Is your school's social media strategy helping you connect with your community, or is it just another task on an endless to-do list?
As edu marketing specialists who have worked with schools and academy trusts across the UK, we understand the challenges of maintaining consistent, engaging communication with your community. Many schools have limited resources, stretched budgets, and minimal dedicated marketing support.
This builds on our essential digital marketing strategy for schools, social media forms a crucial part of your overall marketing mix.
Whether you're starting fresh for the new school year or looking to enhance your existing approach, this playbook tackles the common challenges schools face. Each section works independently, so you can implement changes gradually without overwhelming your team.
Platform selection and setup
Before you go all-in on social media, choose platforms where your audience actually spends time, rather than trying to be everywhere at once.
Facebook works well for parent communication and local community engagement. Instagram suits visual content showcasing school life and learning. LinkedIn helps with staff recruitment and connecting with alumni.
Conduct an audit of all existing school social media accounts and reclaim any unofficial profiles. Standardise your profile information across platforms, ensuring consistent messaging about your school's values and contact details.
Top tip: Use an organisational email address for social media profiles rather than personal accounts. This can prevent access issues when staff change.
Content strategy and creation
Content pillars provide the framework for consistent, varied content that showcases why parents and carers choose your school:
whilst maintaining consistent messaging about what makes your school stand out.
These could include:
Learning in action: Real classroom moments and student achievements that show engagement rather than just announcing results.
Your school community: Staff introductions and behind-the-scenes content that helps parents connect with the people educating their children.
Values demonstrated: How your school's ethos translates into daily life through community projects, environmental work, or student leadership.
Practical support: Term dates, helpful resources, and information that benefits parents and carers.
Celebrations: Recognising achievements across academic, sporting, creative, and personal development.
Create simple templates for regular post types to maintain visual consistency and speed up content creation during busy periods.
Content workflows and management
Batch content creation during quieter periods or on inset days to build reserves for busier times. Avoid relying on one person by sharing responsibility across team members whilst maintaining clear approval processes that include safeguarding checks without creating bottlenecks.
Social media scheduling tools help maintain consistency when your priorities shift unexpectedly. Tools like Meta Business Suite, Hootsuite or Buffer allow you to plan content in advance whilst ensuring regular posting during busy periods.
Safeguarding and compliance
Maintain a secure register of students who cannot appear in marketing materials, and ensure social posts use general shots or pre-approved images where possible.
Update consent forms to explicitly cover social media usage if needed - many schools have photography permissions but haven't specifically addressed digital platforms or social media.
Consider establishing clear approval workflows for content featuring students, and brief any external photographers on your school's policies.
Community engagement tactics
Respond to comments and messages promptly and professionally. Regularly feature parent and carer testimonials - authentic community voices carry more weight than marketing messages.
Beyond reactive engagement, actively build community by sharing content from local organisations and tagging relevant partners to demonstrate your commitment to supporting the surrounding community.
Performance tracking
Focus on engagement quality rather than follower quantity. A smaller, engaged community provides more value than thousands of inactive accounts.
Monitor which content types generate meaningful responses and adjust your approach accordingly. Test different posting times to find when your community is most active.
Most social media platforms provide basic insights showing which posts perform best and when your audience is online. Use these built-in analytics to guide your content decisions rather than getting overwhelmed by complex tracking.
Need help setting up more sophisticated tracking for your school's digital marketing? Our team can help you understand which channels are driving enquiries and admissions - get in touch!
Crisis management
Create response protocols for different scenarios – most concerns can be addressed professionally and publicly. Establish clear escalation procedures for serious issues and train staff on professional communication standards.
Set up Google Alerts for your school name to monitor mentions. Address misinformation quickly with factual responses, and maintain positive relationships with local groups where parents discuss school matters.
Implementation roadmap
We’d recommend starting with platform setup and safeguarding protocols before moving to content strategy and engagement. Focus on doing fewer things well rather than rushing across all areas.
Allow 2-3 weeks per section for proper implementation. Remember that effective school social media builds authentic community connections rather than competing for attention.
We've created a School Year Content Plan with month-by-month themes aligned to the academic calendar, starting with ready-to-use autumn term content ideas.
Ready to transform your school's social media presence? Contact us to discuss implementing the approaches that will have the biggest impact on your community engagement.