The Surprising Benefits of Purchasing a Facebook Ad

In November 2012, our department conducted Ritenour School District’s annual community survey.

We conduct a community survey on a semi-annual basis. During the years when we don’t conduct a survey, we use other data collection initiatives, like focus groups or community forums. Because the cost is dramatically lower, we decided to use an online survey last fall as opposed to the traditional telephone survey.

Our department developed a strategic communications plan that used our website, rapid telephone system, email and postcards backpacked home with students to promote the survey to our community.  We also asked staff members, friends and business partners to share the information with their Facebook friends as well.

Our entire budget this year was $40 for promotion of the survey. We poured it all into Facebook ads. We took advantage of Facebook’s targeting advertising feature that allows the user to select a specific group of people based on many categories. In this case, we chose individuals who were not associated with the Ritenour School District, but lived within specific zip codes within our area.

The ads ran for a seven-day period while the survey was open. Our goal was to get more of our community members who do not have children in school to participate in the survey.

According to the statistics downloaded from Facebook, the results were outstanding. We were amazed by the number of people who viewed our post:

• Our weekly total reach was 7,563. Normally it is 2,500 – 3,000.
• We received a total of 100 new likes on our page in one week. The only other time we see a spike like that is following a snow day.
• Most importantly, we received nearly 1,000 responses for our survey – including more than 400 non-parent community members we targeted through the ad.

By no means am I an advocate for purchasing or “boosting” your regular posts on Facebook. I notice on a regular basis (and it makes me sad) that our posts are only reaching a few hundred people because Facebook wants you pay to promote your posts.

But in this case, purchasing an ad was very beneficial, which is why I am so excited to share this information. If you are looking to drive traffic to a certain page or conduct an online survey, this might be the right tool for you.

Happy posting!

Easy Ways to Increase Engagement on Your Social Media Channels

For many brands, the ultimate goal is steadily increasing the number of followers on a given social media channel. Brands want to have high numbers because it somehow makes us feel “better” than the other guys. However, I constantly find myself telling others it isn’t the quantity; it’s the quality. It is more important to have quality engagement with your followers than merely knowing that you are reaching a high number of users.

Reaching and engaging your audience(s) can be one of the hardest things for school districts to do on social media. “Likes” and retweets are rarely in short supply, but when it comes to two-way communication, it just doesn’t happen – at least for our district.

I have spent countless hours trying to figure out what we were doing wrong. Are we not posting the right information? Do parents and community members not care? I’ve come to the conclusion that in today’s on-the-go society, people have to really genuinely care about what a brand is talking about to engage. Even then, there has to be a driving force as to why they engage.

Here are some tips on increasing engagement in your district:

• Research. Know your audience and what it is looking for. In our district we conduct an annual communication audit of staff and parents. We want to make sure that we are not only reaching our audience, but that we are giving people the information they want and need. We specifically ask what they are looking for on social media, among other communication channels. The results of these surveys drive our communication.
• Photos. There is no bigger engagement than photos. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and neighbors love to see what children they know are doing during the school day, as well as see them participating in extra-curricular activities. We also post photos from PTO events like family nights and staff events like back to school kick-off. People love to see themselves or their children in these photos. They are constantly commenting on these photos and sharing with their family and friends.
• Find light-hearted ways to engage your audience. We do a weekly “Where Are We Wednesday” segment. I’d like to say this is our original idea, but it was a NSPRA conference idea. We post a photo on Wednesday of something in our district and ask followers to tell us where we are. The following Wednesday we follow the photo up and tell them where we were. We tie the Wednesday photo back to an upcoming event or an important topic in our district. I’ve learned over the years that people love competition. Even though this is a small competition with no prize, people still love to know they have the right answer. Plus, this is a great way to start conversations about important topics.
• Contests. Selfishly, we routinely host contests on our social media channels to drive up our numbers. We offer a prize (tickets to a play, gift card to high school book store, etc) to one current fan who shares the page with a friend and to one of the next 50 new “likes” to the page. Yes, the ultimate goal is to drive numbers up, but we also know that hosting these contests kick-starts conversations about the district. Other school districts have also seen great success with art contests, essay contests and “tell us about your favorite teacher” contests.
• Educational posts. Throughout the year, we encourage schools to post curriculum updates on their social media pages. However, non-school days are some of the least active days on district social media. To help drive traffic on these days, we post educational activities. The posts are activities parents can do with their kids to engage learning in a fun way. Examples include practicing math by playing card games, or having a scavenger hunt with the newspaper. Many parents comment with additional ideas for other parents to use.
• Timing. Timing really is everything in social media. Posting a great story at 11 p.m. is not going to get the same traffic that something at 5 p.m. will get. Research has shown that most people look at social media first thing in the morning (as they are getting ready and before work), over the lunch hour, and between 5 and 7 p.m., when people are getting off work. If possible, post during these times. Some social media channels now have tools where you can schedule posts. Take advantage of these tools.
• Analytics. Look at the analytics from your social media channels. These are great tools to tell you what is working and what isn’t working for your district.

