The Yearbook World of Scott Geesey
from Jostens Yearbooks of central/northern Pennsylvania
ARCHIVE - SEPTEMBER 24, 2021
PROMOTION: It's Way More Than Just Selling Stuff
Hello! We're now weeks into the new school year so things should be very busy right now.
But I've already heard far too many stories about disruptions, quarantines, no sub teachers, and even imminent school closings. Toss in the recent heavy rains and flooding in some parts of the neighborhood, and it's the "here we go again" feeling.
Once again fate is testing our perseverance. Are we up to the challenge - again? I think we are, so for your yearbook let's work together to remember the special stories of yet another special year.
Be sure to check out the September episodes of The Yearbooking Report in the right column. The feature this month is on working your new yearbook theme this year, coming up with a good one (think LOCAL) and then developing it in your book. Great advice, suggestions and inspiration!
Promotion is a lot of fun, yet most yearbook staffs do very little with it...
Our friend Casey Nichols, a multi-award winning yearbook adviser from California who is now one of our terrific Jostens Ambassadors, has a saying that I've taken to heart...
"Make your yearbook part of school life EVERY DAY."
Yes, EVERY day. But far too many yearbook advisers and staffs never really do much to fulfill Casey's idea. Let's change that right now with some simple ideas and advice...
YEARBOOK SHOULD NEVER BE A SECRET: I should make big signs with that line and send them to every school. But I frequently encounter yearbook kids and even advisers who WANT to treat yearbook as a closely guarded secret.
Big mistake, I think. Look at it this way: would you purchase other items sight unseen? A car? Clothing? The latest tech device? So why would it be a good idea to just spring the new yearbook on people at year's end without letting them know what they're getting?
The yearbook staff should never be some group meeting quietly in a backroom where no one has any idea what they're doing, only coming out periodically to snap some pictures and then disappearing again. It's time to get out in front of everyone and let them know the good work you're doing.
And there are plenty of great, fun ideas to do just that...
POST REGULARLY ON SOCIAL MEDIA: I keep mentioning this one and many yearbook staffs still pass up this FREE, easy opportunity to stay in contact with their audience.
Yearbooking is storytelling, in the book but also in other ways. As you hopefully gather as many stories about classmates as you can, start sharing some of them via social media to keep your school informed and entertained. Everyone has some story to tell and they ALL want to be recognized - do BOTH by posting simple images and storytelling captions on at least one social media platform.
Who can do this? If we're talking teens I KNOW there's at least one student who is a social media maven. That kid would LOVE to do regular social media postings for the yearbook staff. Enlist them, establish your social media outlet and cut them loose.
Need more help? Check out our new Jostens Social engine with tons of post ideas and materials for use every day. It's easy to use and even has a tie-in with Canva to help create your own unique messaging. Ask your Jostens representative for more information.
THOSE SCHOOL VIDEO BOARDS: It seems nearly every school has these somewhere, in the cafeteria or main hallway or elsewhere. Most people justy ignore them because they're rather boring with annoucnements and things the don't much care about.
Ask your IT folks for the opportunity to share student stories on the boards, preferably EVERY day. Again, a simple picture and a good caption would do it. Post those and watch students (and teachers!) start to pay attention to the screens as they find out interesting things about others in their school.
Let's do the math - if there are 180 days in a school year, and your group shares just two stories per day about different students, you're shared stories about 360 different people. Creating two stories, just a picture and caption, should only take 10 minutes.
But the return on that work would be huge - "wow I was recognized by having my story told." Big story or just something that happened recently, now we're seeing everyone at school as part of the family. The goal again: HOW MANY stories will you tell this year?
FUN YEARBOOK MEMES: People love these, they always get a chuckle or make people think. Why not use them as part of your yearbook promotion?
Don't know where to get meme images? Ask the kids, THEY KNOW. Then put something together with a cute line maybe aimed at a school sports rival or some current event happening. And end with "From your (book name) yearbook staff." Post on your social media outlet(s) or those video boards, sure to get attention.
ALWAYS BE VISIBLE:Again, never let yearbook be a secret. Let everyone know every single day that their yearbook staff is hard at work in covering the stories of the school year.
And when staffers go out to do their work, make them VERY visible so other students know "The yearbook is here!"
How to do that? Some staffs get their own yearbook t-shirts, hopefully colorful or bold, and they always wear those to events the staff is covering. Call it a uniform of sorts - never get caught out of uniform!
One "crazy" idea is to get a special yearbook hat, again colorful or bright or one that stands out. When you go out to gather new stories or cover an event be sure to wear the hat which is sure to be seen and recognized.
BOOK AND AD SALES:And all that staff promotion will ultimately help when it's time to let people know to buy a copy of your book, or perhaps a personal ad.
Instead of students not much caring, now the reaction should be "wow, those yearbook people are everywhere. And they told one of my stories. I think I'd like to get a book this year."
Same goes with personal ads, although those are usually purchased by parents or relatives. Always be reaching out to them via social media, email or phone calling. Ask your school to post blurbs on your school website page along with a direct link to purchase a copy of an ad. Our Jostens online ads tool is perfect for this.
Try these ideas above and you'll soon learn that good regular promotion is also a lot of FUN. Start that train rolling and watch interest and appreciation in your hard work increase, as well as your book and ad sales!