Hey guys, it’s me Charmaine Campo, Owner at Do Good Communications and I want to welcome you to today’s blog post about How To Engage More Students And Families Online?
I received this question from a passionate school administrator who just wants to make a difference when it comes to student mental health. She said:
“Hi Charmaine! Our mental health conference is this week but due to unprecedented events outside of my control, I need to find a creative way to connect our parents, students, teachers and our school behavioral health experts. My goal is for our students to know the services available to them but sometimes I feel parents and students don’t realize how much you can get when you participate in our programs. I worry about how to increase attendance at the conference and how I will get more students and families engaged. Can you help?
A DEDICATED SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR
It’s no secret by now that unexpected events such as the COVID-19 pandemic or even a weather event like a hurricane or heavy snow can leave you feel stressed and lie your efforts to put on a high quality in person program have been just completely derailed.
It’s really difficult to brainstorm and find solutions especially when you’re on a tight timeline and you have stakeholders who are just really counting on you to come through for them.
But you have to figure it out no matter what, so today I want to talk about how to leverage some other platforms like social media to put on your event in a way that will (1) build those long term relationship with families and (2) help you grow your potential student base.
Live-streaming can be a fun, rewarding, and incredibly valuable tool for engaging new parents, students and other stakeholders with your programming. It’s also a great way of sharing your expertise within an online space.
So here are 3 Steps To Get Started With Live Streaming on Social Media:
- Keep it simple: A lot of times I get questions you know what types of microphones do I need? What type of camera? What types of light? You don’t really need any fancy equipment to get started. A simple cell phone and a tripod is enough.
- Be Strategic: Live-streams on platforms that the people you want to reach are already using and give yourself plenty of time to promote the event if you can. There are promotions that you can do on short timelines and if you have questions about what platform you should be on or how you can promote your event, feel free to drop it in the comments or send me a DM and I can help you out and there of course number 3 which is my favorite;
- Don’t be boring, a.k.a share the love: Just like in an in-person event there should be opportunities for your audience, your parents, your students. Whoever it is that you want to be there to engage so they feel like they got a real experience. So allow them to comment, allow them to ask questions, set up polls that they can participate in.
Create these opportunities for engagement while you stream and then of course, thank your families, thank you students, thank your presenters for taking the time to join you in an experience that can be a little strange for folks who are used to having those engagements be face to face.
If you have questions about live-streaming that I didn’t answer or want to talk with me about how to engage students and families online, just book a free Strategy Session with me at www.dogoodcomms.com. I am happy to help you out and thank you for joining me for today’s blog post.
Have a great day!
As a bonus, you can Download your Free Social Media Guide For Educators Now.