“Posting nice content on social media alone is outdated as the black and white TV, keying into current trends, trending hashtags, searchable keywords and share-ability are the new social currency” - Jerry Oche

Does your school make use of the mighty hashtag (#)? We wrote a blog on the power of the hashtag and are strong believers in this powerful symbol!

Not only do hashtags play a huge role in categorising content, but there are also mighty hashtags out there to include in your #ContentStrategy. These can easily be scheduled in for every day at the start of the week, allowing you to sit back and watch the engagement roll in!

Here are some of the top, easy hashtags to get your school involved with:

Is there a better way to return to school than to find an email waiting in your inbox saying that your YouTube account has been suspended? Don’t fear! The @intSchools team of #DigitalJedi is here to help.

Your Marketing or IT department may have had an email from Google regarding branded YouTube Accounts. Google is no longer allowing YouTube accounts to be linked to G Suite for Education accounts. This should not be ignored and if not acted upon can result in suspension or deletion of your YouTube Account.

This is an issue with G Suite for Education that is affecting schools. YouTube is no longer allowing YouTube accounts to be connected to GSuite for Education primary/secondary (K-12) email addresses.

We have contacted Google for the solution and you will have to transfer ownership to either a consumer account (@gmail.com) or a G Suite account holder that is not in a G Suite for education primary/secondary (K-12) school domain.

It’s back to school month here at Interactive Schools and schools in the UK.

The doors are once more open! Pupils and staff, old and new, are filing back in. Classes, which stood so eerily quiet only a few weeks ago, are open again for business. Yes! Welcome #BackToSchool.

Here are some of the best moments from schools getting back to it this week!

With social media and tech innovations changing trends on a regular basis, it becomes easy for "old-school" channels / platforms to go on the back-burner. The humble blog seems to be one such outlet that schools are forgetting about.

BUT: are we doing the right thing in pushing blogs away and focussing instead on the very fluid trends of the year / month / day?!! Do blogs still have a place in your school?

BLOGGING STATISTICS

Let's take a look at the blog's place in modern #ContentMarketing for some insight:

• blogging is the TOP form of content marketing: the top three content marketing tactics are blogging (65%), social media (64%), and case studies (64%) [source]

• long-form content is "in" right now: the average blog post is now 1,142 words (up 41% since 2014) showing an appetite for more long-form content [source]

• it's still popular with top businesses: 53% of marketers say blogging is their top content marketing priority, so emulating this seems a sound investment in time [source]

• Google loves blogs: companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages than businesses without blogs, meaning it helps massively with SEO [source]

Looking at these states, there are two points worth noting:

1. blogging is even more relevant today than it was 4 years ago (despite trends in tech and social media)

2. people want to read blogs (and big businesses know this), or at least longer form content

Still not convinced? Then how about considering these questions:

• does your school have current parents and pupils?

• does your school have prospective parents and pupils?

• are they online?

• do they read online?

If the answer to all these questions is yes, then your school would benefit from a blog.

The two faces of the school blog

So you've decided that perhaps a blog could work for you, but what should the focus of it be? After all, there needs to be a strategy that leads it (as with any form of content you are producing).

Typically, we see three types of school blog:

[1] the head's blog: for many schools, their head / principal is a leader of not only the school itself but of the education sector. We work with many amazing head teachers who are thought leaders and influencers in all sorts of topics, ranging from education technologies to leadership; women in STEM to creativity in the classroom.

The primary purpose of the head's blog is to be an authority person for their school, to promote and drive conversation around what your school does. They are #DigitalAmbassadors and should be leading your school's online presence.

Take a look at Nicholas Hammond's blog for The British School of Paris, a great example of just this.

Picture it, Monday morning and you’re running late to catch your bus to work. There are only a few minutes left until your bus arrives…Luckily, you have the e-ticket, bought well in advance meaning no precious time is lost hunting for that final 20p! You load up the app and…where is the ticket? Was it in ‘Tickets’ or ‘Last Purchased’? Where even is the menu on this thing? In the time it takes trying to figure the app out your bus is driving off and you are late. 

If that sounds all too familiar then did you know you have fallen victim of poor user experience? In the 21st century, you would assume that all technology is designed in a user-friendly way. But as you might know from countless real life inconveniences, it is not always true.

The doors are once more almost open in the USA! Pupils and staff, old and new, are filing back in. Classes, which stood so eerily quiet only a few weeks ago, are open again for business. Yes! Welcome #BackToSchool.

So, as the education machine rolls into action once more, you are likely facing a giant - and still growing - list of tasks. But do not fear! We are here to help out.

Be sure to check out our upcoming US events to see how @intSchools can help your #BackToSchool planning and craft your #SchoolMarketing toolbox.

STEP 1

Download our customised dashboard here:

schoolbyt.es/intSchools-Dashboard

STEP 2

So, you’ve set up your fresh social media accounts and you’re ready to go. This easy guide will take you through step 1 of #DigitalJedi training to become a #SocialPadawan.

Grab your snorkels and step into your flippers as we take a journey into the endless depths and possibilities of your #ContentStrategy. Welcome to our new ‘Deep Dive Into’ series, first up, producing great video content.