Summer is also a great time to do simple projects to improve your marketing. It can be hard to get motivated during the lazy months of summer, but it is also the best time to be motivated. Most district are quiet during June and July.
Here are 10 simple things you can do this summer to improve your marketing, communications, and school public relations for your district:
10 Simple Things You Can Do This Summer
1. Spice Up Your YouTube Videos
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. Millions of videos with billions of views. If any of you have children, you know how much time they spend on the platform. And to capture those eyeballs, you can't simply post your videos and hope for your audience to show up.
There are certain things you can do this summer to boost audience engagement on YouTube:
Create Custom Thumbnails for Your Videos - Larger Font and Creative Pics can make your videos standout while people skim your channel. We are creating thumbnails for all of our past and future videos on our YouTube page.
Add End Screens to Your Videos - Hopefully your district has mastered the art of storytelling and your audience is watching all of your video. A great way to boost engagement is to create an end screen to encourage people to watch more videos or subscribe to your YouTube channel.
Fine Tune Your Video Description - We always have a unique description of our videos in the first two paragraphs of our uploaded descriptions, but for the last couple of weeks we have added more to our description. We are encourage people to view our website, subscribe to our channel, like our social media platforms and much, much more.
2. Update Your Facebook Cover Page at Least Five Times
Is your social media manager on summer break? I hope that is not the case, but their are simple options to let you audience know you are still there. Take an hour this summer to create five original Facebook cover photos to change throughout the summer.
According to Hubspot, optimize your cover photo for the right dimensions: 851 pixels wide and 315 pixels tall for desktop, 640 pixels wide by 360 pixels tall for mobile. If your uploaded image is smaller than these dimensions, Facebook will stretch it to fit -- making it look blurry
3. Create Four Informational “Back to School” Videos
Some of best videos of the year are the informational "Back to School" videos we create for parents. We listen to our parent's most asked questions and create videos to answer the questions. They are short. They are sweet. And they produce big results.
You don't need anything fancy. Just bust out your iphone and record a stand-up.
4. Build Your Instagram Presence
Take a day and go through all of the pictures you took during the school year. Choose engaging photos that tell a story. Close-ups are the best.
Now, choose 60 of your best photos from a wide-range of schools and programs. Take those photos and post one per day during the summer. Add a filter and make sure to write a funny description with plenty of hashtags that relate to the image. Here are some extra tips for Instagram posting:
How to Boost Engagement on Instagram with an Easy Hashtag Hack
How to Increase Your Instagram Followers Using Seven Simple Techniques
5. Create at Least One Facebook Ad
If you are not already creating Facebook ads... please start now. For Return on Investment, they are the best bang for your buck. If you are scared, just Google Facebook Ads and thousands of tips and tricks will pop-up. If you need additional help, watch my presentation here:
How to Boost District Enrollment Using Facebook Ads
6. Contact Five Principals About a Story
Summer might be a slow when it comes to stories, but it does not have to. Before your principals go on vacation, ask them about interesting things their staff and students are doing this summer. One year when we did this, we found out one of our teachers worked at the Dallas Zoo taking care of animals. It was a great story.
Your teachers and students are doing interesting things this summer. Become a reporter and seek these stories. The best contacts to have are your principals. hey know their staff and students.
7. Schedule a Snapchat Geo Filter for the First Day of School
Some of you might be scared of Snapchat, Instagram and Snapchat are the big players with your students. It's probably a good idea to learn about the platforms if you are not already on them. The good news is that there is a way to play with Snapchat without having an active account.
Introducing Snapchat Geo Filters. You might have seen your students and children play with filters on their own accounts. They are basically layers that you can put over a picture they have taken. Although Snapchat puts limits on what you can create (logos always get flagged for us) it's a great way to interact and engage your students on the platform.
Create Your Own Snapchat Geofilters and Lenses
8. Install Google Analytics on Your Website
I have mentioned this a million times on this blog, but it needs repeating... USE GOOGLE ANALYTICS!!! In the world of digital marketing, the great advantage is being able to easily track and analyze analytics from your district and school websites. It is very easy to install and operate.
I would also encourage you to browse their Dashboard Gallery where you can fine many professional dashboard that gives you great insight into your web data.
9. Rank Your Top 10 Posts on Facebook from Last Year
Don't let the critics fool you... the best social media platform for public education to engage parents is still Facebook. With 2 Billion active users it is a gold mine to interact with 25 to 55 year olds.
As long as people take trips, have kids, go to T-Ball games and go to class reunions, Facebook will be very popular. It is the best hub to interact with friends and family, which means people will gravitate to it. Take advantage of the platform. See what is working on your page.
Rank your top 10 posts from the 2017 - 2018 school and figure out what resonated with your audience. Was it a catchy headline? Was it an awesome picture or video? Was it a theme or topic? Use that knowledge and create more of that for next year.
10. Just Say Hi Sometimes
Not ever post on your social media has to have a marketing motive. It's okay just to say "Hello" or "Good morning" Have a conversation. Build connections with your audience.
Conclusion
Summer is here. Don't let it pass you by. Turn your lazy summer into a crazy marketing summer.
Use these 10 simple marketing tips to get things moving in the right direction for your district next school year. Summer is the best time of the year to get ahead of your competition.
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