The National Basketball Association had its annual draft recently in the Motor City. Men’s lives changed instantly. Understanding the current climate of social media can help transform your school district’s audience engagement.
To assist your understanding, I have constructed my annual School Communications Social Media Draft, where I rank top social media platforms to increase audience engagement for school districts.
Here is my rank for the best social media platforms for 2022:
Top 8 Social Media Platforms for 2022
1. TikTok
TikTok has taken the social media world by storm. The platform is one of the fastest-growing platforms of all time. For the past 18 months, it has been the most downloaded app in the Apple App Store. It has also shown great engagement numbers since its rebranded launch a couple of years ago.
TikTok is a platform to be taken seriously in the new school year. Many school districts still believe TikTok is a teen-centered platform. The fastest-growing segment is the 25 to 35-year-old demographic, which is the sweet spot for school district growth in student enrollment and teacher recruitment.
Here is an excellent example of a Superintendent interacting on TikTok
2. Instagram
Pictures and videos on social media drive engagement growth in the 21st Century. Instagram is still one of the world’s most used social media platforms. With over one billion users, school districts will gain traction in reaching parents and students with Instagram, especially with its reasonably new Reels option.
According to Instagram, Reels are entertaining, immersive videos where you can creatively express your brand story, educate your audience, and discover your business. People come to Reels to participate in cultural trends, collaborate with the community and learn new ideas. It would be wise to educate yourself on Reels before the start of the new school year.
How to Have a Great Instagram Takeover with Students
3. YouTube
YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world behind Google. Audiences go to YouTube to be entertained, gain knowledge and learn new skills. If your school district is not on YouTube, you better get moving.
Make sure you develop your school district YouTube channel using tactics that will drive your audience to your videos. Any long-form video content, including live broadcasts, should be uploaded to YouTube. It is a great way to build audience awareness of your district programs and schools; it is also an excellent way to engage current and new audiences.
How to Optimize Your YouTube Channel
4. Facebook
Despite wild speculation, Facebook is not going anywhere anytime soon. If you study your analytics, I am sure it is still your top-performing platform amongst your parents, especially the older demographic with middle and high school-age students.
Facebook has many new features to engage your audience. Meta has invested billions in making video their top priority. Utilize video on your page, including live broadcasts and Facebook Stories. You can recycle your Instagram Reels and TikTok videos for Facebook Stories and reach a brand new audience.
Facebook Live Tips to Drive Engagement
5. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an excellent way for school districts to interact with current and future employees. When Microsoft bought LinkedIn, they changed the platform for the better. It went from a job posting site to a content exchange platform. Your goal as a school district should be to post engaging, helpful content on the platform. The more you help, the more you will become a trusted expert.
In this video, I speak on the power of LinkedIn to recruit teachers.
I highly encourage schools and districts to interact with young educators on LinkedIn. By helping these future teachers, you will become a trusted expert. When you gain trust, people will gravitate to join your organization.
6. Twitter
Use Twitter to interact with your staff. I am not a Twitter hater, but I feel school districts rely too heavily on the platform to interact with students and parents. Twitter has become a professional development platform for teachers. Why not use this to interact with current and future educators?
7. Pinterest
Pinterest is one of the fastest-growing platforms amongst Hispanics. It is a beautiful extension of digital real estate. It is an excellent place to showcase your content from other platforms such as your website, blog, or podcast. I am in the habit of always pinning anytime I post content.
8. Snapchat
To be honest, I never got into Snapchat. However, we do use the platform to use their geofencing technology. Whenever you have a significant event, create a filter or layer and then use geofencing to engage your audience by drawing a digital fence around the venue. Now any inside that fence will be able to access the filters. It is great for football games, homecoming, graduation, and job fairs.
Conclusion
That is my rank of social media platforms in 2022 for school communications.
What is your rank? Does your list differ?
