Christmas lunch is over, the fire is crackling merrily, the Queen’s speech is on and you think you had better tweet because you haven’t all day. Stop. Put the laptop down. Enjoy Christmas.
We all need a break, and that includes from social media. You don’t want to be worrying about what’s happening online when you’re trying to enjoy the festive season with family and friends. So to ensure you and your social media get the most out of the festive season, I’ve put together a list of a few things to think about before breaking up for Christmas.
1. Keep people informed
Make sure parents and carers are fully informed about when you’re closed and the fact that you’re hoping to take a break from the digital, as well as the nursery, world. Sharing a couple of posts beforehand explaining that you won’t be checking Facebook and Twitter so much over the holidays is a way to manage expectations.
Putting your holiday dates up on Facebook and if necessary sharing an emergency number for people to reach you on still shows you care but lets them know you’ll be taking a break too.
2. Share the burden
If everyone in the team checks the accounts just once and you all have a designated day then no one person is burdened with managing the social media accounts over the festive period.
You can still scale back, but at least this way you play it safe too and don’t allow an urgent enquiry to go unnoticed.
3. Take advantage of scheduling
Don’t stop activity all together. Schedule a few select posts to go out (there is an easy-to-use function on Facebook, covered in the previous instalment of this series) so the accounts still have some movement on them. Wish parents and staff a happy Christmas and say thank you, but don’t create noise for the sake of it.
4.Focus on the family
For you, your staff and your parents, this is a time for family, so any posts you do share should reflect this. Think of local activities, family-focused fun and ideas for keeping everyone entertained. By making your content useful, it will be appreciated at this busy – and sometimes stressful – time.
5. Enjoy Christmas!
As business owners, as nursery managers, it can be hard to switch off completely – but now’s the time. Enjoy a guilt-free break and some quality time with your loved ones and you’ll come back refreshed for an even bigger, better and beneficial year in 2016.
Kate Tyler is managing director of Shake Social, a social media agency for the early years
Tell us about your social media progress using #nwsocial on Twitter
The most popular network and the most powerful for nurseries. People can collect ‘friends’ and companies can collect ‘likes’ for their profile pages.
This real-time service is unrivalled for fast-paced, breaking news. Use hashtags (#) to group conversations together. Tweets are limited to just 140 characters.
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 and images, as well as video.
Google+
Although not as widely used as other social networks, Google+ does influence search-engine rankings.
Connects people for professional purposes.
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 recipienthas opened them.