Show Don’t Tell Using Social Media to effectively and efficiently enhance enrollment.

getting someone who has a need to know, like, and trust you.

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Most everyone knows what the Mission Statement is for their school… But do you know how you accomplish your Mission Statement… Or why your school exists, or better yet, why your school isn’t just another private school?

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_

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then you must figure out what your customer looks like, acts likes, and why they like you!

What does your customer look like? Demographics Behavior

• Age • Job • Education • Housing • Location • Number of Children • Religion • Housing

• SmartPhone • Text Savvy • Computer Savvy • Wants information fast, now • Cook at Home/Out to Dinner • Challenges • Goals: what do they want to

gain from us? • Where do they get their

information? • Who do they trust?

Your customers don’t buy what you do, but they buy into why you do it.

Show don’t tell.

Five Categories of Social Media Using Social Media to effectively and efficiently enhance enrollment.

What Consumers use Social Media for…

• People connect online with friends because people love to connect to people.

• More than half of social network users are connected to brands.

• Positive experiences are bigger conversation starters than negative experiences.

• People become a fan on Facebook because they like the product, not because of advertising. - 36 percent post content about a brand on social networks - 38 percent of internet users have a Smartphone

Blogging: Build loyalty Examples

Best suited if…

• Blogger • Typepad • Wordpress

• You want to establish yourself or your company as an industry expert and encourage a conversation with your target market

Strengths

Weaknesses

• Simple to start • Convenient way of providing

resources to your target audience

• Requires solid time commitment

• Requires regular production of unique, useful information

Westminster School and Cardigan Mountain School Word Press blog Able to archive stories by month Easy to find recent posts Types of Entries • Article/Videos of Hockey game • Thanksgiving Memories Article/Video • Talent Show Article/Video • Photo Album of Football Season

Number of Admins – 1 (A parent)

Microblogging: Build loyalty and drive traffic to website Examples

Best suited if…

• Twitter

• You want an immediate way to interact with your customer base

Strengths

Weaknesses

• Quick and easy to post updates • Grow exposure to a large

group • Good way of finding news

• Requires a smaller time commitment to post regular updates

• Not built for sharing in-depth information

Whitefield Academy Twitter Facts FanPage – Began October 27, 2009 Number of Fans – 114 (as of January 4) Types of Entries • School Announcements • Sporting Events/Game Score • Classroom Events • A Walk Around Campus • School-wide News (School Closings) • Academic/Athletic Accolades

Number of Admins – 1 staff members Number of hours per week – 30 minutes

Social Networking: Engage and Interact

Examples

Best suited if…

• Facebook • MySpace

• You want to build a fan base where current and potential customers can interact in one location

Strengths

Weaknesses

• Lets users interact with each other

• Increases brand recognition

• Target audience is there to socialize, not to do business

• Needs to be active regularly- must be engaging

In June 2011, there were over 710 million subscribers worldwide, indicating one in every 10 persons has a Facebook Account. In North America, 48.4 percent of the population was on Facebook. Also if Facebook was a country it would be the 3rd largest.

- Internet World Stats

Whitefield Academy Facebook Facts FanPage – Began October 15, 2009 Number of Fans – 436 (as of January 9) Types of Entries • Alumni Announcements • Construction Progress Blurbs • School events • Sporting Events/Game Score • Photo galleries • School-wide News (School Closings) • Academic/Athletic Accolades Number of Admins – 3 staff members Number of hours per week – 1-2 hour

Whitefield Academy Alum Facebook Facts FanPage Number of Fans – 165 (as of January 9) Types of Entries • Alumni News Announcements •Alumni Event Information • Alumni Survey request • Photo galleries

Number of Admins – 1 staff member Number of hours per week – 30 minutes

Multimedia: Engage and Educate

Examples

Best suited if…

• YouTube • Slideshare • Flckr

• Sharing rich media such as video, images, and presentations online

Strengths

Weaknesses

• More engaging and visually pleasing

• More likely to be shared • Create a stronger call to action

• Labor intensive • Requires technical knowledge

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YouTube? YouTube is the perfect way to show potential customers the ends and out of your school without being told what to think. Remember pictures speak louder than words….. And a laugh is worth two photos!

Whitefield Academy You Tube Facts Types of Entries Submitted by School • School Events • Athletic Games • Alumni Stories • Professional Admission Videos Types of Entries Submitted by Students/Parents • School Events • Athletic Games • Alumni in News • Classroom Activities • Blue Crew Snippets • Field Trip Videos • Art Films • Everyday Videos

Multifaceted Sites: Group Relationships

Examples

Best suited if…

• LinkedIn

• You need to be more serious but want to become a savvy marketer

Strengths

Weaknesses

• Networking abilities • Adds more interactivity • A sticky site.

