5 Critical Elements of a Blog Post for Content Marketing Success

Has your district ever considered content marketing?

Wondering how content marketing might fit into your overall marketing strategy?

Many school districts have never considered content marketing as a valuable communications strategy, and many one-person departments feel they don’t have the time to start something so complicated.  

But what if I told you starting is as simple as creating a blog? 

In this podcast, you’ll discover why content marketing is so useful, why a blog is the most important element to start your strategy, and the five most important things to do to build an epic blog post.

5 Critical Elements of a Blog Post for Content Marketing Success

• Why Content Marketing - 1:13
• The Headline - 2:50
• Strong Visuals - 3:22
• The Opening Paragraph - 4:08
• Top Keywords - 4:50
• Call to Action - 5:54

The insights in the podcast are a great place to start in creating your content marketing strategy.

Articles Referenced in Podcast:

• How to Write Catchy Headlines and Blog Titles Your Readers Can't Resist 
• 20 Awesome Tools for Creating Engaging Visuals for Your Blog 
• How to Nail the Opening of Your Blog Post 
• Blog SEO: How to Search Engine Optimize Your Blog Content 
• 8 Types of CTAs You Should Absolutely Try on Your Blog

Having a blog is a powerful tool to help brand your district as the “Education Experts”, which will gain the trust of parents. And trust will go a long way in persuading a parent to enroll their child in your district.

Do you have any questions about Content Marketing or Blogs? Leave your questions in the comment section below.

12 Easy Facebook Live Ideas for Your District

It’s Time to Pivot from Periscope to Facebook Live

Do you feel like your reach and engagement on Periscope is slowly dying? Is the Periscope platform feeling more like Myspace with all the clutter and nonsense?

Have you heard about success stories on Facebook Live and want to make the shift?

In this article you will discover 12 easy ideas for your next Facebook Live broadcast for your school and school district.

Why Facebook Live?

According to Social Media Examiner, Facebook Live allows you to connect with your fans, friends, and followers by sharing real-time video of what you’re seeing and doing.

More key stakeholders are on FB (moms & teachers). FB legit forum while Periscope is spontaneous video. FB is purposeful. – Corey Ryan (@coreyrrisd)

We switched because FB live offers reactions and comments. It keeps the stream alive longer. – Justin Elbert (@kleinISDJustin)

With over 1.5 billion active users on Facebook, it’s probably time to make the shift to the “King of All Social Media”.  Facebook has done so much in the past year to make the platform better for the individual and the business; it is most likely going to hit live video out of the ballpark.

12 Easy Facebook Live Ideas for Your School District

1. Live PSAT Tutorials for Your Community

Parents spend big bucks preparing their students for the PSAT and SAT. Why not build community goodwill and help those parents that can’t afford tutors by hosting live SAT tutorials for your town.

Not only are you helping your community, but you are also creating some awesome content marketing for your district. Parents and students will appreciate the help.

2. Redzone Plays and Two-Minute Drills

Football is king in Texas, and I am sure athletics play a big role in your district.  Why not drive engagement to your district’s athletics Facebook page by broadcasting all of your football teams goal line plays.  NFL Network has created a whole channel dedicated to this and it is doing very well.

You can also broadcast live the last two minutes of your basketball games.  It builds the same excitement and will surely drive engagement on your athletics page or individual team pages.

3.  Positive District Announcements

Pick a day of the week and have your district leadership deliver positive announcements and bright spots for your district each week. 

Call it Friday Afternoon Live and your parents, students, staff and community can feel proud about their district as they go into the weekend.  They also might be more likely to share what they saw at their child’s weekend activities.

4. Graduation Day

We all know this is a huge event.  And we know not everyone can attend.  Broadcasting your graduation on Facebook Live can be very special for people that can’t attend the event.

We went live backstage of graduation and during. 4 videos combined for over 400 shares, 60k reach. One HS town. – John Tarrant (@jtarrant25)

Start planning now to think of “Behind the Scene” ideas your district can incorporate into your broadcast.

5. Fine Arts Halftime Performances

Just like the game itself, halftime performances draw big crowds to your football games.  Broadcast the performances for your district Fine Arts Facebook Page.  It would be cool if you could strap a smart phone on one of your students in the marching band. Give your viewers an on-field perspective of what it is like to march at halftime.

6. Virtual School Tours

Kindergarten roundups or tours are big for our district.  Why not provide potential parents a glimpse into your programs by offering virtual live tours of your programs or schools?  This day and age it is very difficult for parents to attend every event.  Make it easy for them by providing video tours.

7. Ribbon Cuttings of New School Buildings

Do you have new buildings or upgrades to your schools? Show your community how their investment in their school district is paying off by offering ribbon cuttings and tours of new buildings.

8. Athlete Signings

Show your community the talent that makes up your district’s athletics programs.  Broadcast live your athletes signing with colleges and universities.

9. Live Q/A Tutorials and Exam Reviews

Just like the PSAT broadcasts, have your teachers broadcast their after-school tutorials and exam reviews for students who can’t attend the reviews.

10.  Bad Weather Reports

Your students and parents are always chomping at the bit to know when their schools are closed for major weather events.  Give them up-to-date coverage just like your local news stations using Facebook Live.  Facebook also archives the video on your timeline, so there is no need post another announcement on Facebook.

