CTE Social Media Tips and Strategies October 2022

Office of Career and Technical Education & Student Transistion Services Social Media Tips and Strategies October 2022 Jakki Vink Wiseman Professional Development Education Associate

SO WHY USE SOCIAL MEDIA? If you are around our target audience (13-18 year olds) for any amount of time, you already know how much time they spend on their phones and other electronic devices.

We also know how much of that time is spent on social media platforms. The visual aspect of Instagram is a great way to showcase the hands on learning that Career and Technical Education is known for.

Parents are also on social media and statistics show that Facebook is a great way to reach them. These would be current parents as well as parents of future students.

Social media is also an effective way to reach and showcase business and industry partners. Publicity is always good for the partners and the exposure can possibly lead to finding and establishing new partnerships.

https://www.leveragestl.com/social-media-infographic/

BRANDING GUIDELINES Colors and consistency are key when you post on a regular basis. An easy way to do this is to pull from your center logo and/or district logo.

A website that makes this easy to do is https://coolors.co/ You can upload an image and then use the picker to pull and match the colors. Then you will have the RCB codes to recreate those colors.

WHY USE HASHTAGS?

Using a hashtag helps you reach your target audience, and likewise makes it easier for others to find your information. ... They reward the distinctive–Hashtags make finding information easier for social media users. A unique hashtag makes your message stand out to the users who find the hashtag valuable.

Hashtags are a way to connect social media content to a specific topic, event, theme or conversation.

NOTE: Make sure to research any hashtags that you plan to use on a consistent basis. You want to make sure they aren’t already associated with anything else, especially anything controversial!

Good resource for this is: https://hashtagify.me/ Please make sure to tag us #cteinsc This is an easy way for us to find your posts. We love to reshare what you are doing.

THEME DAYS These are great to use on a weekly/regular basis.

Some suggestions are: #WorkBasedLearningWednesday #CTEFactFriday #MakeaDifferenceMonday #CTSOTuesday #TeacherThursday #FullCircleThursday

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS Stats are an easy and eye catching way to spread good news about your school/career center/district.

Infographics are an effective way to present data in a clear and concise manner.

Canva.com is an easy program that has easy to edit templates to create them.

CTE RELATED RECOGNITIONS/EVENTS October - National Cyber Security Month October - National Farmer’s Day November - National STEM Day November - National Entrepreneur Day November - Small Business Saturday December - Focus on Soft Skills December - CS Week January - Law Enforcement Appreciation February - CTE Month March - Women in Construction Week March - Women’s History Month - Non-traditional careers April - Lineman Appreciation Day May - Teacher Appreciation June - National HVAC Tech Day I will continue to update this list as I find out about more related events.

SOME GREAT EXAMPLES: “Work smarter, not harder” - follow as many other CTE programs as possible, even if they aren’t in South Carolina. A great idea, is a great idea!

Click HERE for all the social media platforms for the CTE centers in South Carolina.

Some others to follow would be: https://www.instagram.com/ecppscte/ https://www.instagram.com/ctefornc/ https://www.instagram.com/coppellcte/ https://www.instagram.com/jordan_school_district_cte/ ● Great use of theme days/hashtags https://www.instagram.com/wwhscte/ https://www.instagram.com/dpisd.cte/ https://www.instagram.com/petalhighcte/ Please don’t forget to like and follow us: Facebook: cteinsc Twitter: cteinsc Instagram: cteinsc

CONTENT FROM ACTE AND ADVANCED CTE Applicable content is created by these two national organizations.

ACTE - https://www.acteonline.org/ Advanced CTE - https://careertech.org/

OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATION If you have a graphic arts program at your facility, this is a great opportunity for them to work with you as their “client” and create artwork for your social media platforms.

SHORT ON TIME? Feel free to use and adapt what I have created in the Graphics Library. Click HERE to access them.

NOT SURE WHAT TO DO? DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START? NEED SOME HELP? Don’t worry! We are here to help.

Please contact Jakki Wiseman, Education Associate for Professional Development.

We can set up a virtual meeting or I can come visit your location to help get you started.

Email: jwiseman@ed.sc.gov

Office Phone: 803.734.8455 Cell Phone: 803.250.5399