December 2021
LinkedIn is most reputable for being the “business social platform.” Even though LinkedIn has been around for 19 years, schools are still trying to figure out how to make LinkedIn worth their time, energy, and resources. How does a district benefit from LinkedIn? What kind of content works on LinkedIn? How does staff help your school on LinkedIn?
Sometimes we overthink LinkedIn instead of viewing the platform as another channel to highlight our brand, celebrate our culture, and connect with people. We complicate our content, don’t see the benefit, or worse, get overwhelmed and don’t engage the space at all.
We’re going to break down the primary role for using LinkedIn to show you how your district can build a better brand, and help your school tell its story.
WHY USE LINKEDIN FOR YOUR DISTRICT
What role does the school play in engaging on LinkedIn and why does it matter?
At the most basic level, LinkedIn is a search engine. When people are looking to switch jobs and investigate school cultures, LinkedIn is one of the places potential employees will visit. (And let’s be honest, recruitment is more critical now than ever.) Having a LinkedIn page for your district can benefit your social footprint: your employees can identify they work for your district, tag your district in posts, and help stakeholders gain a peek into your district’s culture.
This can compare, in some ways, to reviews. If you were looking at two restaurants and they both had 4.3 stars, but one had only one reviewer and the other had 250, would that impact which restaurant you would choose?
When districts say “their people” are the differentiator to their schools, then “their people” should be easily found. The people will become the reason potential employees either connect (or don’t) to your district.
Look at this person’s description. Just by reading her headline, I get a positive feeling for her mission and what she’s trying to do for students.
Descriptions also show professionalism and expertise for your district. This one showcases that employees are highly qualified to impact student learning.
Keeping on the topic of search, there are some great SEO benefits to LinkedIn. Remember how we described LinkedIn like a search engine? Then, naturally, search engine optimization would be a thing. According to WebITMD, Google loves LinkedIn for the tone of user engagement and the continual refresh of original content. The way your district approaches SEO for your website should be mirrored on LinkedIn.
WHAT KIND OF CONTENT WORKS ON LINKEDIN?
Now that you’re convinced that LinkedIn is a good space for you and your district, we want to equip you with some best practices to help you succeed in the space.
Get your LinkedIn profile setup correctly:
- Use a good logo and cover photo. LinkedIn’s basic size guidelines will help guide your logo and image size so it fits without stretching or pixilation. These images represent your brand and should reflect the professionalism your district displays. Don’t be afraid to update these images for seasons and with the people who make up your brand!
- Use SEO keywords and phrases in your company description. Every effort you can make on the interweb to drive the keywords and phrases important to your district will have an impact.
- Tell your story! Your district is much more than a history lesson of milestone dates. Use the About section to dive deeper into how your brand connects and supports the community. And don’t forget to include the great people who help represent your brand
The most commonly asked question we receive is, “What should our district be posting on LinkedIn?” LinkedIn gives you the opportunities to humanize your brand, share industry news, community events, and more.
- Remember, LinkedIn is a professional network of people. Share highlights about professional people – in your community and in your district.
Consider sharing professional resources, checklists and tools your brand already has within your network.
- Highlighting student achievements also paints a picture of the success of your district.
- Update your community about the direction of the district. Many are curious about school planning.
- Did you know, like Facebook, you can create an event in LinkedIn? Your district can advertise an event, such as a board meeting, parent teacher conferences, or a forum. Creating that event in LinkedIn gives one more channel of exposure to your community.
- Districts are continuously recruiting staff. Don’t forget to share career opportunities within your schools!
LinkedIn is a platform schools continue to navigate, and we’re here to make it simple.