11. Collaboration Between Schools

Why not host a joint-lesson between schools in your district using Facebook Live?  High school students can mentor elementary school students, or like classes can collaborate on a lesson using live video.

12. Teacher Lesson for Sick Days

This might be something to implement after practicing with Facebook Live for a while, but teachers can start broadcasting their classes to their private classroom Facebook pages for students that are sick. Each lesson can be watched live or watched at ta later date on the Facebook timeline. Always be mindful of students that can’t be photographed or recorded.

Has your district been successful on Facebook Live? Put your success in the comment section below.

23 Easy Things You Can Do This Summer to Improve Your District Marketing

In school communications, there is no summer break. It is vital you keep spreading the great stories that make your district great. 

Summer is also a great time to do small things to make your marketing and communications better in your district.  It can be hard to get motivated during the lazy months of summer.

Here are 23 very random and very easy things you can do to improve your marketing, communications, and school public relations for your district this summer:

1. Change Your Cover Photo on Facebook
2. Retweet Five Influencers on Twitter
3. Profile an Alumni that is Making a Difference
4. Spend $5 on Facebook Advertising for Back to School
5. Write a Blog Post about Great Books Students Can Read Over the summer
6. Secure Your District Name on SnapChat
7. Start Spreading Your Back to School Hashtag
8. Check Your Website for Typos
9. Post Pictures of Your District Working During the summer
10. Create a Video of Your Principals Welcoming Back Students
11. Review and Update Your About Section on Facebook and Twitter
12. Participate in #k12prchat on Twitter
13. Post on Facebook and Tweet at Least Once a Day
14. Facebook Live a Summer Message from Your Superintendent
15. Verify All Your School’s School Supply Lists are posted
16. Send a Quick Survey to Your Parents
17. Post pictures on Social Media of All Your New Principals
18. Notify Your Followers When There Are 30 Days Before First Football Game
19. Create A Call to Action Button on Facebook
20. Develop Five Audience Personas for Your District
21. Learn Five Concepts about Video Editing
22. If You Don’t Have One – Create an Instagram Account
23. Take Exterior Pictures of Each One of Your Schools

These are just a few things you can do this summer to improve your district's communications and marketing. They are easy and take very little effort.

After doing some of these simple things, I would suggest experimenting with Content Marketing, Social Media Advertising, LinkedIn Development, and Video Production.

Do you have other easy ideas? Are you doing anything special this summer? Leave them in the comment section below.

Have a Plan Before You Go Viral

It's every marketer's dream to go VIRAL.

We dream of creating that one video that takes our YouTube Channel to the next level.

Before you go viral (which is really hard and requires a lot luck) you need to have a solid plan to make your YouTube Channel the best it can be. Because here is a secret... views are not the most important thing on YouTube.

Here are five things you must do before you create your next hit video:

1. Bring Your Brand to the Channel

Your brand is one of the most important assets you have when it comes to marketing your school district.  Every social media platform you are on, every post you create, should have your brand associated with it.

Do not let social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube do the branding for you.  Your brand is not a Twitter Egg.  Your district's logo should be your profile picture.  Action shots of your teachers and students need to be your cover picture.  There should be no excuse when someone visits your YouTube Chanel that they do not know what district or school is being represented. Be proud of your logo. Show it off.

2. Have a Link to Your Website

Just like your logo, you must have a link to your district's website on all of your social media platforms. It is critical that YouTube is not be your visitor's final resting place. You need them to be on your own turf.

You do not own YouTube. No one knows what what the future holds for their platform or their rules. However, you do own your website, and it is important that your marketing, including YouTube, draw them to your "Hub" of resources... your website.

Once you have them on your own turf, you can show them other content and have them sign-up for your newsletter or email list. By doing this, you now have a database of people you can invite to events and share additional content with. They have given you permission to market to them.

3. Create a Trailer Video

An awesome feature on your YouTube channel is the channel trailer.  This powerful feature allows you to highlight a video and make it the focal point of your YouTube channel. My district has great success with these videos.  They gather bigger views and more engagement than our normal content on YouTube.

My advice would be to rotate various videos using this feature.  Do you have a program you want to highlight? Do you have an awesome event you want to promote? Use the trailer feature every time you have an important message to push. When you don't have a program to highlight, use a generic district trailer to give an overview of your district.


4. Have Other Great Content

Your viral video should not be your only content on your YouTube channel.  Build an arsenal of content before you heavily promote your channel.  You want to have more than one piece of marketing when your audience visits your channel.

5. A Call to Action?

The goal of having a YouTube Channel is not to get a bunch of views.  Having a lot of views can be fun, but that is not the most important number you should be focusing on.  Engagement and ROI should be what you are looking for.

Where is your audience going after they watch your video?  They need to be going somewhere.  You need to give them a Call to Action.  You can drive them to your website. You can have them sign-up for your newsletter. You can invite them to an event.  Video is power. Use it as a tool to drive engagement.

The best way to implement the above tasks is to have a plan.  You need a plan on every social media platform you are a part of.

Do you need help with YouTube? Amy Schmittauer at Savvy Sexy Social offers great tips on all things video.

Do you have any other YouTube tips? Leave them in the comment section below.