Head Start

Social Media
Marketing Guide
NATIONAL HEAD START AWARENESS MONTH
 Our mission is to coalesce, inspire, and support  
the Head Start field as a leader in early childhood 
development and education. 
 

Social Media Marketing for Head Start  

Have you ever noticed that when you search for an organization or a business, one of the first things that pops up is 
links to their social media sites? Even if only for that reason (and there are plenty more!) social media is ​very ​important. 
Simply having active accounts will bolster your web presence and make it easier for your target audience to find you. It 
will help you reach more people, especially younger generations of parents, and could even help increase enrollment 
numbers.  

If you are not using social media, you are missing out​. ​At this point, not having a social media presence is more costly 
than taking the time to learn how to manage one. ​Social media can help you reach families wherever they are. It can 
be difficult to reach parents with older methods—phone numbers, addresses, and emails all change, but social media 
accounts are the new constant. If you get people to follow you on social media and keep them interested, you can reach 
them when you most need to.   

The Benefits of Social Media Marketing    

What can it look like? 
1. By regularly using social media, your brand is showing up in 
conversations that your “customers” are already having and  Head Start programs can use social 
you are creating more opportunities to ​authentically  media to share: 
communicate​ ​your message and mission. 
   ● Updates, photos of kids, 
2. When you engage with your audience, you are creating a  information about upcoming 
connection and​ building trust and loyalty​ that will make them  events 
more likely to recommend your program to their circle of 
friends and families.   ● Articles and research to help 
  the families you serve support 
3. You have the opportunity to engage in conversations about  their children’s learning and 
topics your audience cares about and to ​position your  healthy development 
organization as a thought-leader​ ​in your field. 
● Projects you are working on, 
 
allowing parents weigh in 
4. Your posts help​ improve your search engine optimization 
(SEO), which helps your organization appear when people are  ● Videos that capture what a 
searching for your name or for a similar organizations and  day is like at your center 
keywords.    
  ● Features of your staff like 
5. Social media platforms can serve as an​ invaluable research  Morgan County Head Start 
tool​. ​The analytic capabilities, many of which are already built   
into platforms, can help you to develop a unique  ● Messaging that is aligned with 
understanding of your audience and what they are interested  your curriculum 
in. This can allow you to better serve your community. 

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 Our mission is to coalesce, inspire, and support  
the Head Start field as a leader in early childhood 
development and education. 
 

Overcoming Barriers  
Privacy concerns 
Make sure you have signed photo releases from caregivers before sharing photos online. If you have any existing 
materials for using photos for promotional materials, you may want to update it to include permission to post on social 
media. We encourage you to check how your families feel. We suggest starting with your parent council. 

If a family has concerns, you can always find creative ways to engage their child so that he or she is out of the frame 
while still capturing classmates. You can get them involved in another meaningful way by asking them to be your 
photographer’s “helper.” You can give them a toy camera to pretend to take photos with you or you can ask them to 
look out for good shots and get their opinion on which photos are best.  

The time investment 

At minimum, you should be posting 3-10 times each week​,​ more if you have capacity. When posting, you want to 
think about what times your audience will be more likely to see it. For example, here is the schedule that we try to keep 
to in regards to the frequency of our posts. It might not be feasible to maintain similar rates without a dedicated staff 
member, but you can start to see benefits even with a very minimal amount of time invested.  

  Monday  Tuesday  Wednesda Thursday  Friday  NHSA’s Posting Frequency 

y 
 
Facebook  2  2  2  2  2  Through trial and error, you can start to identify 
which times content performs best. At NHSA, 
Twitter  4  4  4  4  2 
we’ve found that weekdays between 1 - 8 pm 
Instagram  1  1  1  1  1  are the best times to reach our audience.  

LinkedIn  1  1  1  1  1 
 

It’s not necessary to have a dedicated person to get started, but if you can make that investment it’s very valuable to 
have someone focused on growing and engaging your audience. Here are three tips that can help you make the most 
out of your time. 

1. Crowdsource content 
Whether or not you have a dedicated social media manager, it is always helpful to crowdsource content. Every day 
there are hundreds of things happening simultaneously at Head Start. No one can be everywhere at once so ask your 
teachers to take advantage of modern technology and capture the moment. Some programs have policies in place to 
prevent staff from having pictures of their students on their personal phones. Many programs have found it useful to 
provide teachers with dedicated devices—anything from cheap digital cameras to tablets and ipads—that staff can use 
to take quick photos. This is a great way to help parents get a glimpse into their children’s curriculum.  

