PTA-UK MINI GUIDE

Social Media...

...all your PTA needs to know

Social media is here to stay. It can help your PTA raise its profile and stay in touch with its members. So here’s PTA-UK’s whistle stop guide to help you get going.

What is social media?

Social media covers a broad range of web and mobile technologies including internet forums, weblogs and podcasts. What makes it different from more traditional forms of technology, such as your PTA website, is it enables a two way discussion - between organisations, communities and individuals – helping your PTA to build a relationship with its supporters. Social media has several key benefits:

1. Push messages: once a supporter signs up to stay in touch with your PTA through social media, you have an open door to push out your messages. Social media is accessible on mobile devices, so you can stay in touch with busy parents on a daily basis.

2. Start talking: social media is all about online conversations. Your PTA is able to push out messages and your members will be able to respond. 

3. Data protection: one of the reasons PTA-UK likes social media is that it helps overcome data protection issues involved in your PTA gathering and managing endless lists of parent emails. The individual subscribes and continues to manage their involvement and can easily unsubscribe without your PTA having to collect or store a single piece of data.

What social media are PTAs using?

 Facebook would allow your PTA to develop a web presence as an open or closed group or as a ‘page’. Facebook enables your PTA to post events, invite attendees, upload pictures, chat with supporters and conduct quick polls Twitter is a ‘microblog’ limited to 140 characters. Once you get the hang of ‘Tweeting’, you’ll be amazed at how much you can say in so few words. There are concerns about using social media particularly about protecting the privacy of users. Think carefully about how you want to use social media and consider the different options available so that your PTA gets the right level of control before getting started.

Check it out

PTA-UK has a Facebook www.facebook.com/Parentteacherassociationsuk and Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/PTAUK presence. Both are linked to lots of PTAs giving you a quick and easy way to see how others are already using social media.

TOP TIPS

1. Find your social media expert – there’s bound to be one at school, so get them involved.

2. Link your Facebook and Twitter accounts so that you only have to update once.

3. Post, post, post... the more active your PTA is, the more likely you are to attract followers.

4. To get the communication going, run a competition to celebrate the ‘contributor of the week’.

5. Use social media to link to local companies; it’s a great way to highlight and thank businesses for their support.

PTA-UK INFO

If you need more guidance take a look at our brand new online Info sheet – PTAs and Social Media

www.pta.org.uk/informationlist/100088/100156/100653/promoting_you_pta/ 

PTA-UK Magazine April 2012

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