Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Planning for Social – A Small Not For Profit Takes the Next Step with a Social Media Assessment Survey
The Preschool Learning Center (PLC), a small school for the developmentally disadvantaged in rural upstate NY , is like most not for profits: overworked, understaffed, a heart of gold and a very limited budget. There is probably no better program for kids with autism anywhere and certainly not in the markets they serve.
We helped them build their website in 2008 and it has been moderately successful for them. It has provided them reach throughout their marketing region and it has attracted a large number new job applicants. But they wanted to do more but were having difficulty seeing their way through the many options for communications and sharing. They attended the Getlisted.org Local University seminar in early November and learned a great deal about the relative strengths and weakness of the possible directions they might take their local & social efforts on their limited budget. At the seminar Matt McGee offered them this tidbit to help them get clarity: If you want to know where your clients are online, ask them.
It was advice that the PLC took to heart. Gerry Guild, the staff psychologist, put together a Social Media Assessment (available here) that did just that and gathered the exact information that they needed to craft a path forward for improved communications with their clients.
I think the results of the survey are telling. The results and the survey also provide an excellent framework for any small organization with similar questions about how to move forward in the complex social media landscape. The PLC survey puts communications with the client first and it models a process that every not for profit (or any smaller organization) should think about following to better understand where they should put their on line marketing and communication priorities.
Preschool Learning Center Social Media Parent Assessment Report
12/21/11
A questionnaire (see attached) was distributed to all PLC and Head Start parents. Fifty-nine (59) were returned amounting to a 45% return rate. Some very interesting results were obtained from this inquiry and they are summarized below by media mechanism. I have included some recommendations that follow from this data with regard to how we should proceed with this new knowledge. This summary is followed by the list of written parent suggestions and comments. Following the parent comments I have provided the specific data and then a copy of the original questionnaire.
Email: Ninety one (91) percent of respondents indicated that they have and use an email account. Thirty six (36) percent only check their email occasionally (which is less than several times a week) while a total of thirty seven (37) percent check it throughout the day or daily. Seventy five (75) percent of respondents indicated that they would like to be kept informed through email.
Facebook: Eighty six (86) percent of respondents indicated that they have a Facebook account. Forty six (46) percent said they check their account throughout the day or almost daily. Ninety (90) percent of respondents would like to be kept informed through Facebook and would like the opportunity to engage the school and other parents through such a medium.sharing mechanism would be helpful.
Blog: Seventy nine (79) percent of respondents would like to learn, or would absolutely appreciate the opportunity to learn through a PLC blog with quality articles relevant to early childhood, parenting strategies, and intervention strategies.
Website: Sixty seven (67) percent of parents were aware of our website while a full thirty three (33) percent were not even aware of it. Eighteen (18) percent use the site regularly for the calendar, email contact, closings, news, special events, and autism resources. One parent noted that she refers parents of newly diagnosed children with autism to our site for help understanding the disorder.
Recommendations: The information age is upon us and a large and representative percentage of the parents we serve are embracing contemporary communication technologies. Ninety (90) percent of respondents enthusiastically indicated that they would like to engage the school and it’s associated communities through Facebook. Roughly three quarters of respondents would like to be kept informed through email and nearly eighty (80) percent would like to learn more about early childhood, parenting, and intervention issues through a PLC Blog. Adding a blog and a Facebook page is advised by Internet marketing strategists as a way to build Internet site traffic and thus build awareness within the local community. As competition intensifies this three level Internet presence would likely prove to be a highly effective and efficient way to leverage awareness and build enrollment.
Parent Comments
“…it is nice that you’re looking into better ways to communicate with the busy families you serve.”
“Emails would be most helpful – a link to [your] website would be useful when info is changing or updated.”
“A Facebook page would be helpful. Most people have an account with Facebook these days.”
“[The] More internet based information the better: saves on the paper piling up. Also helps to keep us as parents, quickly informed.”
“Would love to help with Facebook page.”
“It would be nice to see what is going on around the school. Being that we live so far away I don’t get to the school as often as I would like.”
“So many papers get sent home and I lose them or forget about an event. A Facebook or email reminder would be great.”
“I think a blog would be very helpful to open up Contact/Communication within the PLC community and beyond. Also email or text alerts for emergency closings, etc., would be helpful.”
A couple parents noted that they are already inundated with electronic information and would appreciate it if only essential information was sent this way. One parent requested summaries of content upfront.
Some additional recommendations were made with regard to the website including:
- “Forms I could print off, both school forms & other agencies (WIC, NYS Parks Handicapped Applications as an example) or more links to other forms of assistance.”
- “Have a Parent’s Corner; managed & created by a Parent Committee.”
- “Resources would be great to have readily available on your website. Parents could access information conveniently. Info such as milestones, referral information, contacts, teacher emails, etc., would be very beneficial to any parents of currently enrolled students or parents enquiring about information to enroll their child.” (these resources are already available on the website)
Detailed Data
Do you correspond with others using email?
- – No – not at all. 9%
- – Yes, but only occasionally. 36%
- – Yes, several times a week. 17%
- – Yes, almost daily. 15%
- – Yes, daily. 3%
- – Yes, I check it throughout the day. 19%
If the PLC used email as a means to communicate news and information with parents, would you find it helpful?
