With graduation excitement in the air and summer just around the corner, your school’s marketing and communications team can focus on what’s next. With less students on campus and fewer community-wide events happening, summer social media can get pretty boring. We’ve gathered a list of all the things your school can do to keep your school community engaged all summer long.
1. Branded Summer Hashtag
Creating a branded summer hashtag will encourage your school community to tag you in their summer content which can be shared to your school’s profile. Social media content that feels more authentic to everyday community members will receive more engagement and spark a conversation.
2. Create Photo Submission Email
Some school community members might not be active or use hashtags on social media all the time. Make it easy for your students and alumni to submit photos for official school social media use by creating an email like photos@yourschool.com.
3. Summer Photo Contest
If you’re seeing low participation in submissions, encourage photo submissions by hosting photo contests all summer long with swag prizes. Each photo contest could be for a limited time with a specific theme.
4. Graduation Recap
The excitement of graduation will remain strong during the first few weeks of summer break. Don’t share the graduation photos all at once. Spread them out to keep the excitement going!
5. Event Recaps
Event recap posts are a great way to showcase all the events on campus throughout the year. Teach incoming families about the traditions and ongoing events they can look forward to this coming school year by sharing photos from previous years.
6. Build A Template Library
The summer weeks are a great time for your school’s marketing and communications team to prepare for the Fall. Whether your team uses Canva or Photoshop to design your branded social posts, this is a great time to give your templates an exciting refresh for the new year.
7. Experiment with Reels
Instagram Reels are rapidly growing in popularity – receiving an average of 22% more engagement than traditional video posts on Instagram. The school year is busy so learning new tools always falls to the bottom of your team’s to-do list. Take the summer to experiment with Reels to increase your school’s social media engagement.
8. Build Out Instagram Story Highlights
Instagram Stories may only be published for 24 hours, but they can become more permanent on your profile with Story Highlights. These are essentially story categories (for example: Sports, Student Life or Clubs) you can save to your school’s profile. These Story Highlights remain at the top of your school’s profile – bringing longevity to your story content.
9. Promote Summer Programs
Summer programs are a great introduction to what your school offers all year long. Make sure to capture photos throughout these programs to share on social media to build awareness and interest in these programs for next year.
10. New Student Information
Incoming students and their families are excited (and nervous) about the big change coming this Fall. Keep them up-to-date and send reminders for all the prep work they need to do before they arrive.
11. Take a Break During Holiday Weeks
The big summer holidays are peak vacation weeks. Families are off their phones, relieving stress and getting some summer sun. There’s no need to push out content for the sake of pushing out content during these weeks. Your team needs a break, too!
12. Celebrate Fun Social Media Holidays
Not every social post needs to be informative. Keep your social media feed light-hearted by celebrating the fun social media holidays. Here are some examples:
- June 3: National Donut Day
- June 5: World Environment Day
- June 21: World Music Day
- July 8: National Video Games Day
- July 17: World Emoji Day
- August 9: National Book Lovers Day
- August 15: National Relaxation Day
- August 19: World Photo Day
13. Show Off Progress
Donors want to know where their money is going. New sidewalks, painted classrooms and gardens may seem uneventful but they’re still important to share. Before and after photos are a great way to show off progress on campus.
14. Start A School Blog
Blogs are an effective way to drive traffic to your school’s website. Sharing blogs on social media increase the lifespan of your website content and can be re-shared time and time again.
15. Highlight Fall Calendar
Fall is a busy time of year for families. To increase in-person attendance for upcoming campus events, students and families need a Fall calendar so they can properly plan ahead.
16. Support Local Businesses & Events
Summer is filled with tons of fun local community and business events. Show your support by sharing their content and posting pictures of your school’s participation in the community.
17. Fundraising Updates
If your school is running a capital campaign or any fundraising event, the summer is a great time to share progress and remind your community of your goals. Showcasing all you want to accomplish in the Fall will help encourage your community to make donations.
18. Faculty Spotlights
Whether your faculty have been a member of your school for years or you’re welcoming new faculty members this Fall, students should get to know a little bit about them before they enter the classroom.
19. Student Handbook Change Announcements
If there are any changes to the student handbook starting in the Fall, use your social media profile to make a quick announcement. This will help avoid any surprises or confusion when students return to campus.
20. Back to School Prep
All families – not just the new families – will always appreciate help preparing for the new school year. Using social media, your school can make the transition a little easier by providing packing lists, to-do lists and other resources families might need before move-in.
21. Fall Sports Schedules
Nothing generates school spirit like sports! Share your Fall sports schedules on social media to get student athletes excited about their upcoming season. If your school’s teams have separate profiles, this is an opportunity to cross-promote which builds brand awareness.
22. Provide A History Lesson
Sharing old school photos from the school archives is a great way to increase engagement and spark conversation with alumni. Then and Now photos are your school’s opportunity to highlight your school’s mission of progressing education.
23. Re-Share Content From Other Sources
Not all social media content has to come directly from your school. When you’re running out of steam, there’s no need to create useless filler content. In fact, sharing content from outside credible, professional sources will increase your school’s exposure on social media.
24. Student Artwork Showcase
If your school is looking to promote more of your arts programs, curriculums and offerings, showcase your student profiles online!
25. Wish Good Luck to Recent Grads
Keep your recent graduates engaged with your alumni network by wishing them luck as they start their first semester of college. This is also a great time to highlight some of the fantastic schools students have recently been accepted to.
26. Student Spotlights
Make current students and their families proud of their accomplishments with a student spotlight. Prospective families are always looking for authentic content that shows what the student life is really like from the student’s perspective.
27. Updated Your Banner Photo
When was the last time you updated your Facebook or Twitter banner photo? If it’s been at least a year, it’s time for a refresh to reflect what matters most to your school this upcoming year.
28. Virtual Club Fair
The summer is a great time to show photos of every club and extracurricular activity offered on campus throughout the school year. New and incoming students will gain a better sense of what’s available and what they’d like to try when they arrive.
29. Preseason Training
Capture photos of your student athletes hard at work on the field, preparing for the exciting Fall sports season to come.
30. Alumni Spotlight
Similarly to faculty and student athletes spotlights, Alumni Spotlights create authentic content that builds trust and credibility with prospective families. These spotlights can highlight post-grad accomplishments or discuss their favorite memories of their time on campus.
31. Back to School Countdown
A quick and easy way to fill your social media calendar is a back to school countdown!
32. Orientation
As you near the end of summer, new students are going to have orientation on their minds. Provide incoming families with some information about what they can expect to do during orientation.
33. Move-In Day
After orientation, the next big end-of-summer event is move-in day. This is an exciting day where the whole school community comes together to reconnect with friends as well as welcome new families. Use social media to help families prepare for move-in day and share photos throughout the day!
34. Head of School Welcome Letter
Start the school year off with a letter from the Head of School welcoming everyone back to campus. A personal touch will ensure families are making the right choice in your school.
35. First Day of Class Celebration
Whether they’re freshmen or seniors, the first day of school is a big deal. Celebrate the first day of school on social media to keep the excitement going!
With over 20 years of combined experience in admissions and marketing, Katava Marketing can build your school a website that will have a positive impact on your school’s enrollment. Contact Us to get started!