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 Our mission is to coalesce, inspire, and support  
the Head Start field as a leader in early childhood 
development and education. 
 

2. Schedule content 
 
 
Quick Tips. 
Make the most of your time by scheduling your content in advance so that you 
don’t have to sit down and post every time you want to engage your audience.  Spread the word. ​Tell 
We suggest using the built-in scheduling features on Facebook and Twitter or  everyone about your social 
using a ​social media management program​ ​that will allow you to schedule your  media channels, including 
posts. It can be helpful to have one platform that lets you manage everything  your staff. Put up signs that 
together.  show off your accounts and 
tell people why they should 
To get started, we recommend ​Buffer​, ​a free platform that allows you to  join them. Include links on 
schedule posts, analyze performance, and manage all your accounts in one  your website and emails.  
place. With the free plan, you can create one account that will link up to three 
social accounts (perfect for using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). You can  Do your research. ​When 
create posts on this platform and schedule when they are sent. This allows you  you are trying to find your 
to stretch out your content over a longer period so that you are not “spamming”  voice, it can be helpful to 
your audience with too much at once. Another great feature is the browser  find similar organizations 
extension and app. You can download the app so that if you find an article that  that you want to emulate. 
you would share on your phone, you can add it to your queue right there. The  Find out what’s working for 
browser extension works similarly and allows you to share without having to  them and what is not. Think 
open up another window.  about how you can apply 
similar tactics.  
If you’re interested in taking social media to the next level with a paid 
alternative, we recommend a platform like ​Sprout Social​ (which is what NHSA 
We have created a ​list of Head 
uses). It’s great for working with teams, allows you to assign tasks to staff and 
Start programs on Twitter​ that 
lets you set permissions for what actions a user can take. For example, if you 
can give you great ideas for what 
have a new employee you can mark his or her content to require your review 
excelling as an organization on 
before it posts. Platforms like Sprout have a lot of other great features, but for a 
Twitter looks like. 
smaller organization Buffer should be sufficient for getting started. 
 
  Keep in mind who your 
audience is. ​When you are 
trying to grow your 
audience, the ​most ​valuable 
interactions you can have is 
when people share your 
content—when that happens 
it is exposed to their friends, 
and you reach whole new 
groups of people. 

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 Our mission is to coalesce, inspire, and support  
the Head Start field as a leader in early childhood 
development and education. 
 

3. Be strategic about location 

Just like you should be using data to decide when and how often you post, you should also use data to determine 
where to post in the first place. Be strategic about which platforms you commit to spending time and energy.  

While there are many social media channels to choose 

from, the most impactful platforms for Head Start 
programs to focus on are Facebook, Twitter, and 
Instagram.​ If you have to choose only one, we 
recommend Facebook, ​which has the broadest user base 
and widespread adoption in many different communities. 
According to the Pew Research Center, 79 percent of all 
online Americans are on Facebook, and nearly nine out of 
ten online Americans between the ages 18 and 29 use it. 
While this is the best place for you to reach parents, you 
shouldn’t stop there.  

Twitter offers a powerful means of joining meaningful conversations with other organizations, policymakers, and 
thought leaders. ​Dr. Bergeron,​ Director of the Office of Head Start, first and foremost encourages programs to ​get 
on Twitter.​ ​Although it may take some work to get parents on board, this is the platform where many Head Start 
programs are heading, because it’s easier to connect with colleagues, promote your work, and share ideas. It also 
helps Head Start connect with the larger early education field. “I think this is another way that we can make sure that 
Head Start is out there and present,” Dr. Bergeron said. “We want you to link with your community, your philanthropist, 
your other non-profits so that you can create a virtual presence and people know that you're there.” 

If you have the capacity to choose three platforms, consider what your goal is in joining the conversation online. 
Instagram​’s focus on images leads to high rates of engagement and emotional connections and could help greatly with 
recruitment. ​LinkedIn ​is another beneficial platform that is great for associations in particular. It is dedicated to 
professional development and is a great place to share resources with your members, as well as to get involved in 
conversations and showcase your organization as a thought-leader in the field.  
 
Not sure which is best? ​Ask your families! Send out a survey and see which platforms they prefer.  

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 Our mission is to coalesce, inspire, and support  
the Head Start field as a leader in early childhood 
development and education. 
 

