COMMUNICATING WITH ONE VOICE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
“WE NEEDED AN OVERARCHING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY TO BETTER CONNECT WITH THE COMMUNITY.”
OUR ACTION: AHC worked with school leadership to merge the individual building Facebook pages into one for the district.
OUR SUCCESS: The district connected with the community with one, positive voice.
SITUATION
Too many voices representing one district
Many people have experience on their personal social media accounts, and without direction from district leadership, well-intentioned staff members can start public social media pages on behalf of their group or building. That was the case at one Dayton area school district. There were dozens of pages and accounts representing one district, which created a fragmented experience for stakeholders. Each of their four buildings started and managed their own Facebook pages, as well as Twitter and Instagram accounts, resulting in unreliable messaging and frequency as well as an inconsistent experience. On the heels of a significant levy loss, it became clear that the district could benefit from an overarching social media strategy to better connect with the community.
SOLUTION
Collapse most of the channels into one official district page
After the shocking levy loss, the district quickly turned to Allerton Hill Consulting (AHC) for help upon hearing from residents that they wanted more communication. After AHC conducted a comprehensive audit of the schools’ social media accounts, it became clear that the initial strategy needed to involve collapsing the myriad channels into one voice. Because Facebook remains the primary platform among Baby Boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials, AHC worked with school leadership to merge the individual building Facebook pages into one for the district. The focus then became infusing the page with positive posts that celebrated student and staff successes and showcased the quality education and experiences the district offers. AHC also assisted in creating and managing district-level Instagram, Twitter and YouTube accounts, while each building continued to maintain its own.
SUCCESS
Connect with the community with one, positive voice
To encourage interaction while balancing staff and community acclimation to the new page and process, the team set an initial goal of two new posts per school day. In the first month, the social media team received an astounding 85 new pieces of content to post – nearly three times more than expected. On average, each pre-approved post reached 1,000 people and the followers were engaged: commenting, liking and sharing the content. In less than two months, the page gained more than 800 likes, nearly doubling its followers and far exceeding expectations. To keep the page fresh and engaging, AHC offered tips to district staff, including best practices and ideas to inspire content.
Immediately following the launch of the district Facebook page, the district indirectly was involved in a shooting tragedy that had occurred in the metropolitan area. Having one voice, the district was able to communicate succinctly and respond swiftly to questions, concerns and community outreach.