Images_Digital_Edition_September_2019

www.images-magazine.com SEPTEMBER 2019 images 27 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT where you should ensure that you post more curated thought leadership content. ■ Track, plan, monitor and manage your strategy Calendars allow you to track, plan and monitor what is and what isn’t working, so you can tweak your content accordingly as you are going along. ■ Reach more people Using a calendar helps you reach a wider audience and plan content around events and holidays. Using these in the posts will help you reach a wider audience than a standard post. It’s great for businesses to be efficient and ensure they are on top of their social media strategy, but there is still room for spontaneity. Maintain a balance between planning and spontaneity, so that you can cover anything that pops up that may be relevant to your business. Remember, customers want a business with a personality, not just post after post... Andrew Langridge is from ETrader, one of the industry’s leading suppliers of websites to garment decorators across the UK. www.etraderwebsites.co.uk T he Welsh Government recently announced that, from September, schools in Wales will have to consider the guidelines on school uniform, which are there ostensibly to make uniforms more affordable, generic and gender neutral. This change to statutory guidelines undoubtedly poses serious questions for those working in the schoolwear sector, particularly the manufacturers and retailers offering school- specific options. Schools will have to show they have taken the guidelines into account, but there is nothing to force them to make changes to their uniform as long as the process has been transparent. As an association, we welcome the development on gender- neutral uniform. A significant number of our members already offer gender-neutral options, and we believe that students should be able to wear the elements of the uniform in which they feel most comfortable, as long as they honour the uniform and represent their schools. Changes to statutory guidelines on the quality and characteristics of a uniform could, however, leave schools in an incredibly difficult position. The Association advised the Welsh government on the true value of a high quality school uniform on many occasions – all without response. What we recommend is that a school’s uniform policy is sensible and takes into account the quality of garments and the value to parents and students. A cheaper uniform often means lower quality and less durability, which could leave parents spending more in the long run. Fast fashion is not in the interests of schools, parents, pupils or the environment. High quality, specific uniform lasts longer, is more durable and has less of an impact on the environment. We also know that school-specific uniform instils a sense of pride and belonging amongst students, as well as improving security and pupil safety outside of the school gates and on the journey to school. The actual cost of uniform is considerably below the wild estimates made in the media and schools tend to make the best decisions for their pupils. Most will understand that there is a good harmony between school-specific and generic uniform, and there is overwhelming support for a balanced uniform from the vast majority of parents. A social calendar is a great way for your business to improve its online marketing efficiency and work weeks, or months, in advance. With businesses using so many social media platforms, it can be a daunting task to stay on top of it and plan accordingly. But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming; using a social media calendar allows you to plan and schedule campaigns for maximum impact, and it will also help to identify any gaps that may need plugging. Managing your social media schedule also allows you to tailor your campaigns to certain times of year, focus on specific events and seasonality, and maximise your inbound efforts. To help plan your calendar, there are hundreds of templates available online, but this can be done simply on Excel or Google Drive. It is not just planning your content that’s simple – scheduling it is also easy with social media management tools like Buffer, Hootsuite and Crowdfire. Here are a few simple reasons why you might want to consider using a social media calendar: ■ Improve your online efficiency Sit back and relax knowing that you have heaps of content planned on your accounts. This will also free up time to focus on other aspects of your marketing strategy. ■ Plan for multiple platforms in one place A calendar allows you to plan for individual platforms instead of using the same post on every social media account. This makes it easier to craft different messages for different platforms to improve the levels of engagement. The most obvious one is LinkedIn, Social media calendars THE SCHOOLWEARASSOCIATION: WE WELCOME GENDER-NEUTRAL UNIFORM David Burgess is chair of the Schoolwear Association, the representative body for the specialist schoolwear industry www.schoolwear association.co.uk