Social media best practices for school districts. Presented by Andy Mann and Kristin Tank to area school district superintendents on April 22, 2013 at Muskegon Area Intermediate School District, Muskegon, Michigan USA.

1. Why Social Media
Matters to Schools
Best Practices for District Leaders
Andy Mann, Kristin Tank, and Pam Jackson
Muskegon Area Intermediate School District

2. • Why it’s important
• Best practices/tips
• Getting started
• Monitoring
We’ll talk about

3. • 1 of every 7 minutes users are online is on Facebook
• 23 percent of Facebook’s users check
their account 5 or more times daily
• 56% of Facebook users are women
• Average age of a Facebook user is 22
• Facebook has 600 million mobile users
• 340 million tweets are sent each day
Social Media Statistics
http://www.jeffbullas.com and http://www.dazeinfo.com/2013

4. Social Media is the
#1 Activity on the
Internet!

5. Only 14% of consumers trust
advertisements…
e.g. what you say about your school
78% of consumers trust
peer recommendations!
Word of Mouth matters
What are moms saying about your district?
WORD OF MOUTH MATTERS…

6. SOCIAL MEDIA CAN HELP YOU
• Communicate about
student/staff success in a
two-way manner
• Attract and retain students
• Create school fans
beyond Band Boosters
• Reduce gossip with the facts
• Be where your community
hangs out – on Facebook

7. KRESA EXAMPLE - TWITTER

8. Do you want someone else to create it?
Who’s your favorite teacher so far this year?The district’s official Facebook page

9. Do you want someone else to create it?
www.facebook.com/reeths.pufferstudents www.facebook.com/reeths-puffer
…these are Facebook users not FB pages

10. BEST PRACTICES – FB/TWITTER
Commit Staff
• 5 – 10 minutes per day
• 3 – 5 posts a week
• Social monitoring
• Someone who “gets it”
– Tech Department
– Administrative Assistant

11. BUILT-IN NOTIFICATIONS
• Twitter sends emails announcing
new Followers
• Facebook sends email when
Comments are posted on your site
• Facebook sends Weekly Update
on page activity

12. BEST PRACTICES – MONITOR
Follow What is Being Said
• Minnetonka Schools
– Online buzz: Admin.
resignation related to
student conduct
– Truth: It had nothing to do
with student conduct
– “Technology made it
easier for district to listen”
Janet Swiecichowski, Minnetonka Schools, Exec. Dir. for Comm. in It Goes Both Ways, T.H.E. Journal, April 2010.

13. Monitor
• Leave FB/Twitter Open
• Monitor names
• Use free tools
– SocialMention
– Google Alerts
– Monitter
– Twilert
BEST PRACTICES – MONITOR
Muskegon Public Schools

14. USE FACEBOOK INSIGHTS
Monitor
• Activity
• Fans
– Age
– Gender
– What
they are
doing
Ridgefield Schools - Facebook Insights

15. • Stop rumors
• Communication
• Build Connections
• 2 way communications
with community
• How will you measure
success?
– Number of fans?
– Bond issue passing?
DEFINE GOALS FOR USING…

16. BEST PRACTICES – FB/TWITTER
Get users liking your page
• Link from school website
• Ask staff to sign up
• Link in email footer
• Post on newsletters
• Get a custom URL (25 likes)
• Most Important
Provide something of value
Users want to like a site
others have liked
Develop a critical mass

17. BEST PRACTICES – FB/TWITTER
Driver Users to District Page
• Links to district webpage for
more information
Especially with Twitter
Post 3 – 5 Times a Week
• Commitment to post on a
regular basis
• Share a useful website
• Retweet a tip or link

18. BEST PRACTICES - FACEBOOK
Negative Comments
• Clearly state standards
• Encourage two-way
communications
• Decide what is displayed
• Plan a reply strategy
• Sometimes - simply ignore
or let others reply

19. LEARN FROM OTHERS - FACEBOOK

20. LEARN FROM OTHERS - TWITTER
Look at
what is
posted

21. LEARN FROM OTHERS - TWITTER
Drive traffic back to
district website

22. LEARN FROM OTHERS - TWITTER
Link to other sites
with related info

23. LEARN FROM OTHERS - TWITTER
Share FACTS
before
students text
rumors

24. LEARN FROM OTHERS – FB/TWITTER
http://socialmediaforschools.wikispaces.com

25. www.facebook.com/Fruitportschools https://twitter.com/fruitportschls

26. www.facebook.com/HoltonSchools

27. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Montague-Area-Public-Schools/206451396103931?fref=ts&filter=1

28. www.facebook.com/mpsk12 https://twitter.com/muskegonschools

29. www.facebook.com/orchardview.org

30. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mona-Shores-Public-Schools/405575949512845

31. www.facebook.com/oakridgeps

32. www.facebook.com/whitehalldistrictschools.net

33. https://twitter.com/muskegontech
www.facebook.com/muskegoncareertech

34. www.facebook.com/muskegonisd https://twitter.com/maisd

35. LINK FROM YOUR DISTRICT PAGE
Effective
Not
Effective

36. NEXT STEPS
• Explore what others are doing and sharing
• Define district goals for using social media
• ID a manager for your social media presence
– Commit: Post something of value on a regular basis
– Learn: “Creating a Classroom or District Facebook
Page” – MAISD; June 21, 8:30 AM - noon
– Share: MAISD District Social Media Support Group
MAISD; Monday, August 12, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
– Get Started… before someone else does it for you

37. Questions and
Sharing
What are you doing in your district?
How can we help?