This year, we're sponsoring some fancy new gadgets at the #HMCconf15. We're sponsoring notepads. Now if you're like us and you aren't quite sure what these notepad things are, then Google is your friend.

According to Wikipedia...

A notepad is a small book or binder of paper pages, often ruled, used for purposes such as recording notes or memoranda, writing, drawing, or scrapbooking.

 So they're a bit like an iPad, basically.

We figured a lot of Heads will be digitally connected. So to make use of the notepads, here's 7 alternative things you can do with your 'Official #HMCconf15 Notepad':

1. Recreate your school logo

This is pretty simple, in theory. Just draw your school logo on to a piece of paper.

However, some schools have detailed crests - and that's going to be tricky to get right.

Ah, Snapchat.

It’s full of funny, inappropriate, disappearing photos. In just a few seconds, you can communicate an important message, then have it disappear the next. No wonder kids love using it so much!

In an age where your digital footprint leaves a legacy, Snapchat provides a way to communicate without the worry of future repercussions.

Unfortunately, schools are getting crippled by fear. This is causing them to fall further and further behind in technology awareness and understanding of teenage behaviour.

But why do schools feel so afraid of Snapchat? What’s causing them to turn their backs on a channel that has gained so much popularity among students? Well, it really comes down to one main reason...

Don’t Know How to Use It

Teenagers have this innate ability to understand then adapt to the slang, context, and culture of new social channels. Most schools and educators don’t have that same ability.

A lack of fully understanding the platform leads to fear. Fear that you won’t do it right; fear that something will go terribly wrong; fear that you’ll cause a huge problem for the entire school. And so, it seems better to not use it than to use it wrong.

“We owe it to each other to tell stories.” – Neil Gaiman

 

From a very young age people are taught such infamous childhood fables as The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Hare and the Tortoise and The Goose that laid the Golden Eggs. 

These fables originate from 620BC and are still taught in schools today!

How many still remember these famous fables? Almost everybody will remember at least one of these infamous fables. 

Storytelling began on cave walls and has travelled through time passing through rock art, hieroglyphics, painted artefacts, and has now entered the modern era with social media. 

Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Vines have stories captured and shared every day. Storytelling hasn’t changed - but the channels we tell them via have evolved.

(The Hare and the Tortoise 1700-2015)

Great things happen when parents get involved in their child’s education. Not only does the school benefit from the support, but research shows [1] that it even helps academic achievement.

Unfortunately, traditional forms of parental engagement (e.g. Parent-Teacher conferences or sending a note home) don’t make much of an impact these days.

And yes, you can blame the Internet for this disruption.

These traditional methods still add some value. But that number is waning as more of the population becomes dependent on digital communication. Things like Facebook and Twitter aren’t restricted to the younger generation anymore.

Getting active on social media platforms gives your school unparalleled access to parental engagement. It’s time to embrace this powerful technology. Are you ready?

1. Reach Out to Parents

First things first, make sure to let the parents know about your social media plans. Send a letter home or shoot off an email blast with an announcement of this new engagement strategy.

It’s about getting them involved. Your efforts won’t go very far if you don’t let parents know your intentions. Getting them informed from the beginning helps ensure the success of your social media efforts for the school.

How schools are ALREADY doing this:

Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls uses beautifully designed HTML email newsletters to send parents updates with what is happening - their latest news, photos, videos, tweets. 

These dynamically pull through from their content/social channels. You mean to say they don’t spend hours putting this all together? That’s right. 10 mins. Max.

Notice at the bottom: connect with us.

This is parent engagement.

Creating content isn’t always easy, in fact, it can sometimes feel more like a you are sprinting uphill (someone convinced you it was a good idea to start do, but you realise that you were not prepared)!

While other parts of organisations and marketing are becoming increasingly automated, content creation is still very much a manual job. Automation hasn’t yet replaced what we do (thank goodness).  

That being said, there are plenty of tools out there to make creating content much easier. Below, you’ll find a list of 19 fantastic tools and resources to help you research, write, edit, and design content more easily.

But don’t worry - you can do it! We believe in you.

>> For Researchers

(1) Google Drive Research Tool

Every school goes on trips. Every school does sports. Every school has concerts. But what is it that makes your school different?

How do you reflect the personality, the culture, the ethos, the values of your school? You do this through storytelling.

We’ve visited hundreds of schools around the world. On the face, many are the same - for example, a co-educational independent school for 3-18 year olds.