Why content matters on your social channels

According to Seth Godin, “Content marketing is the only marketing that’s left.” Why? Well, times have changed and audiences are fragmented. That means that for schools it is less important to send out traditional press releases, rely on the news media to report stories on the district, pay for expensive advertising, and on and on.

Here are some facts about the way your audiences are consuming information:

• According to eMarketer.com, mobile and internet consumption continues to rise among consumers, while traditional media usage continues to fall, especially with print media.
• According to eMarketer.com, the top two reasons social users follow brands on social media is because they want to keep up with the latest content and share that content with family and friends.

Content matters, then, because people want to see relevant, interesting, local and specific information directly from your district. In effect, you are now your own publisher of content. The model should look like this: owned media (original content you create as the most important), earned media (local news media coverage), paid media (advertising). By owning your media, you become a good storyteller rather than a good story (and by “good,” I mean sensationalized or controversial most of the time in the media). Also, your content never expires the way paid advertising does.

Since owning your own media is so important, and creating original, engaging content matters, here are some thoughts to keep in mind as you begin to shape your own stories:

• Your content strategy is just as important as the content you create or curate. What are your goals? What are your platforms? How will you distribute original content? How will people know about it? Part of the process is planning ahead and re-educating your constituents about how the district is going to be communicating.
• To own your own media and to make a content strategy effective, you must communicate internally and train administrators and staff. Try to invest in mini-campaigns on Facebook (feature a different school or program in your district weekly or monthly on your page) and use the power of hashtags on Twitter to aggregate conversations. Also, involve the voices of your students and your staff in your content.
• Always be in a storytelling mindset. Showcase your school’s culture. Introduce your school’s characters. Educate your community. Keep your audience’s attention.

Research Demonstrates that Online Photos and Videos are Social Currency

Do you post photos you’ve taken on Instagram? Videos you’ve created on YouTube? Then you are a creator.

Do you use Pinterest or Facebook to find and repost photos and videos someone else created? Then you are a curator.

These are terms for online activities coined by researchers Lee Rainie, Joanna Brenner and Kristen Purcell in their study for the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Their research, Photos and Videos as Social Currency Online, shows that 46 percent of adults on the internet are creators, posting their own photos and videos online. And 41 percent are curators, using sites like Pinterest to share other people’s photos and videos.

“Overall, 56 percent of internet users do at least one of these creating or curating activities, and 32 percent of internet users do both creating and curating activities,” they said.

It’s when this study starts breaking down the demographics that it really becomes useful to school PR professionals:

• Almost a fifth of women online (19 percent) use Pinterest to curate photos, videos and links to other online content. Maybe it’s time to use some of Shane Haggerty’s ideas from his “Five Ways Your School District Can Use Pinterest” post to reach your district’s moms.
• Instagram users are mostly young adults, with 27 percent of all internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 using the mobile photo sharing service. If you have a lot of young parents, perhaps you could start an account and a hashtag for your school district. If you don’t, Instagram might not be worth your time.