Social Media From the Eye of the Storm

On behalf of Oklahoma and OkSPRA members, thank you for all the messages of concern and offers of help. We know many of our NSPRA colleagues have been through similar situations and we appreciate your contributions and advice.

It’s still too early to comprehend all of the outcomes from this week’s outbreak of deadly storms in Oklahoma, but it is a good time to recognize the incredible job that our fellow PR pros are doing under very difficult circumstances. Keep up the good work!

Some tips to keep in mind as we all review our crisis communications plans include:

• Social media can play a huge role in keeping the public informed, but those same channels make it too easy for rumors and misinformation to spread quickly. It’s important for a school district to have established official, branded outlets that can be timely sources of information the public can trust and reference.
• Facebook has a feature named “pin to top” that will ensure your most vital and latest information stays at the top of your district’s page. This will keep your official announcements from getting pushed down in the timeline. After making a post, hover over the top right corner of the post, click on the pencil icon (“edit or remove”), and then click “pin to top”.
• Have the ability to post to your social media channels from somewhere other than your office. Make the connections needed to use your smartphone, tablet or home computer remotely. Then try them out, without the pressure of a crisis looming over you.
• Cell phone traffic quickly overwhelms available networks, and calls can’t get through.  Text messages, though, use a different spectrum and are more likely to work. Consider this as you make plans on how to communicate with staff and patrons when the crisis occurs.
• Have a “fail-over” system in place for your district website. If your school’s site is hosted on-site and the servers are destroyed or disabled by the disaster, a key communication channel has been lost. Talk with your counterparts at nearby districts to make arrangements for “mirrored” sites that can be deployed quickly in the event of an emergency. Although more costly, another solution is to have a mirrored site running through a third-party hosting facility.

Editor’s Note:
Several OKSPRA members, along with school PR pros from Joplin, Mo., are now supporting the Moore Public Schools. Check out the Facebook page they already created for Moore.

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!

The Infographic Explosion

Infographics have become my favorite online obsession. I post appropriate infographics on my Pinterest page, Facebook page, and Twitter. But how to create your own infographics?

There are several options.

• Hire an infographic designer
• Purchase infographic services from dozens of online websites
• Ignore the infographic explosion altogether (but that didn’t work out too well when you dismissed Facebook, did it?)

Here’s what Visual.ly, an infographic design website, recommends if you’re looking to hire an infographic designer:

“…look for someone who understands the ‘info’ part. Infographics are used to display information in a way that’s easy to understand. Many infographic designers focus on fancy design that actually makes the infographic harder to comprehend.”

It’s also wise to examine how you would use your infographic designer. Visual.ly recommends that you create a “design brief,” which most good designers will expect. It should answer these questions:

• What stories are we trying to tell that can be better told using an infographic?
• When will we use an infographic designer most? Strictly during the budget season? For our annual reports?
• Where will we use the infographics once they’re completed? In print? Online? Both?

Because many of you currently use page designers, it might be wise to ask if they’re able to produce infographics. Ask for samples.

But know, too, that many websites also provide infographic design services, providing a way to take smaller steps toward creating infographics, on a project-by-project basis.

Any number of sites offer these services, and some even provide templates so you can design your own infographics.

Visual.ly This popular site, through its Visual.ly Marketplace, can provide you with infographic designers and even data researchers who will pull together customized infographics based on your needs. If you’re considering this option, be sure to check out their offers for “organizations,” including non-profits. Prices for customized infographics on Visual.ly can start at $1,495 and take at least 18 days to produce.

But Visual.ly also has a limited number of infographic templates you can use. You can import your own information into the template, check out how it looks, and then download the infographic as a PDF or JPEG. You can also use an html code to embed your infographic on your website, or simply link to the URL of your masterpiece. Here’s what I did in just five minutes of tinkering — a look at the“Facebook life” of the White Plains, NY, School District. 

Piktochart: This site provides three membership options, including a very limited free option. But trying out the free option (which will include a Piktochart watermark) can give you a general idea about what it’s like to create an infographic. Their professional option, at $29 a month,  provides you with 100 themes, some customization options, and more than 1,000 graphics and images.

