A webinar presented through Early Childhood Investigations (earlychildhoodwebinars.com)

1. Increasing Enrollment
and
Enhancing Parent Engagement
Using Social Media and Online
Communication Tools
Fran Simon, M.Ed.
#ECEwebinars
1

3. Today we will cover--
• What parents care about and need
• Enrolled families vs. parents seeking care
• Digital techniques
• Overview of social media
• Facebook, Pinterest
• (and maybe) Twitter, LinkedIn
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 3

4. It is not about the technology, the
tools, or the media.
This is about
relationships.
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 4

5. Before they enroll, and once they
are enrolled…
it is critical
to engage families
* Educating * Demonstrating * Marketing * 5

6. Why Engage? Family-School Engagement
Research Says …
* positive outcomes * school-readiness *
* increased motivation * higher self esteem *
* lower suspension rates *
* less violent behavior *
* better graduation rates *
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 6

7. What parents care about
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 7

8. All parents,
regardless of their age,
race, ethnicity, gender,
class, socio-economic
status, or culture,
want, need, and
expect the same
things
from their child’s earliest
learning experiences…
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 8

9. Parents expect their children to be physically
and emotionally safe...
…to be appreciated for their unique and
special qualities
…to learn in enriching environments
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 9

10. Do you communicate with parents
based on what you know
They need, want and expect? Do
you LISTEN as much as you talk?
-OR-
Do youTell them what you
need them to know?
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 10

11. 80 / 20
Communication
80% 20%
Child-specific, Need to know,
personal, instructions, details,
individualized group-centric
Listen Inform
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 11

12. Why
are online communication
tools so important for
enrolling and engaging
parents?
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 12

13. Information moves at the
speed of light
Parents are
overloaded!
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 13

14. Digital natives
expect
everything at
their fingertips
To engage you
have to do so
on their
terms
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© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012

15. The connection
between your website,
social media, and
enrollment
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 15

16. REPEAT AFTER ME…
Every program must have
a website
AND
Parents MUST be able to find and use it
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 16

17. Your website is the
hub!
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 17

18. DIY and Semi-Custom
Custom
• Internal I/T
• Contract developers
18
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012

19. Hubs/Forums - Internal Website tools
for school to family and family to
family communication
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 19

20. Engaging
in a digital world
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 20

21. Poll
Your relationship with social media
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 21

22. If you could have only one reason to use
social media to impact
enrollment,
it should be
to increase SEO and traffic to
your site
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 22

23. SEO = Search Engine Optimization

24. If you could have only one reason to use social
media to impact
family engagement,
it would be to
Reach families how , when , and
where
they communicate
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 24

25. EVOLUTION Before Social Media
One To Many
Now
Many to
Many
25
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012

26. Communication Evolution
Before Social Media
Push out messages
EVOLUTION
Social Wisdom
Inviting INTERACTION
Listening
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 26

27. Parent Engagement Evolution
Conventional Wisdom
• Tell
• Inform
• Educate
EVOLUTION
Social Wisdom
• Invite to engage with you
• Give them reasons to say good things
• Help them engage with one another
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 27

28. Social Media Myths from the resisters!
It’s just for kids.
 Privacy! Yikes!

29. Social Media Myths from the happy camp!
 It’s easy!
 It’s FREE!
 Build it and they will come.
 It’s INSTANT!
 College kids are gr8 at it!
 It will increase ENROLLMENT! 29

30. Social Media Realities
 It is high-impact
 IT ENHANCES SEO& TRAFFIC TO YOUR
WEBSITE!

31. Professional Social Media
is art and science that takes:
• Openness
• Planning
• Policies • Persistence
• Training

32. Poll
Professional Development
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 32

33. Get buy-in and
Board support from the
Funders program
“ecosystem”
I/T
Director
Community Main Office
Partners
Tech Lead
Teachers
Vendors Support Staff
Families
Copyright, Simon and Donohue

34. Empower your teams…
…with positive social media policies
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 34

35. The right mix of engaging info
“What’s in it for me?”
My child.
My child’s class.
What’s going on
My child’s teacher
What do I need
to know?
20%
Info
80%
About relevant, useful information
and two way communication
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 35

36. Social Media
The sites where people
congregate to engage
36

37. • Blogs
• Email Newsletters
• Digital Ads
• Websites
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Directories &
Rating sites
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 37

38. • Blogs
• Email Newsletters
• Websites
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Text messaging
• Private website
networks
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 38

39. • LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Text messaging
• Private website
networks
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 39

40. Poll
Anout which tools do you want to
learn?
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 40

41. What’s a blog?
“Web log”
Conceived as
online journals Blogs in Plain English

42. Blogs and Websites? 03
Blogs Websites
Personal Formal
Invite interaction One to many
communication
Immediate Reviewed and edited
Weave in links to Intended to keep the
other sites, blogs visitor on the site
Focused, current, Comprehensive:
and topical products, services,
Updated frequently More static (except
news, sales, press)

43. Why Blog? Increase SEO 03
Attract people to your site
Provide cravable content
Humanize

44. Read B4 blogging
For Educators
• Teach Preschool http://www.teachpreschool.org/
• Pre-K Pages http://www.pre-kpages.com/blog/
For Families
NAEYC’s Families Blog: http://families.naeyc.org/blog
Policy
• Birth to Thrive Online: http://birthtothrive.thrivebyfivewa.org/
• Early Ed Watch: http://earlyed.newamerica.net/blogmain/
•Preschool Matters Today: http://preschoolmatters.org/

46. Business pages

47. © Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 47

48. © Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 48

49. Gr8 Examples of ECE on
Facebook
•Teach Preschool * 50,000 + (WOW!)
• Bright Horizons
• Child Care Resource Center, Ohio *
•NAEYC
• National Head Start Association
•Teaching Strategies
• Language Castle
• The InvestiGator Club
• Early Childhood Investigations

50. Like an art gallery. A visual Internet with
your friends as docents.
Pinterest

51. Addictive

52. © Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 52

53. Twitter
“Microblogging” 14 characters or less
Most often with links to information

54. Decoding Tweets
@Twitter ID (@ECEwebinars)
A tweet to a specific person that is visible to all
RT @Twitter ID= ReTweet (RT @ECEwebinars)
Broadcasting someone else’s tweet
D TwitterID (D ECEwebinars)
A direct message to a specific person
# = Hashtag
Hashtags define topics so they are searchable

55. #ECE #parents
#earlyed #naeyc
#prek #ecetech
#preschool #headstart
#childcare #HSprofs

56. Decoding links and hashtags

57. Hashtags for conferences and chats
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 57

58. ReTweeting
© Fran Simon Copyright, 2012 58

59. LinkedIn
It’s not just for job searching
59

60. GROUPS!
60

61. Questions for me?
Fran.Simon@ESbyFS.com