My Thoughts for the Week - Now in Video

I have been trying something new this week. When I have an idea or have some thoughts on marketing, I pull out my smartphone and make a video. It is my "Marketing Thought" journal for the 21st Century.

Like Gary Vaynerchuk says... "F@$&!*% Document!

1. True Engagement on Social Media

Your goal is to get share and comments over likes

Shares > Comments > Likes

2. The Importance of School Marketing

Let's face it... Ninety-five percent of your parents don't care about your school district. They care about where their kids go to school.

On average, children spend about 35 hours inside their schools per week. It is their second home. It is their second family. Because of this, parents are more likely to care about school communication and marketing than the district.

3. "I Don't Know"... Giving Power to the Parent

Telling the stories of your classroom gives parents the power to engage in conversation with their child when they get home each day.

4. Marketing is an Investment

It is critical that you convince your higher-ups through data that marketing is an investment, not an expense. 

So many people put marketing into the category of an expense on the balance sheet. This is not right. If done correctly, you should see a Return on Your Investment or ROI. 

Social media ads are a great and inexpensive way to do this. 

5. How Do I Reach Generation Z Part 1: Content

"In a meeting this morning the topic was how to reach 17-24 year olds that are not enrolled or interested in college. The person leading the meeting showed the brochure they had printed. Probably not the best way to engage that age group, but what is? Any ideas out there? Thanks."

I think this generation is very anti-ad and would rather have content that is going to help them make an informed decision about college or help them break barriers to college.

Here are some ideas you could implement:

Part 1: Content

1. Guide to College Blog Written by Current Students
2. Guide to College Podcast or Video Series
3. Find Key influencers (not celebrities, but real Gen Z students) to help spread your content
4. User-Generated Content from Students
5. Twitch Channel with College Helpful Content - A video blog on Twitch (IRL)

6. How Do I Reach Generation Z Part 2: Ads

I think this generation is very anti-ad and would rather have content that is going to help them make an informed decision about college or help them break barriers to college.

Here are some ideas you could implement: 

ADS or Social Media

1. YouTube Pre-Roll Ads 
2. Twitch Ads 
3. Snap-Chat  
4. Get on Instagram and Tell a Story
5. Instagram Ads 
6. Events 

10 Simple Things You Can Do This Summer to Improve Your District Marketing [2018 Edition]

I have said it once, I will say it again... In school communications, there is no summer break. It is vital you keep spreading the great stories that make your district great. Summer is the time to hustle.

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.

I would love for you to share this article and subscribe to my newsletter. A revamped newsletter is heading your way in the next couple of weeks.

How to Boost Engagement on Instagram with an Easy Hashtag Hack

Is your school district using Instagram? 

Do you want more people to see your Instagram posts?

Using hashtags is easier for people who don’t follow you on Instagram to find your content.

In this article, you’ll learn how to boost engagement on Instagram with an easy hashtag hack.

The Importance of the Hashtag

Hashtags started on Twitter, but have become the lifeblood of any post on Instagam. A proper hashtag can help boost engagement and allow people who do not follow your account to discover your content.

According to Dictionary.com, a hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a hash or pound sign (#) and used to identify messages on a specific topic.
The keyword in their definition is “identify.” A hashtag puts your content into a category. Instagram users search hashtags to discover content pertaining to that category.

For example, our district’s “Teaching in Dallas” instagram account will use popular teacher hashtags to attract educators from across the country to our content.

 
By using these hashtags, our content is categorized so other Instagram users who enjoy teaching and classroom tips can easily find it—even if they don’t yet follow our “Teaching in Dallas” feed.

This is an excellent way for schools or school districts that are new to Instagram, or have small follower numbers, to get exposure to more interested people. The beautiful thing is that Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post.

Instagram Hashtag Hack to Boost Engagement

With hashtags on Instagram being so important, you have to use them to drive engagement. However, you need be creative on how you use them so you do not look like you are spamming Instagram with your posts.

Putting all 30 hashtags into your initial description is so 2016. With this simple hack, you can use hashtags to boost engagement without looking like a hashtag spammer.

The secret is to post your picture and content, and then put your hashtags in the first comment of your post.

By using this technique, your initial Instagram post is not full of annoying hashtags that crowd your post.

Using the comment section allows you to have a break between your caption and your hashtag categories. But simply putting your hashtags in the first comment is not enough. This is where the Hashtag Hack comes in.

Hashtag Hack Step 1: Know Thy Audience

First tip on this hack is to know your audience you are trying to attract with your post. Do you know what type of content they want? Do you know what hashtags they are using or what type of hashtags are they searching for?

HubSpot's Audience Persona Templates

You do not want to put hashtags in your post just to use hashtags. You need to have a good reason. You must know what is going to attract your audience.

Hashtag Hack Step 2: Text Editor

This is the real secret the hack. Do not type your hashtags directly into the comment section. Instead, type your hashtags into a text editor like your notes app on your iPhone. And make sure to use the dot character on your typepad to create line breaks.

By using the “Dot”, you give a break between your post and the comment section, yet still giving you the power of the hashtag. We use FIVE DOTS to give the adequate space between the post and our hashtags.

Hashtag Hack Step 3: Paste into Comment

The next step is to take your hashtags you created in your text editor, and then paste them into the comment section on your Instagram post. Make sure when you copy your note in your text editor that you copy all five dots and all of your hashtags.

 

Posting your collected hashtags into your comment section will help non-followers find your awesome content without making you look like a spammer.

Conclusion

Using hashtag with Instagram is a powerful technique you must be using. Without hashtags, your posts are basically hidden from the outside world.

School districts can take advantage of hashtags as long as you carefully select the right kind that match with your content, and as long as you do not misuse or spam your followers.

Do you have questions about using hashtags in Instagram? Do you have questions about boosting social media engagement? Leave your questions 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.

5 IFTTT Recipes That Can Really Help Your School PR and Marketing

If there was a magic recipe that could help streamline your social media or school PR and marketing would you use it?  What if I said that recipes exists?

I think it is time you visited IFTTT.com.

IFTTT, or If This Then That, is a free web-based service that allows users to create chains of simple conditional statements, called "recipes", which are triggered based on changes to other web services such as Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. (Wikipedia)

In simple terms, it lets you automate small tasks between Internet-connected services.

Here is a list of five recipes I compiled that will get you started on the service and help streamline school PR and marketing tasks:

1. Sync new contacts to a Google Spreadsheet  

Automatically save new iOS Contacts you add on your iPhone to a Google spreadsheet for easy sorting and searching.   Find It Here

2.  Save a copy of new photos you take to Dropbox

Make sure you never loose your precious photos by having them automatically uploaded to a Dropbox folder for safe keeping.  Find It Here

3. Save Your Instagram Photos to Dropbox

Automatically backup all new Instagram posts directly to Dropbox. Keep in mind, it works only for photos you post going forward.  Find It Here

4. Save Every Tweet

Archive your new tweets into a Google Drive for simple and easy tracking.  Find It Here

5. Track mentions of a specific #hashtag in a Google Spreadsheet 

Keep track of what people are saying about your business on Twitter by automatically saving new Tweets with a specific #hashtag to a Google Spreadsheet. Find It Here

These are a few recipes to get you started. Do you have favorite recipes you use with IFTTT? Post them in the comment section below.