For a school, one of the most engaging social media posts that you can do is to call a snow day. While it may be tempting to just cancel school, you may miss out on the chance to create content that engages with your students. The day everyone comes back from a snow day is also a common event that students, faculty, and staff can identify with, but too few schools capitalize on. Lead the way as a content generator with these simple steps to improve your social media before and after a snow day.
Create Posts Ahead of Time.
Unfortunately, we have to wait for mother nature to determine when we schedule our posts; however, that does not mean we have to wait to create the content. Making some graphics, filming a short video, or gathering student input ahead of time are a few ways to make your posts more effective. There are plenty of good examples to look to for inspiration: interviewing the superintendent, getting snowballs out of the freezer or having students interview teachers. Make it your own, and make it early, to ensure you’re prepared for the next time a snow day rolls around.
School announces snow day in the most rap-tastic way https://t.co/GLEiLY2mIV Credit: @frimleyjunior pic.twitter.com/yCljRkhWm8
— ITV News Meridian (@itvmeridian) March 1, 2018
Post to Multiple Sites.
If you want to maximize your impact and engagement, post your content to all of your social media channels. Sharing your posts simultaneously also ensures that each school in your district shares the announcement at the same time. The easiest way to do so is to use a software that does this all with the simple push of a button. Going to your audience and sharing the content on the sites they like to use gives you the most opportunity for engagement.
Our Snow Day Predictor Machine has done it again…No School tomorrow, Friday, January 5 at Meadowbrook. Stay warm and safe tomorrow, everybody! #snowday #snowday2018 pic.twitter.com/hpM8GURTpD
— The Meadowbrook School (@MeadowbrookMA) January 5, 2018
Continue the Interaction.
Immediately following a high engagement post with another one makes the second post more effective than it would have been otherwise. Social media is a lot like bowling this way: the frame immediately after your strike counts double or more. One of the key ways that social media algorithms like Facebook’s work is that it distributes a second post to more people if it follows a first, highly shared post. In essence, keep the momentum going.
Snow days have a special kind of magical element – particularly for your social media. Take advantage of the opportunity. Show off your school. Highlight the things that make your students, faculty, and staff unique. Whether it’s getting students to imagine what a snow day would be like or sharing a photo of the empty hallways, there’s no doubt that social media and snow days go hand-in-hand.
Just another snow day at GHS! pic.twitter.com/rYwoSPMEy3
— Grafton High School (@ClippersGrafton) January 18, 2018
Perhaps you could suggest some movies to watch?
Good morning! Do you like movies that would be both topical AND unwatchable? Then we've got some recommendations just for you! #snowday pic.twitter.com/UkhotBuq9I
— Henrico Schools (@HenricoSchools) December 10, 2018