www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org

Web strategy and action plan - Hands-on tips from European Schoolnet

4 September 2013

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org

European Schoolnet:

• Overview

Outline of the presentation

Digital communications strategy:

• 5 pillars • Examples of comms activities

from European Schoolnet

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org

European Schoolnet: network of Ministries of Education Aim: promote the best use of ICT in teaching/learning

http://itec.eun.org

http://www.saferinternet.org

To empower children to use

the internet safely

http://fcl.eun.org

Fully equipped,

reconfigurable, teaching

and learning space

developed by European

Schoolnet

www.etwinning.net

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org 4

w w w . e u n . o r g

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org

Digital communications strategy: 5 pillars

1) Analysis

2) Planning

3) Production

4) Maintenance

5) Monitoring/Reporting

5

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org 6

• Know your project: what is the goal? What is your audience? What is the message you want to convey? What is the timeframe? What resources do you have?

• Target audience Goal Activities (Comms channels)

• At proposal stage include your web/social media strategy in your communication plan (website, conferences, workshops, print products, videos, webinars and social media...)

• Check if the name is already taken www.namecheck.com (for website, social media accounts)

• Map your and your project partners’ channels and social media

• Map existing projects/channels on the field

Analysis and planning

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org

Make your choice

• Consider carefully the channels (website/social media accounts/newsletters) you want to have – Set up your website (CMS: wordpress) and social media accounts – if

needed

– Consider to coordinate editorial content between website/existing accounts

– E.g. for some of our projects we “use” European Schoolnet Facebook or Twitter accounts. E.g. iTEC (itec.eun.org) is promoted via European Schoolnet Facebook page; Twitter hashtag: #itec_eu. Bottom up approach: learning activities/videos realized by teachers

• Consider the audience, type of message – KeyCoNet (researchers): website + Slideshare + LinkedIn / no FB

– Scientix: website with teachers community, Twitter, no FB

– POLL: What is the best way to engage with your audience?

7

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org

Analysis and planning

• The decision of using social media can be reflected in the budget (and HR aspect) – Subscription to online tools to manage and schedule your posts

– Facebook ads or google campaigns require budget

– Buying pictures, filming, editing videos are additional costs

• Identify your “Champions” – E.g.: very engaged teachers/bloggers who contribute to the

content/project. They have already their networks – great booster!

• Cooperating with partners is essential – E.g. iTEC: our industry partners are very active on twitter

8

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org 9

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org

Production/maintenance • Once the website and social media accounts are set up - who is in

charge? – Integrate your social media within your website (e.g. AddThis)

– Collaborative work: involve partners, experts, participants at events

– Leadership: editorial coordination

• Consider using some tools: – for managing your social media (e.g. We use Sproutsocial: manage several

accounts, track conversations, assign tasks across the team, search keywords, report. Other tools:

– Hootsuite.com: social media dashboard, free up to 5 accounts

– TweetDeck.com: share contacts across accounts

– Socialbro.com: manage and analyse your twitter community

– for sending out newsletters (e.g. we use Mailchimp)

10

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org

Production/maintenance

• Create valuable content – Make your content readable, actionable, sharable

– Visual content

POLL: How would you best interact on social media with project participants or stakeholders?

• Social media is all about PEOPLE and ENGAGEMENT – Tweet back, thanks people who re-tweet you, like pages that shared

content with you, ask questions, join conversations on similar topic, reply to comments, be there!

• New demands should be analysed – Review the communications strategy every year: be flexible!

– E.g: Is this new tool/account going to bring any added value? E.g. we are re-thinking the social media strategy of inGenious and plan to have FB and Twitter (building new brand, sustainability vision)

11

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org

Monitoring/Reporting

• Monitoring your social media impact – It should not take place only at the end of your project

– Pay attention to your “peak events”: Twitter is extremely useful during your conference as “real time” social media

• Use reporting tools, depending on your organisation/budget – Facebook insight: free, offers quite in-depth analysis of your fb page

– Trendsmap: free, useful for hashtag maps

– Sproutsocial: not free, unlimited reporting (remember to link your social account to it since the start! Or you’ll miss your report)

12

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org 13

www.europeanschoolnet.org - www.eun.org

Questions/Doubts?

• Remember: always ask WHY!

• Any question?

Thanks!

Valentina.Garoia@eun.org

Find us on Twitter @eu_schoolnet

and facebook european.schoolnet

14