Social media - Plan for success

You wouldn't go on holiday without knowing how to get there and where to stay, or build a house without an architect drawing up some plans. Yet when it comes to representing your business online, we see countless nurseries diving headfirst in to social media without a plan in sight.

Firstly, be clear on who will be involved in creating content and managing your social media profiles. If it will be more than one of you, consider using Google Docs (see www.google.com/docs/about) or Google Sheets (www.google.com/sheets/about) for your plans.

Google Sheets allows you to create a spreadsheet (similar to Microsoft Excel) and give multiple people access. Crucially, all changes are saved as you go along, so whoever looks at it will always see the most up-to-date version (unlike with Excel, where different people might have different versions saved).

Next, draw up an overview of the planned activities happening in your setting during the month ahead. This can be as simple as what the children will be having for lunch one day through to outings, visits and special activities. Then, think outside of your setting. What else is happening that month that you might want to link in with? This might be events like Father's Day, the football World Cup, Comic Relief or something more local. You can then use this information to begin planning your social media messages.

Refer back to your strategy (see article 2 in this series). What are you trying to achieve? What do you want to be known for? How are you going to demonstrate that? Think about what you are most proud of. If you are focused on child-centred learning, or organic or locally sourced meals, demonstrate that -show it through pictures and children's comments, or sharing menus.

Always think about sharing images safely (see part 5 in this series) and be critical. Ask yourself whether, if you saw this post on your Facebook feed, you would click 'like' or 'share' it yourself.

Remember, parents and prospective parents will be forming opinions about you all the time. This approach ensures you are in control. It also means you have time to reflect; having a person checking a post before it goes up means spelling mistakes and double entendres can be spotted in advance.

And finally, don't forget to follow up. Make sure you plan for someone to check your pages daily and respond to any comments.

HOW TO SET OUT A SIMPLE SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN: AN EXAMPLE

Date: 01 July

Day: Wed

Focus: Healthy choices

Text: We take healthy food seriously at Sunshine Nursery. Look what the children are having for lunch today!

Image: Pic of children eating lunch.

Link: n/a

Who's responsible? Zoe

Date: 02 July

Day: Thurs

Focus: Outdoor activities

Text: Another great day with forest school!

Image: Pic of children planting seeds as part of forest school

Link: n/a

Who's responsible? Jill

Date: 03 July

Day: Fri

Focus: New parents

Text: Trying to decide which nursery will be best for your little one? We offer FREE taster days so you can see for yourself!

Image: n/a

Link: www.sunshine-nursery.co.uk/freetasterday

Who's responsible? Zoe

Date: 04 July

Day: Sat *CLOSED*

Facebook

The most popular network and the most powerful for nurseries. People can collect 'friends' and companies can collect 'likes' for their profile pages.

Twitter

This real-time service is unrivalled for fast-paced, breaking news. Use hashtags (#) to group conversations together. Tweets are limited to just 140 characters.

Pinterest

A virtual pinboard for all the things you love. Boards are based on different themes, with images 'pinned' on your board linking back to the website they came from.

YouTube

YouTube is now the second largest search engine in the world. Owned by Google, it is immensely popular and affects your online search rankings.

Blogs

A blog (web-log) is an online article or journal that can include text, images and video.

Google+

Although not as widely used as other social networks, Google+ does influence search engine rankings.

LinkedIn

Connects people for professional purposes.

Instagram

With its square format and retro filters, Instagram gives your images a polaroid feel. Only available for use on mobile phones, it is intended to be about recording the moment.

Snapchat

Allows users to create 'snaps' - photos or videos that only last for up to ten seconds once the recipient has opened them.

Kate Tyler is managing director of Shake Social, a social media agency for the early years

Let us know how you get on using the #nwsocial hashtag on Twitter

Tweet us at #nwsocial.