• A school that provides an exceptional education.
• One that develops well-rounded individuals.
• A school that nurtures individuals.
• A traditional school, with a modern approach.

We’ve heard it all before.

But when we come and actually visit the school, we see how different you all are! It’s not until we get through the door that we see what makes you unique - the buildings, the pupils, the staff, the people, the ethos, the personality.

There’s always something unique that sticks with us - that makes us remember you.

By sharing photos, videos, you get a much more authentic and true view of the school. Parents love it because they get to see photos and videos of their children. Prospects love it because it shows opportunity.

You, as the marketer, can’t be everywhere all of the time. But there must always be something exciting happening! All you need is one department to start sharing their stories for it to take off.

It’s a perfect way for people to get a feel for the school before visiting.

How have you started to tell your school’s story? Tweet us @intSchools, email us, phone us, write us a letter to let us know. Whatever you fancy.

Do you need help telling these stories? Let us know, and we perhaps we can come and train you and your staff?

For the past 30 days, we have been tracking Social Engagement across the most important Social Media and content channels. This has included Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We want to share the results & changes for all the main parties, and their respective leaders.

With each channel, we will provide Exit Poll predictions on winners vs losers in the #SocialSphere - and rank them.

How much has Social Media impacted this election? You decide!

PARTIES

The parties all started off with relatively low scores, and there were wide gaps between them. In the run up to the election, the parties all started rising but Labour won with the highest #SocialScore. 

Labour only went up 3 points, but that was enough - as they already had a head start!

The Green Party had an excellent Twitter campaign going from 2nd lowest, to the 2nd highest.

LEADERS

Surprisingly, Nick Clegg started off very poorly and did not see much improvement. Nigel Farage ended up with the highest #SocialScore in a close battle with Nicola Sturgeon.

Natalie Bennett did not do as well as her party, and David Cameron actually ended up seeing his #SocialScore going down.

How will the parties and leaders’ #SocialScore correlate with the real #GE2015 results? We’ll wait and see.

For the past 30 days, we have been tracking Social Engagement across the most important Social Media and content channels. This has included Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We want to share the results & changes for all the main parties, and their respective leaders.

With each channel, we will provide Exit Poll predictions on winners vs losers in the #SocialSphere - and rank them.

How much has Social Media impacted this election? You decide!

TWITTER

This has been a powerful weapon in gaining reach through simple story telling, some propaganda - and real-time conversations with the British public.

How loyal are the followers? How well have each Party used Twitter?

Most Tweets:

1. 24.3k - SNP
   
2. 20.2k - Liberal Democrats
   
3. 19.1k - UKiP

% increase in Tweets (past 30 days):

1. 25% - Conservatives
   
2. 22% - Liberal Democrats
3. 13% - Plaid Cymru

Most Followers:

1. 214k - Labour
   
2. 158k - Conservatives
3. 103k - UKiP

Average number of Tweets Per Day (past 30 days):

1. 150 - Liberal Democrats
   
2. 70 - Conservatives
3. 70 - Plaid Cymru

% increase in Followers:

1. 17% - Plaid Cymru
   
2. 12% - Green Party
3. 12% - UKiP

————————————————————————

Conservatives

• https://twitter.com/conservatives
  
• 10.5k - total tweets
• 2,100 - Increase in tweets past 30 days
  
• 70 - average number of tweets per day during campaign
• 25% - Percentage Increase in tweets past 30 days
  
• 158k - total followers
• 10k - Increase in followers past 30 days
• 7% - Percentage increase in followers past 30 days

For the past 30 days, we have been tracking Social Engagement across the most important Social Media and content channels. This has included Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We want to share the results & changes for all the main parties, and their respective leaders.

With each channel, we will provide Exit Poll predictions on winners vs losers in the #SocialSphere - and rank them.

How much has Social Media impacted this election? You decide!

TWITTER

On the face of it, you would expect the BIG TWO to come out on top, more donations, more MP’s - but twitter has really catapulted the smaller parties to be use people/social power.  Here is a quick summary of the total number of Retweets AND Favourites that make up the #SocialEquity of a top tweet. 

How loyal are the followers?

Top Tweet (Parties):

1. 2,718 - Labour Party
   
2. 2,700 - SNP
3. 2,207 - UKiP

Top Tweet (Leaders):

1. 26,409 - Ed Miliband
   
2. 9,119 - Nicola Sturgeon
3. 3,172 - Nigel Farage

————————————————————————

PARTY Data/Comparisons