- – No. That would have no value to me. 15%
- – I do not know if it would be helpful. 9%
- – Yes – it would be nice to be kept informed this way. 48%
- – Absolutely – I would appreciate such communication. 27%
Do you use Facebook?
- – No – not at all. 15%
- – Yes, but only occasionally. 22%
- – Yes, several times a week. 17%
- – Yes, almost daily. 17%
- – Yes, daily. 5%
- – Yes, I check it throughout the day. 24%
If the PLC had a Facebook page, would you find it helpful to connect to our site for information, goings-on, and connecting with others?
- – No. That would have no value to me. 10%
- – I do not know if it would be helpful. 15%
- – Yes – it would be nice to be kept informed this way. 36%
- – Absolutely – I would appreciate the opportunity to engage the school and other parents in such a way. 38%
Do you use Twitter?
- – No – not at all. 91%
- – Yes, but only occasionally. 9%
- – Yes, several times a week. 0%
- – Yes, almost daily. 0%
- – Yes, daily. 0%
- – Yes, I check it throughout the day. 0%
If the PLC provided a Twitter feed, would you find it helpful
- – No. That would have no value to me. 66%
- – I do not know if it would be helpful. 25%
- – Yes – it would be nice to be kept informed this way. 5%
- – Absolutely – I would appreciate such an information source. 3%
If the PLC provided quality blog articles relevant to early education, parenting strategies, and interventions for specific needs, would you be likely to check it out?
- – No. That would have no value to me. 14%
- – I do not know if it would be helpful. 7%
- – Yes – it would be nice to be kept informed this way. 48%
- – Absolutely – I would appreciate an opportunity to learn new things this way. 31%
Are you aware of and do you use the PLC’s website (http://preschoollearningcenter.org)?
- – No. I wasn’t aware that there was one. 33%
- – I knew about it, but I never actually go there. 12%
- – I have been to the site but don’t use it regularly. 37%
- – I use it often for: (see website summary page 1 for details) 18%
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Comments
7 Comments
Good survey. Interesting results. Less than half responded. Yet every parent must respond multiple times over the year. They pay tuition. They must have interactions with the school and faculty. With that slightly less than 1/2 responded to the email. With all that, slightly more than half didn’t think it was important to respond. ah…well.
Some results surprised me. Interest in FB was slightly higher than email. Communications methods keep changing. When will interest in using FB wane and something new arise?
If that same school was in a very urban area, I wonder if the usage statistics would have been dramatically different?
I think it’s impressive that parents are already offering to help with a social media presence! It shows that it’s something they really want.
Mike,
What a super post. Reminiscent of the vacuum cleaner business article you did a year or two back in that is really lays out what was done and how. This is worth reading and re-reading.
@Earlpearl
To me, the response rate was very high. Some % didn’t see it, some were out of town, some were otherwise occupied. The fact that the so many responded was impressive to me. The volume of responses was also adequate in terms of validating the statistical value of the of the answers. For example it is very likely that amongst all hundred and some parents, very few ever use Twitter.
RE Facebook v Email
While the usage of Facebook might be slightly higher, I would presume, given the very short half life of a facebook post, that it practical usage important information sent by email is more likely to be seen within the week.
RE Rural vs. Urban
Great question. I don’t really know. I am sure that the PLC could analyze this information on the residency of the parents. Quite of a few of the families live in Buffalo or the nearby Buffalo suburbs and commute, out of their way, to get their child to this school. I am not sure you should generalize these results although I think youprobably can.
@Anna
Yes, it is impressive. Obviously, despite the rural nature of the school and the high percentage of lower income families, the parent are very engaged.
@Miriam
Thanks. I thought the survey was incredibly well done. Both the survey iteslf and the results should be used both others as a guide for small nfp getting involved in social. I think the clarity with which they approached the issue is refreshing. They also recognized that just because email is “old” doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a critical role to play in their communication process. And most importantly, they viewed it ALL as forms of communication.
Gerry Guild here. I am responsible for the work Mike is referencing. Appreciation for one’s work does indeed feel good. Mike appropriately spread the credit about, but he humbly under credited himself.
I felt good about the return rate. We historically have had difficulty getting parents to return paper work and this is not unique to our population. Admittedly the data, as with all survey data, is skewed by the characteristics associated with those who saw fit to devote their precious time to such a task. All in all, the returns constitute a sufficient proportion on which one can make reasonable assumptions.
I cannot analyze the data by geographies, as the questionnaires were confidential by default. Urban residents, in our catchment area, constitute outliers. We largely serve rural and suburban settings – and generally the families we serve are on the lower end of the income spectrum – although this is certainly not universally true.
Frankly I was surprised by the high use of facebook among our consumers – but I am surrounded by colleagues who are not very tech savvy. I believe that if we had our staff complete this questionnaire, we would have very different results. It is important to note that our staff is not representative of the population at large – it is skewed to the more mature end of the spectrum. This reality poses a challenge for me, as it is a barrier to implementation of the recommendations generated.
Thanks to Mike for sharing this data. I hope it proves helpful to you all.
Gerry
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