Beyond the Basics: Putting Social Media to Work for School PR - presented at the Arizona School Public Relations Association Summer Conference on June 21, 2011.

1. Beyond the Basics:
Putting Social Media to Work for School PR
Arizona School Public Relations Association
2011 Summer Conference

2. http://www.flickr.com/photos/classblog/5136926303/

3. If Social Media is simply
people having online
conversations...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/herculie/2370039001/

4. ...then public school
districts should be
conversing via Social Media.

5. Consider this...
● Social media accounts for ~ 25% of all time spent
online over 35 minutes per hour – Nielsen
● In the US, there are 149M active Facebook users,
70% log in once a day – Ogilvy & BuddyMedia
● Social Networking accounts for 1 of every 6 minutes
spent online – comScore
● 17% of US online consumers have created a Twitter
account – ExactTarget
● 78.6% of consumers have joined a company’s
community to get more information on the company
– Universal McCann

6. So what does that have to do
with school PR?

7. Social Media integration is no longer
optional for PR pros
● Opportunity for positive community relations
outweighs risks of unknown fears.
● It takes some professional courage to get it right.
Two possible realities:
1. You started using social media, but you're not quite
sure if you're doing it right.
2. Something is keeping you from using social media
tools in your district communications.

8. http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrottyshang/1598030392/

9. Who do you want to reach? Audience
What do you want to accomplish? Objectives
Where can social media improve or supplement
our programs, services, communications?
Strategies
What’s our available budget/time? Barriers
What opportunities to pilot? Tactics

10. http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedestriantype/5378956934/

11. How much time does it really take?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russmorris/407778776/

12. How much time does it really take?
The short answer is, it depends on the day.
● 30-45 minutes of monitoring
● 15-25 minutes sharing content (Twitter, Facebook,
Video, Photo galleries)
● 10-20 minutes of promoting
● 1-2 hours of writing or preparing new content (press
releases, blog posts, etc.)
Note: These times are flexible depending on the other
needs of the day. It's still school PR.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/russmorris/407778776/

13. Keep it simple
Think micro content creation for
social channels. Micro content
doesn’t have to be new content.
Reuse, repurpose,
remix, recycle
Guiding principles of social media:
Be human and be honest
http://www.flickr.
com/photos/handles/2748048479/

14. http://www.flickr.com/photos/alamodestuff/4351730264/

15. School District Blogging
● Tell your good stories
● Introduce ideas and plans
● Invite writers from other areas
● Feature writing
● Official statements
● Rumor control
● Feedback through comments
● Moderate comments
● Be interesting
● Photo and video storytelling
http://yourmansfieldisd.blogspot.com/

16. School District Blogging
● Blog as newsfeed
● Press release posts
● Reverse-chronological
order
● Built-in archive
● RSS enabled
● Sample Blogger -->
http://sdusd-news.blogspot.com

17. School District Blogging
● Wordpress -->
http://kcsdblog.wordpress.com/

18. School District Blogging
● Posterous -->
http://ddschools.posterous.com/

19. School District
Blogging:
Rumor Control
● Deeper community
engagement
● Clarify misconceptions
● Correct false rumors
● Listening opportunity

20. School districts and Facebook
● Easy to find Facebook link
● Post useful links plus
photos/videos
● Have rules for moderation
● "Tag" Campuses and other
Pages (including media)
● Facebook events; free and easy
to encourage community to
"Share"
● Ask/answer questions
● Reply to feedback as
appropriate
● You don't have to respond to
everything

21. Polices & Guidelines
Set the rules of engagement...
Remove posts that:
● Break the law or encourage others to do so
● Contain abusive or inappropriate language or statements
● Easily identify students and/or staff in defamatory, abusive,
or generally negative terms
● Do not show proper consideration for others’ privacy or are
considered likely to offend or provoke others
● Are spam
● Full Sample: http://bit.ly/1w30vT

22. Tips for school districts on Facebook
● Teach your Fans to tag your district's Page.
● Using the “tag” (the @ symbol), they can tag the
district’s Facebook Page in their own status that goes
out to their friends.
● Shows active community on the district's Page Wall
(Only useful if you've opened up your
Page Wall for community comments.)

23. Tips for school districts on Facebook
Get into the Facebook feed: Getting people to "like" or
comment on your Facebook content improves the chances
that more people will see it in their feed, an algorithm
referred to as “EdgeRank.”
Those who use social media to only push out their school
district's messages miss the opportunity to have an engaging
conversation with their online community.

24. Facebook Impressions and Feedback
● Impressions: How many times a specific post was
displayed within news feeds.
● Feedback: The percent of fans “like” or comment on a
specific post.
If you want to
know how good
your stuff is, then
focus on
“Feedback.”

25. ● Embed Facebook
"Like" box on your
website or blog
● Get a unique or
vanity Facebook
URL address
● Add URL to print
collateral
● Add URL to e-mail
signatures

26. What happens when things go south for your
school district's Facebook Page?
Be prepared for some unintended consequences of having a
school district Facebook page:
"The open nature of the Facebook commenting feature continues to
cause regular disruption and place the district as a liable participant in
issues related to sharing of private student information, defamation of
employees and other abusive online behavior. In addition, MISD is not
able to commit the administrative or campus staff time necessary to
adequately moderate user content posted to these pages."
Short-version: The liabilities were outweighing the benefits.
http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/2011/05/closing-school-districts-facebook-page.html

27. For school districts, Twitter can be...
● a cost-effective (free) option to accentuate existing
messages;
● a broadcasting tool to announce relevant information to
specific audiences; and
● a (brief) conversational tool to appropriately respond to
relevant inquiries and follow-up questions or comments.