Easel.ly This site provides 15 themes that you can customize with your own information. The site is currently in beta, which means that it can only offer you so much in terms of customization. But if you’re just getting your feet wet, Easel.ly might be a good option.

Don’t forget that you might occasionally want to use a great infographic, created by someone else but available for free use, because it contains fascinating and pertinent information about public education. I post these often on my school district websites, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, and especially on Pinterest. As a curator of useful information, consider this (yet another) part of your job.

Related articles

• 5 Free Tools For Creating Infographics (fliptop.com)
• 10 Tools for Creating Infographics and Visualizations (seomoz.org)
• Infographic Data Visualization with Visual.ly (teksocial.com)

Group text thread keeps a scattered team connected

My last blog post demonstrated how easily group texts can lead to miscommunication. But recently, I found some very effective ways to use them.

Recently I helped chaperone my son’s Model U.N. club on its trip to the state conference. Two adults were attempting to keep track of 14 teens scattered all over a bustling university campus at an event with 1,400 attendees. How could we find each other?

I typed each student and chaperone’s cell number into a group text and started a thread. “Please check in on the steps of the student union at noon. — Leslie”

Each person could hit “reply all,” and message the whole group, continuing the thread:
“Our committee is running late. Be there in 10 minutes. – Andrew.”
“Which room is the General Assembly in? — Carina”
“The GA is in Room C-12. – Zane.”
“Proposing a resolution to ban weapons of mass destruction. Need a speaker from the national defense committee to present in support. – Zane”
“I’m on it. Be there soon. – Joey.”
“Don’t forget to bring your pass for tonight’s social. — Josh”

Wow—that was handy! That got me thinking about how this would be useful at work. How about crisis response?

When an incident occurs, usually the team is scattered across the school district, with some at meetings in various schools, some traveling immediately to the incident site, and some remaining at the office. A group text thread set up in advance can be a way to quickly notify everyone simultaneously in a way they will likely pay attention to, and to keep the whole team in the loop as information emerges.

Be sure to run a test to ensure all your numbers work before disaster strikes. At the start of an incident, remind the group to sign each post to clarify who is saying what.

For example:
“Channel 2 is asking about a rumored bomb threat at the high school. What’s happening? – Leslie”
“Calling the principal, and heading there now. – Cindy.”
“Students reported something a student said. Calling a fire drill as a precaution. – Kim”
“Police just arrived. Calling neighboring schools with a heads up. – Kathleen”
“Instigator identified and questioned. Police say threat is not credible. – Cindy”
“Students returning to class. – Kim”
“Working on a letter to parents. Translations needed? – Leslie”
“Spanish & Russian, please. – Kathleen”
“Translation team standing by. – Alex”
“I will brief the Board. – Denice”

No doubt this strategy will also prove useful on our summer vacation. Disneyland, anyone?

Social Media Sessions at NSPRA Seminar Will Take You to the Next Level

I admit it — I’m a nerd. I’m excitedly planning my trip to the 2013 NSPRA Seminar in San Diego and I’ve already printed out the NSPRA Seminar at a Glance document from the NSPRA website and started highlighting the sessions I want to attend.

Even if you’re not as big a nerd as I am, you can benefit from my geekiness. I’ve pulled out all the social media sessions for your consideration. It seems like this year, NSPRA is taking social media past the basics and up to the next level.

Saturday, July 6:

• Pre-seminar workshop: “Rise of the Mobile App: Mobile App Strategy in School Communications” — Cody Cunningham and Terry Morawski

Monday, July 8:

• “Beyond Twitter Basics: Developing an Effective Strategy for Twitter Success” ― Erika Daggett
  
• “Policy Recommendations to Guide Social Media Interactions for Public Educators” ― Stephanie Smith, Ed.D. and Virginia Conover, Ed.D.
• “Social Media for Schools: Diving Beyond ‘Should We?’ Discussions” ― Dustin Senger

Tuesday, July 9:

• “Dynamic, Digital, Mobile School Communication: There’s an App for That!” ― Mary Todoric and Mick Torres
• “Surviving Social Media Scorn: What To Do When Negative News Goes Viral” ― Laurel Heiden and David Richardson

Wednesday, July 10:

• “Facebook Forward – Expanding to Your Schools” ― Lauri Pyatt and Elaine Watkins-Miller
  

Speed at What Price?

