion on your subjects face.  Emotion is what is going to sell your story.

3. Colors that Pop

Color can evoke emotion as well. Try to choose photos that have rich color that pop off the page. Not only will they stand out on your post, but they bring emotion to the story you want to tell.

4. Show the Students Engaged

You have to sell your story. If your subjects are not engaged, why would your audience. Take photos and videos that show the excitement of what is going on. A smile is your best selling tool.  They are contagious. When we smile, the whole world smiles back at us.

Part two will focus on knowing your audience, and adapting your story around their likes and dislikes.

If you are interested in Ekaterina’s book, you can find it here:

Mediabistro Presents 7 Tips to Grow Your Twitter Audience

Mediabistro.com has some great tips to grow your audience on Twitter.  The first two tips deal with what I talked about during the Social Media Training last week.  Use your social media channels for customer service. Respond to both positive and negative tweets about your campus or district.

Here is the opening paragraph to the article followed by a link for the complete story:

"So you’re tweeting spectacular content – stunning pictures, hilarious jokes, industry insights – but you’re not getting any bites. No retweets, no responses, no clicks. What are you doing wrong?

No content strategy is complete without an engagement strategy: a plan for connecting with your followers and other Twitter users in a meaningful way. Here are seven types of engagement that you can incorporate into your strategy to get you more customers on Twitter."

Mediabistro.com's 7 Types of Engagement That Can Get You More Customers on Twitter

CFBISD Alumni's Book on Social Media

Did you know that best selling author, Shama Hyder is a CFBISD graduate? And she just happens to be an expert on social media.

Grab her best selling book on the Kindle right now for just .99 cents. Great read.

The Power of the Period

A common rookie mistake when tweeting is to create a tweet using a user’s handle at the first of your conversation. For example:

“@cfbisd is awesome!!!”

The problem with starting a tweet with @cfbisd is that only the people who follow you and @cfbisd will see the tweet. That limits your conversation, and you might alienate many of your followers you want to reach.

There is a simple fix that will allow you to reach all of your followers, and all the people that follow the account you added to your tweet. Introducing the period...

By simply adding a period before the users name (.@cfbisd), you can reach many more people. Here is using in the same example above:

“.@cfbisd is awesome!!!”


Now by adding a period, many more people will be able to know the awesomeness of CFBISD.

Try it next time you tweet. It could open up a whole new world to your tweets.