-by Dr. Tim Grivois, Executive Director
Here is how you can build school community on social media. We don’t post about this part of our services often, but especially now, school leaders must consider how we want to build relationships with current and prospective families. Social media can be a great support for building community on social media.
Many schools have social media accounts, and most of us know how they work. The problem is how to create content without taking away from everything else we need to do to make the school run.
When we work with schools on content creation, this is what we recommend:
1. Don’t write scripts.
Don’t write scripts. Instead write hooks. Hooks are the first little piece of what you want to say, and it’s much easier to remember a short hook than a whole script. Plus, you’re more likely to sound like you normally sound in real life. (If you work with us, we do this for you.)
2. Keep it short.
Keep it short. Most people watch the first few seconds of a video to decide if they want to read the information in the caption. “Check the caption for how to call in an absence,” is much more effective than 90 seconds explaining a procedure.
3. Do a bunch at once.
Do a bunch at once. Instead of trying to make time every day to create a video or take photos, carve out an hour to do as many as you can. When we work with schools, we can usually get 10-15 videos done in less than an hour, not including editing.
Finally, it’s more important to be yourself and have fun with the process than it is to have perfect lighting and professional editing. Your school community appreciates authenticity far more than they’ll ever care about production value. Just get some videos and share your story!