One of the most often cited reasons for using social medial channels to share a district’s news is the speed with which messages can be sent. Whether it’s Facebook or Twitter, the near-instantaneous distribution of information from a district central office to students, patrons and the community is a huge advancement for school PR professionals.

One drawback to using these channels, though, is the temptation to skip some of the steps that are part of the process, namely, proofreading and editing. It’s so easy to knock out those 140 characters and hit “send.” It’s so hard to reel them back in when we realize that there is an error that has just been delivered to 10,000 of your best supporters.

Whether because of auto-correct or fat-thumb complex, mistakes and errors are bound to make their way into your messages, especially if you’re working from a mobile device.  The phenomenon is so prevalent that it’s a feature on The Ellen Degeneres Show and has a website dedicated to it.

The message here is to pause a moment, review your text, and then hit “send,” confident in the knowledge that your message will be what people are talking about, not your mistakes.

Getting the troops on board: Social media monitoring

Social media, specifically Twitter, can be a great information tool during a crisis, in more ways than one. You can keep up with developments, get information out quickly and stay in touch throughout a situation. However, with all that is going on in any given crisis, monitoring the air waves may not be top of mind. That is when having assistance – and not necessarily an assistant – comes in handy.

Recently, the Hutto Police Department was dealing with a situation where a homeowner had barricaded himself in his home. Police had blocked a major thoroughfare in our town, so everyone knew something was amiss. Because we collaborate well with the PD, we were aware and watching for a resolution. None of our campuses were in danger, but it’s always best to be safe. As a precaution, administration had campuses limit activity to indoor only and notified parents that some bus routes may be affected by road closures. Mindful that social media would be buzzing, but tasked with writing, calling and texting parents, I wasn’t at a point to monitor my social media feeds. That is, until a parent emailed me a screen shot of a tweet.

The tweet, sent by a user I’d never seen, mentioned “may be my last tweets” “lockdown” and “serious.” The parent even ran down the previous tweets and let me know this person was subbing in our district that day. The police situation was resolved shortly after I received the email, all was well and our students went home safe. But the tweet bothered me enough to look up the user, check the times and figure out the situation. From it all, I learned some critical lessons:

1. Build your troops. Without the email from this parent, I wouldn’t have caught this tweet. I have built close relationships with many parents (in person and on social media), so it was quickly brought to my attention. Make sure parents know how to inform you and that they feel comfortable doing so. Be sure you have developed the relationships that will allow them to assist you.
2. Make sure your staff is on board. If your staff sees anything on social media, they should inform you as well. A quick email with a link, screen shot or details can help you get a hold of a potential social media disaster. Your staff can be built in assistants.
3. Get out the necessary info. In a crisis, if you aren’t informing your staff members of what is going on, they are going to make assumptions and they may post their assumptions on social media. And don’t forget front office staff, subs and coaches. Give them relevant details they need to know and what they should tell parents who call, tweet and post. Let them assist you.
4. Discuss the best information to share. It is never too early to have a conversation with your staff about the importance of what they tweet, post or share during a situation. Their safety, students’ safety or the sanity of a parent may depend on it. Remind them that vague and misleading information only serves to scare parents and make the situation that much more difficult to handle. Instruct them not to send cryptic tweets like this sub did, because the district has a protocol for when and how to notify parents and you will follow it.
5. After action, after action, after action. As in any situation, be sure you follow up after the event to monitor residual effects that might have arisen. Consider it an after-action debrief.

Work Smarter, Not Harder…Repurpose Content

Working in education, we have all heard the phrase “work smarter, not harder.” It’s easy to talk about, but not always easy to implement. If your district is like ours, your communications department is small and there is usually more work than time, so working smarter is key.

