While social media and Independent Examinations Board (IEB) matric results don’t sound like a natural fit, it turns out they are!
Having designed and developed school websites, produced school magazines and edited school newsletters, Flow has developed a good understanding of schools’ unique communications requirements.
Recognising the important and useful role played by social media, three of Johannesburg’s top schools enlisted Flow’s PR and social media expertise to assist them in sharing their 2016 matric results with the greater school community.
St Mary’s Waverley, St David’s Marist Inanda and Dainfern College tasked Flow with developing PR and social media campaigns that would enable the schools to get their matric results out to their respective communities and to the public in a timeous, cost-effective and relevant manner.
St Mary’s decided that it would do minimal print advertising, and focus on social media and PR to release its results.
In the weeks before the release of the IEB matric results on 30 December 2016, Flow focused on alerting the St Mary’s online communities on Facebook and Twitter to expect the matric results via social media. The online release was backed by the launch of a St Mary’s Instagram account, used to profile each of the matric girls. Facebook and Twitter posts were also promoted to friends of St Mary’s followers to reach the widest organic audience ahead of the results. This meant that any posts promoted that day would have a high “relevancy score”, which kept online advertising costs as low as possible.
Between midnight and 1am on 30 December, a flurry of tweets and Facebook posts went out. These summarised overall results, featured quotes from teachers, highlighted top achievers, and congratulated the girls on their results. The top two Facebook posts of the night reached almost half-a-million people, were seen over 700 000 times, were shared over 370 times, and garnered thousands of likes and hundreds of comments.
Congratulations to #StMarysMatric pupil, Sophia Mayet, who achieved 8 distinctions in the 2016 IEB #MatricResults2016 pic.twitter.com/Uzj43Gmp0b
— St Mary's Waverley (@StMarysWaverley) December 30, 2016
The St Mary’s Twitter account also trended on 30 December! A great result that proved being part of the #matricresults2016 conversation as it broke, and having well-prepared content ready to go live, gave the social media coverage a huge boost.
St David’s Marist Inanda also received fantastic coverage on its social media accounts, on television and in print press releases. Four St David’s pupils were on the IEB Outstanding Achievers’ List, which means their results were in the top 1% of all IEB matrics in more than five subjects. The Flow PR team ensured that as many students as possible were available to talk to the media, and even organised for television crews to be at the school to interview those pupils who went in to get their results.
Dainfern College also achieved phenomenal results, with students being mentioned on the IEB Outstanding and Commendable Achievers’ lists. Some Dainfern students were also interviewed on air by Radio 702.
The logistics
On 29 December 2016, a contingent of Flow PR and social media experts were in the office long after the sun had set, working on the already established game plan for the release of the matric results.
The plan included:
- Developing PR and social media strategies
- Compiling press releases to be sent out to the media, with a focus on top achievers in mathematics and science
- Uploading targeted messaging on social media networks to inform followers when and where the results could be found
- Making contact with various media houses to lobby for interviews with potential top achievers
- Employing Facebook and Twitter tracking code on websites to target social media posts at those who had visited the school websites
It was the first time the PR studio had worked with matric results releases, but the team had discussed and planned for the day months in advance, not sure exactly what to expect, but determined to be as prepared as possible.
“Journalists and producers we had emailed and called before about the results were on holiday; kids we wanted to set up interviews with were overseas or out of town. But we adapted, found new contact numbers, secured television interviews, got radio interested, organised a Skype interview ... things were happening!” says Flow PR account director Nicky Smith.
“It was wonderful to be part of a campaign that organically adapted on the day and created its own momentum. Everyone felt part of something important and special – we were all inspired by the students and proud to profile the hard work they put in.”
Flow CEO Tara Turkington said, “Flow would like to thank the schools we worked with for trusting us to manage the online broadcast of their 2016 IEB matric results. All the results were impressive and we wish the matric class of 2016 a successful and exciting journey beyond the gates of high school.”
