Comms Room is thrilled to have the opportunity to hear from Manager of Social Media and Campaigns at the NSW Department of Education Liz Grey.
Liz, who is a speaker for the upcoming 19th Annual Social Media for Gov, shares her invaluable insights on community building for brands via social media.
To identify and prioritize key audiences for our social media efforts, we start by conducting thorough research into the digital behaviours of our target audience. This involves understanding which channels they are most likely to use, the type of content they prefer, and where they typically seek information and entertainment. Given that our primary audience is current and prospective parents of NSW public schools, we focus on gaining insights into how they engage with social media.
Once we have a clear understanding of their online habits, we tailor our strategy to align with their preferences and behaviours. Our goal is to deliver the right information in a way that resonates with them, ensuring that our content is both understandable and engaging. In this process, we aim to strike a balance between our strategic objectives and the needs and desires of our audience, meeting them where they are to achieve the best results.
Facebook has proven to be our most effective platform for building a community around the NSW Department of Education’s brand, not only among parents but also interestingly among schools. With 2,200 public schools across NSW, the majority have established their own Facebook pages. The department’s global channels act as a central ‘parent account,’ and schools frequently share department content that is relevant to their local context. This collaboration works both ways—schools create content that we then feature on the department’s channels, effectively ‘opening the school gates’ to the broader community.
Additionally, Instagram is emerging as a growing community for us. As a younger demographic begins entering parenthood, they are increasingly seeking information about education for their own children on this platform. This trend makes Instagram an important channel for engaging with the next generation of parents
One of our most successful community-building initiatives is the #LoveWhereYouLearn campaign, which has proven its longevity and impact. Schools across NSW use the #LoveWhereYouLearn hashtag to share content that highlights the unique and inspiring aspects of their environments. My team actively monitors this hashtag, selecting the best content to feature on the department’s channels. This approach leverages authentic, user-generated content to showcase the incredible things happening within public school gates to both current and prospective parents.
For example, in the last month alone, we’ve seen 1.9k instances of the #LoveWhereYouLearn hashtag being used across NSW. Recently, we shared a video originally posted by a school using this hashtag, and it has since been viewed over 5 million times. The success of this video has encouraged more schools to use the hashtag, further amplifying the campaign’s reach. As parents engage with this content, it fosters trust and confidence in NSW public education, demonstrating the campaign’s effectiveness in strengthening our online community.
As a government agency, we are well-acquainted with receiving criticism on social media. To manage this, we closely monitor our channels from 9 AM to 5 PM each day, keeping an eye on any mentions of our handles and broader discussions involving the NSW Department of Education. It’s crucial that we respond to issues or questions raised on social media, but we do so with a critical eye to avoid escalating the situation.
Our approach is to always provide the most up-to-date and relevant information in response to feedback or criticism. We maintain a friendly and polite tone, guided by the principle of “when they go low, we go high,” as Michelle Obama famously put it. If a conversation begins to spiral out of control, we aim to take it offline to address the concerns more effectively.
Additionally, we hide any responses that violate our community guidelines or rules of engagement, ensuring that our social media environment remains positive and respectful for everyone involved.
AI is an exciting area for my team, and it’s increasingly becoming a part of our daily social media practices. I’m particularly enthusiastic about how AI can be harnessed to create next-level content and to enhance protections for young people online. The potential for AI to drive innovation in digital content while ensuring a safer online environment is something we’re keen to explore further.
Looking ahead, I predict that brand communities in the education sector will trend towards smaller, more engaged groups. Our research indicates that key audiences prefer communication at a local level with people they know and trust. Therefore, our challenge will be to effectively tap into these local channels and create a more targeted communication strategy to better reach and engage parents. By focusing on these more intimate, community-based interactions, we aim to build stronger connections and foster a more meaningful engagement with our audience.
Liz’s insights offers a deep dive into strategies that resonate with audiences and foster strong, lasting connections, especially with her extensive experience in managing social media across multiple platforms. Her expertise is sure to provide valuable takeaways for anyone looking to enhance their social media efforts.
Adrianne Saplagio is a Content Producer at Comms Room, where she combines her passion for storytelling with her expertise in multimedia content creation. With a keen eye for detail and a knack for engaging audiences, Adrianne has been instrumental in crafting compelling narratives that resonate across various digital platforms.