Best Practices 
Try to follow the 80/20 content rule. ​The content that    Use photos and videos. ​Content performs best when it 
you are posting should be 80% for the benefit of your  is paired with a visual. You can post photos from your 
audience, without any specific calls to action. This kind  center, designed graphics, or quick videos. Note that 
of content can be relevant articles about parents, early  videos perform best when they are posted locally to the 
education, or child development; pictures of a recent  site. So if you want to share a video on Facebook or 
activity at your center; etc. For the other 20% of your  Twitter, upload it to that post, don’t link it YouTube. 
content, you can direct the audience to an action or 
make an ask. This is the kind of content that you might  Build an image library. ​We suggest that if you don’t 
think of as a public service announcement, something  already have one, you start building an image library. 
announcing enrollment openings, or job posts.   Save all the best photos you have of your center and 
the children you serve to a centralized folder that you 
Speak your audience’s language.​ Make sure you are  can access at a later date. This will be extraordinarily 
using language that is accessible for your audience  helpful when you need to quickly pull an image to 
and will not alienate them. Watch out for language that  accompany a post. Also consider creating a Photo 
sounds like you are talking down to someone or taking  Submission Guide ​(something like this​)​ to share with 
too much credit, language that may be familiar to Head  staff to communicate what kinds of photos you are 
Start, but confusing to a broader audience, or language  looking for.  
that is inherently negative and isolating. Check out 
NHSA’s Summary of Words to Use and Words to Lose  Get creative. ​Keep in mind, you don’t have to be a 
on pg. 34 of our ​Head Start Language Playbook​ ​for  professional photographer, videographer, or designer 
more information.   to create content. Nowadays, everyone with a phone 
has the capability to capture any moment. There are 
Keep it short and simple. ​With digital media, you want  also plenty of free online tools that can help make your 
to get your message across as quickly and effectively  content incredible. Try one of the following to create 
as possible. Shorter content performs better.  easy, customized graphics that will make you stand out: 
Canva​, ​Adobe Spark​, ​Picmonkey​, or​ ​Pablo by Buffer​. 
Maintain quality. ​Make sure you use a high quality 
image that is optimized for the right dimensions. You  Communicate who you are and what you stand for. 
don’t want any stretched or pixelated images. A great  Every post is an opportunity to communicate your 
​ lways 
resource for optimization is Sprout Social’s​ A mission and your values. Instead of just posting a 
Up-to-Date Guide to Social Media Image Sizes​.  picture of kids doing an activity and commenting how 
  cute they are, use it as an opportunity to explain why 
Establish a consistent voice, look, and feel. ​Make sure  you are doing that activity and how it helps children’s 
that you reinforce your branding whenever you can.  development. Connect it to the broader narrative about 
Use your brand colors, font, and key messaging  Head Start. You can pull a lot of language from the 
whenever possible. Repetition is key. You aren’t doing  Language Playbook​ or our ​Head Start Explainers​,  
it enough until you feel like you are doing it too much!  
Be authentic. 

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 Our mission is to coalesce, inspire, and support  
the Head Start field as a leader in early childhood 
development and education. 
 

Additional Resources  

1. Office of Head Start’s Learning Module:​ ​Social Media Essentials for Getting Head Start Programs Connected 
This interactive learning module will help programs establish engaging social media profiles on Facebook, 
Twitter, and LinkedIn. Explore how these platforms can showcase your program and meet the needs of the 
communities you serve. First, learn to develop a social media plan. Identify any related policy, budgetary, and 
legal considerations. Then, get connected! 

2. Office of Head Start’s Guide:​ U ​ sing Social Media to Engage Families 

Use this guide to develop and manage a social media plan; identify your audience and connect your social media 
efforts to your program's mission; and create posts that are strengths-based, easy for readers to understand, and 
culturally and linguistically responsive. 

3. Twitter List​ ​of Head Start Programs 

Connect with other Head Start programs on Twitter with this curated list from the National Head Start 
Association. You can subscribe to the list to see all the content that programs are posting. 

4. The ​BIG Guide​ ​to Social Media for Nonprofits 

This free e-book is the most thorough and comprehensive guide to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, 
YouTube, and LinkedIn you'll find, and it is written especially for nonprofits.   

5. Up-to-date Guide to​ ​Social Media Image Sizes 

This guide covers the best image dimensions that you can use to create optimized graphics for each platform. 

6. Understanding the Metrics 

This guide covers what social media metrics are, why they’re important, how to find them and which ones you 
should be paying attention to. 

Engage with us! We love to see pictures of the kids we serve 

and encourage you to mention/tag us in posts. We love to share 
them with the NHSA community.​ If you have any questions or 
suggestions, feel free to contact ​marketing@nhsa.org​.  
 
Facebook ​- ​National Head Start Association 
LinkedIn ​- ​National Head Start Association 
Twitter ​- ​@NatlHeadStart 
Instagram ​-​ ​@NatlHeadStart 

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