• Labor intensive • Requires some technical

knowledge

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Really? My LinkedIn account? Remember customers value what their peers are saying about your school. Don’t just get connected with colleagues, get connected with your parents, neighbors, church members, etc. You can add events your school’s events, links to your school’s web site and/or blogs, join professional and other various groups, and get involved in discussions. The sky is the limit with over 90,000 group pages

Mobile Media: Involved Consumers

Examples

Best suited if…

• QR Codes

• Get interactive while consumers are on the go

Strengths

Weaknesses

• QR Code Apps are free • Adds more interactivity

• Requires technical knowledge on the consumers end

• Consumer must have applications on their mobile devices

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QR Codes QR Codes get your customers who have Smartphones actively involved in your messaging… Use them in ads, on your website, business cards, brochures, and on posters around your school. To make QR Codes, try: www.qrstuff.com To read QR Codes , try the app: QuickMark app

Where do I start? There are multiple mediums I can use; so where do I spend my time?

Which sites are essential? Facebook LinkedIn • You can have an unlimited number of

Facebook pages and fans. • Facebook Pages are public • All content posted on your Facebook

page gets indexed on Google. • You can target your posts by location

and language. • You can add video, rich text, graphic

and graphics • You can add multiple admins • All admins have equal rights to

administer your page • The majority of users are in the 18-44

range, comprised of 48 percent women

• Allows networking with your colleagues, parents, and other professionals.

• Circle of posts about your school double-fold as more join your network circle, as well as the network circles of your friends.

• Don’t forget that people desire to have what their peers have

Which sites are essential? YouTube Twitter

• Visual search engine • Catches the eyes more quickly • Younger generation is more

readily influenced by what they see

• It’s a Show, Don’t Tell site • People can see what your

students, parents, and employees are doing first hand

• Off the cuff videos, allow for humor

• For the busy parents and professionals

• All about getting information fast

• Following businesses and brands that meet their social needs or that they like

• Falls behind Facebook and YouTube as a Social Media network

Implement one site at a time so you don’t get overwhelmed.

A Week at a Glance Monday

• Morning: Send out Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn update

• Lunch: Post a previously written blog update

• Afternoon: Check Facebook friends list and respond to comments. Check Twitter for retweets and messages. Post a new update.

Tuesday

• Morning: Send out Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn update

• Afternoon: Check Facebook Inbox on all sites.

A Week at a Glance Wednesday

• Morning: Send out Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn status update. Check all Inboxes. Add a comment to a Linked Discussion group

• Afternoon: Check Facebook friends list and respond to comments. Check Twitter for retweets and messages. Post a new update.

Thursday

• Morning: Send out Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn status update. Send out a link to a previous written article.

• Afternoon: Check Facebook friends list and respond to comments. Get out the flipcam and record a 30-second video.

A Week at a Glance Friday

• Morning: Check all Inboxes. Upload 30-second video to YouTube

• Afternoon: Check Facebook friends list and respond to comments. Check Twitter for retweets and messages and respond to comments

The Weekend

• Saturday: Post a status update on Facebook and Twitter

• Sunday: Add events to your LinkedIn Calendar and look for more Networking Contacts

Keep a timer by your desk so that you don’t get drawn in.

Two programs to save you time and energy…. • Buffer allows you to select times throughout

the day to send your tweets as well as the ability to send your key messages out to all of your Social Media platforms. There are three pricing plans – free, $5/month and $30/month, with the premium plans offering more accounts, users, tweets and times. Plus you get some basic analytics which will show you the number of click, reach, and retweets.

Another Program….

• With HootSuite, you can select times throughout the day to send your tweets and key messages to Facebook, RSS feeds, Twitter, LinkedIn. There are three pricing plans – free, $5/month and $49.99/month, with the premium plans offering more accounts, users, tweets, and times. As with Buffer, you get some basic analytics.

How do I make this Social Media thing work? 10 Rules of Thumb…

Call your fan or follower by their first name when commenting. When doing so in your comment use the @ sign: “@Stacy, @Linda, @John great tip.”

Use the words you or your. Use these words often – “What are your thoughts?” “What do you think about xyz?”

For status updates, try ending with a question. For instance, on the first day of school write a story about one of the new students, then when you post the link, add a question about “How was your first day on campus?”

It doesn’t hurt to surprise your followers from time to time. Add an inspirational quote and even share your own thoughts, everything doesn’t have to be directly related to the school day or the admission process.

Thank your fans for their comments. Genuine recognition goes a “long” way!

Keep it short and sweet. Use the News/Press Room on your website or the Notes and Discussion areas of Facebook for longer updates.

Respond promptly when comments surface that need to be addressed or if a fan has a question about a score on last night’s basketball game.

Comment yourself. Remember you are bringing transparency to your institution by adding Social Media to your marketing plan. But beware….don’t comment too soon.

Don’t sweat the small stuff. Creating an open forum does allow for negative comments, but respond promptly and diffuse the issue if at all possible (as a last resort the delete comment works). The way you handle a negative comment will speak volumes to prospective parents and students.

Include the Facebook and Twitter badges on your HTML newsletters, as well as your website news articles.

Questions? Stacy Rutter Director of Marketing and Communications

Phone: 678-305-1444 srutter@whitefield academy.com