While in college, I learned about the marketing rule of seven: individuals have to see your message at least seven times before they will remember it. I don’t think it is the number that really matters; it is more about the meaning. Individuals need to see your message multiple times in multiple formats to remember it.

In order accomplish this; our district makes a point to repurpose content. Our philosophy is simple: when we write something to put out to our audiences, it has to be used in a least five different places. By doing this, we are saving time and we are reaching our audiences via multiple communication channels.

For example, we might write a short new release about an upcoming play at one of our high schools. We distribute it to the media, we then include the same information on our district website announcements, in the parent e-newsletter, in school e-newsletters, in the staff e-newsletter, on our mobile app, on Facebook, on Twitter and in our monthly youth activities publication. By writing one story and repurposing it, we reach our audiences via 10 communication channels.

Here are some tips on repurposing content:

• Write content so it can be used in multiple formats, exactly as it is or changed only slightly.
• Write content so it is a quick, easy read. Readers want quick, short blurbs they can scan on their mobile devices, not long, complicated reads.
• Stagger the timing of your messages. Sending the same message out via five different communication channels at the same exact time probably isn’t as effective as sending it out in five different ways at staggered times.

Using YouTube to Promote Safety and Security in Schools

Like many districts across the nation, school safety and security has been the topic of conversation in our community for the past couple of months.

We’ve sent letters to families, posted information on our website and provided talking points to all of our administrators, building leaders and key communicators about school safety. But we struggled with how to really show our community everything we have in place to keep their children safe. That is where YouTube and social media entered the picture.

Our department produced the video below in January of 2013, and then we posted it on YouTube in early February. We also shared the video on Facebook, Twitter, on our website and in our e-newsletter. Although we don’t have a staggering number of views so far, we really see this as something we can share with our community again if other school-related safety events happen in the future.

The response from our community has been overwhelmingly positive.

We also showed this video to law enforcement officials from the seven different police departments in our district. The feedback from police officers was positive as well, with them thanking us for helping keep them on the same page in terms of the safety measures our schools have in place.

We have used Facebook and Twitter for many years, but our department is just starting to produce videos and use YouTube as part of our social media toolbox. Right now, our YouTube channel is a work in progress. We’re working to improve it every day and continue to find new ways to connect with our staff, families and community.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I hope you find this video helpful as well as somewhat entertaining. But if possible, please take it easy on the quality of the voiceover guy…

Marco Rubio Could Be You

Let the Marco Rubio-sipping-a-Poland-Spring moment on national television be a lesson to us all.

No matter what your politics are, it was a surprising moment when the U.S. Senator from Florida first glanced at his water bottle during his Republican response to the State of the Union Address the other night, then bent down on national television to grab the bottle and take a sip, mid-sentence.

Less than a decade ago, we would have seen it and then — poof — it would have been gone.

But today, embarrassing, awkward and even worse moments become sensations. They are repeated, remixed and retweeted, then discussed and dissected by, well, the universe. Just moments after Rubio reached for the water bottle, Twitter exploded with tweets about the awkward moment, the words “watergate” and “Poland Spring” immediately trending. Among my favorite tweets, by the way, was “Zero Dark Thirsty.”

And Twitter was just the beginning. Dozens of Rubio parody videos have been uploaded to YouTube, friends and family members are discussing the incident on Facebook, and the senator’s own political action committee, Reclaim America, is now offering a Marco Rubio water bottle to supporters for $25. It helps to poke fun at yourself.

Along the way, of course, the senator picked up 13,000 new followers on Twitter.

But the Rubio moment and its subsequent virality should be a wakeup call to those of us in the public relations business. Our videotaped school events and Board of Education meetings, superintendents’ speeches, Facebook posts, tweets and transparency are all good things.

But we need to remind ourselves and those who work in our districts that those moments are now etched in time, permanent examples of how we behave and what we say, photograph and write.

The Rubio incident is also a chance for us to remind those we work for how important it is to prepare well for public appearances, press conferences, speeches and presentations. That includes hydrating.

The world is watching. No one wants to end up on David Letterman’s Top Ten List.