28. Putting Twitter to work
● Broadcast vs. conversationalist
● Twitter as pages
● Twitter as media pitches
● Tweets for on-the-go posting
● Backchannel for PR Pros
● Engaging the media
● #Hashtags
School districts tweeting once
per week or less do not provide
enough value in the medium and
quickly become obsolete.

29. Twitter as webpages

30. Twitter as pitches

31. Twitter on-the-go:
● Embeddable
● Event Pics

32. Putting Twitter to work
● When and how to respond
● Red Cross and #gettngslizzerd
● Have a personality and be human
http://plixi.com/p/77743134

33. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharynmorrow/18753251/

34. Use video to tell your story
● Video content could be a key component of your
communication strategy.
● Some find communicating through video easier than
feature writing or long blog posts.
● Most would rather watch a video than read.
● Many options, but stick with YouTube or Vimeo.
● Both free with easily embeddable videos for
blogs/websites and can be shared on Facebook.
● If possible, try to keep videos short (3-5 minutes)
● Remember to repurpose, share across multiple
channels
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharynmorrow/18753251/

35. Example

36. Photo Galleries
● Campus news/events pics
● SmugMug, Flickr,
Facebook, etc.
● Community/parent
submitted pics
● Embeddable slideshows
● Easily shared/linked
● Useful when there's no
time to fully cover an
event with article
● Parents enjoy seeing their
kids
● Seriously, tons of traffic

37. Documents
● Beyond saving/storing files on your district site
● Social publishing tools enable sharing/embedding
● What could tools like these replace or augment for your
school district?
● Slideshare - the YouTube for presentations
● Scribed - shared writings and documents

38. ● Emded and share
● Document stats
● Simple solution
http://www.scribd.com/C-FBISD

39. School District news-gathering via
Google Docs Forms
<-- Here's what they see...

40. School District news-gathering via
Google Docs Forms
<-- Here's what you get

41. As news is posted faster, the official version
of events from your organization is vital.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bekahstargazing/318930460/

42. Press Releases and Newsrooms
● Turn your traditional releases in social releases
● Include shareable content (links, images, video, audio)
● Using Word Docs or PDFs for pitches wastes time
● Since journalists rely on e-mail as the preferred method
of news pitches, don't make them download docs
● Write things you'd want to read
● Think hybrid approach for releases; focus on direct
community outreach and journalist use
● Have enough info available for anyone reading
● A district news blog could be a good/simple solution

44. News Releases
● Simple, factual, and story-driven.
● Timeliness and connection to major issues or
controversies.
● During challenges, get your side out quickly.
● Use photos and video to help tell your story.
● Factual, simple for Board meeting recaps.
● Think like a publisher.
● Media-Shmedia: Be Your Own Newsroom

45. "Companies that understand
they have to be the media
instead of waiting for the
media to come to them will be
the winners moving forward."

46. Monitoring
That’s just a wall, Gary.
http://www.themonkeysyouordered.com/post/1061277890/may-15th-2007

47. Listening Tools
● Google Reader
● Google Alerts/News/Blog
Search/Analyitcs
● Facebook Search
● Search.Twitter.com
● Tweetdeck
● Bit.ly (shorteners & stats)
● IceRocket real-time search

48. Taking some next steps
● Mobile applications (iPhone, Android, etc.)
● Location-based tools like Foursquare & Gowalla
● Social media monitoring & sentiment analysis
● QR Codes (Quick Response) you could get creative
with this technology

49. Once you start using social media
● Follow through and use the tools.
● You don’t have to use every tool.
● Avoid the shiny-object syndrome.
● Tailor your social strategy to fit your objectives.
● You need to have a thick skin.
● Not always going to be nice and friendly.
● Anticipate challenges.
● Have a plan in place to deal with detractors
● Foster a positive community experience.
● Keep learning and exploring...

50. Questions?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicity/22489512/

51. Sources & Additional Resources
http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/2010/07/school-pr-and-news-media-ken-haseley.html
http://www.copyblogger.com/irresistible-pr/
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/21-ways-non-profits-can-leverage-social-media/
http://jeffesposito.com/2011/02/14/social-media-facts-share-executives/
http://jasonkintzler.com/5-ways-to-kill-the-press-release
http://www.johnhaydon.com/2010/11/facebook-offers-deeper-analytics-pages-10000-fans/
http://mackcollier.com/red-cross-social-media-crisis-situation/
http://www.liveworld.com/socialvoice/2011/02/11/new-facebook-pages-5-changes/
http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/2010/11/getting-in-flow-chart-of-social-media.html
http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/2010/08/facebook-for-school-districts-set-up.html
http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/2010/08/blog-writing-ideas-and-tips-for-school.html
http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/2009/10/facebook-fan-page-rules-for-school.html
http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/2010/12/school-boards-twitter-and-media-machine.html
http://www.tspra.org/news-a-reports/tspra-blog/2010/06/22/can-checking-in-to-foursquare-help-parental-involvement/
http://www.slideshare.net/kanter/watech4good-summit
http://www.insidefacebook.com/2011/02/10/page-redesign-2011-guide/
http://geofflivingston.com/2011/01/27/96-free-professional-blog-topics/
http://www.connectsafely.org/pdfs/fbparents.pdf
http://webbiquity.com/social-media-marketing/best-social-pr-guides-tips-and-tools-of-2010/
http://socialmediatoday.com/heatherwhaling/258483/10-press-release-alternatives
Don't worry if you missed anything.
This presentation can be found on slideshare:
http://www.slideshare.net/rescovedo

52. Contact
Richie Escovedo
E-mail: richie.escovedo@gmail.com
Twitter: @vedo
Blog: http://nextcommunications.blogspot.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rescovedo
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/rescovedo