As a participant in the 2012-2013 Jewish Day School Social Media Academy, Solomon Schechter School of Queens (SSSQ) was able to jump onto the social media train with a tremendous amount of support and guidance. Being a beginner in the social media arena (we did not have any social media presence), we found the importance of creating a content calendar to be paramount in establishing, maintaining and expanding our momentum on Facebook, and a valuable quantitative way of measuring our success.
Using an Excel template from Beth Kanter’s article “Getting Insight from Facebook Insight Requires Sense Making Skills”, we track each item posted and analyze its success. With this method we found that:
- Posting 2-3 times per week on school activities/events keeps our audience engaged.
- There was no significant difference in posting in the morning or the afternoon with respect to activity on the post.
- Postings that feature videos or photographs are most popular. By measuring the reach and engagement of different types of postings we were able to determine those that are well received. In fact, our 8th grade students narrated their trip to Israel using video clips we posted on our Facebook page. These were among the most popular postings and also showed engagement amongst our community.
- Planning and keeping track of each posting allows SSSQ to incorporate holidays, school events, or other initiatives from the school calendar into the postings calendar to create a consistent message across all communications venues (Website, Facebook, E-mail).
- We gather statistics (likes, reach, shares) on each posting from Insights on the last day of each month and analyze the results – tracking what worked / didn’t work so that we can improve on subsequent posts.
- To ensure that SSSQ conveys a consistent message, all proposed postings and a review of the previous months postings are discussed with the headmaster, executive director and technology coordinator on a monthly basis.
SSSQ is new to the social media arena, but has gained a loyal following in a few short months by being organized, intentional and reflective. In the near future, we will expand to other media avenues (Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest) and employ the same methodology to track posting and ensure that our message is being “received”.
The Jewish Day School Social Media Academy is an intensive program designed to help Jewish Day Schools advance their strategic use of social media in areas such as communication, marketing, community building, alumni relations and development. The 2012-13 nationwide cohort of 20 schools was generously supported by The AVI CHAI Foundation. Each of the schools will be sharing insights from their experience through blog posts here this spring with the tag #jdsacademy
The 2013-14 cohort is currently in formation. If your school or community is interested in more information, please contact Lisa Colton.