School Social Media – Why?

Social media is a fast-growing trend that can lead an organisation towards reaching their business goals. In recent years, schools have been building their online presence by joining various popular social platforms. This is something that is easy to do, cost-free and can have a large impact on the success of a school. This blog will tell you why social media might be a good route for your school to take and how to navigate it according to your goals.

The Positives:

• Social media provides great exposure for your school on a local and sometimes even global scale.
• It allows parents and pupils to keep up-to-date with latest news and events from the school’s posts
• It opens up a new and easy way for parents to get in contact with the school. If monitored regularly the school can provide a quick response.
• You can showcase your school’s best features and pupil projects.
• Encourages you to connect with other schools and organisations in the area.
• Can help to gain more applicants for your school each academic year.

Things to Consider:

• There is a possibility for the wrong kind of exposure if the social media account is not monitored or managed responsibly:
  • It is important to avoid offending any communities and follow social media guidelines. This is so that it doesn’t reflect negatively on the values of your school.
• As a school you must remember to comply with GDPR and Safeguarding regulations when it comes to any photos and/or names of pupils. Consent must always be given from a parent or guardian if you choose to post content with them in it.
• Account Impersonation is a risk for any account on social media but especially for schools and businesses because there can be content posted that may damage your reputation (we will discuss how to deal with this effectively in a future blog).
• Although you can control who comments and responds to social media posts, it’s important to prepare for all kinds of comments (positive and negative) from students and parents. This is why regular monitoring is a must!

If you’re interested in learning more, are thinking about starting a school social media account or just want some feedback/advice on your existing profiles, then please contact our digital marketing team.