Benilde-St. Margaret’s school has been around for a long time, but the school’s marketing has changed drastically with an influx of new ways to communicate with people online. Recently, BSM has introduced an exciting new way of interacting with its community members via the internet. 

Social media has become an extremely popular way for schools to reach out to current members of the community as well as advertise to potential new members. “Since we started each of our tenures at BSM, we have implemented an all-encompassing digital marketing strategy that includes a greater emphasis on digital advertising efforts, social media, media relations, and video production,” Megan Peterson, the Director of Marketing and Communications at BSM, said.

BSM has several social media accounts, but one of their most followed is their Instagram page. They started their Instagram account over five years ago and have been posting consistently ever since. The page has over 3000 followers, many of whom are students and parents. In an effort to create a fun way to give back to the BSM community and get people involved, the marketing department has recently started to hold giveaways on the school’s Instagram page. “We hope to build community on social media while offering a spirited incentive for students, faculty staff, and BSM friends to join in the fun,” Peterson said.

The idea came from the Marketing and Communications interns at school, Maddi Zachman, Grace Driscoll, Olivia Pace, and Liv Schmitz, who recognized that many social media influencers use giveaways to interact with their followers. “We are also grateful for our interns, who provide student feedback that helps inform decisions on how best to connect with students,” Peterson said.

The rules for the individual giveaways vary. For example, during the Community Dress Up Day Social Media Giveaway, entrants had to email a picture of themselves dressed in that day’s theme to [email protected]. In other giveaways, participants have been required to follow the account and/or comment using a specific hashtag. The giveaways have included gift cards for the spirit shop along with other fun items that go along with the giveaway’s theme. There’s no need to worry about bias as the winners are chosen randomly. “For each giveaway so far, the winners have been selected using an online generator that chooses a random name from all the valid entries according to the requirements we’ve set for the giveaway,” Eden Garman, BSM’s Marketing & Communications Specialist, said.

Make sure to follow BSM’s Instagram and look for giveaway posts during holidays or weeks with designated school-wide themes if you’re looking to win big! The giveaways have been very successful and fun for the community, so expect many more to come in the future. “Our team plans to continue to host social media giveaways in the months ahead,” said Peterson.