Why easy social media post ideas now? Well, October is here bringing excitement about a new academic year for most language schools here in Italy. You will be extra busy and it’s likely that among all of the excitement and busy routine you will have less inspiration for your social media or fewer ideas for posts. Is this the case? Don’t worry! This article will give you easy social media post ideas coming straight from…the calendar year!

How can I get easy ideas for social media posts?

First, let me clarify something. Generating social media post ideas needs planning and it’s based on an analysis followed by a strategy. This is what I normally do for the language schools I support and what you should do too. (By the way, if you want to show how unique your language school is on social media, then download my free Social Media Workbook from here)

If you already have a social media content plan but you would like to post more often or if you have nothing to post, why not get post ideas and inspiration from the calendar year?

Holidays, international days and awareness days are great sources for social media posts. Take a look at the calendar and check for relevant dates to inspire you to create content that is pertinent to ELT and that will resonate with your students. The calendar is a  fruitful source of inspiration for content marketers and it can be an ally for your language school’s social media content even if you are not a marketer!

Educational Social Media Post Ideas

What’s more, you probably already discuss awareness days or celebrate international days in your lessons so it would be easy for you to do the same on social media.

Another benefit of integrating awareness days on your social media calendar is that you are helping raise awareness about the topic while being educational online. Holidays, awareness days and international days are also a genuine way to engage with your followers and create opportunities for conversation in the same way you do in the classroom!

“International days are occasions to educate the general public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity.”

United Nations

Which days should I use for social media post content?

There’s a day for everything! Every day is a day of something internationally and combined with national and local days you potentially have a wide choice.  You have days like Pizza Day or Cat Day and while these are fun make sure you include days connected to education, language learning, culture and world issues. When going through the dates in the calendar pick the days that reflect your values and if possible connected to what you are doing in class. Keep away from choosing a day just to fill in your content calendar and also don’t overuse these dates!

Why does planning social media posts ahead matter?

When you post about one of these dates, the attention towards that topic will be high because the conversation is going on on social media. For this reason sharing, calendar-based content is not only an opportunity to reach your audience but it’s also an opportunity to connect with them. However, this connection will happen only if your content triggers emotion! No emotion, no connection!

For this reason PLEASE AVOID doing this:

• Posting at the end of the day a random photo
• Sharing a screenshot of a post from another account without tagging them (which is very rude!)
• Posting about an irrelevant day to language teaching, your students or the school’s values and vision.
• Posting with a dull message like “Happy Sandwich Day”.

These types of posts won’t generate any conversation and won’t bring any value to your followers. Unfortunately, hurried posts show that you are doing it for the sake of doing it and at the end of the day it doesn’t impress your community. It’s actually one of those situations where it’s better not to post anything at all.

Instead of improvising DO THIS:

1. Plan ahead and schedule your post to go live first thing in the morning and be ready to keep an eye on comments and reply to them as soon as you can.
2. Panning ahead also allows you to decide how you want to show up on social media. Don’t limit yourself to a photo or quote instead use a variety of post types like carousels, polls, Reels, Reels Remix and even Live Stream videos.

5 Easy social media post ideas to inspire you.

1. Instagram Reel on Coffee Day: International House took the opportunity to show their cafeteria on International Coffee Day. It was a clever way to use the day as an excuse to show a bit of their premises.
2. Instagram Story with Quiz on Space Day: Cambridge English did a quiz about space which was engaging and entertaining and relevant to all. At the same time, it was good practice for students to revise topic vocab.
3. Linkedin Poll on World Teacher’s Day: a great way to raise awareness about the day and engage followers on LinkedIn and much more effective than a simple “Happy Teacher’s Day”
4. Instagram Carousel on Hamburger Day: an imaginative way to transform an irrelevant day like Hamburger Day into a useful piece of content i.e ordering a hamburger in English!
5. Instagram Carousel on Women’s Day: this is an educational and inspiring post in many ways. Check it out!

Websites & Resources to start planning your posts

• Unesco’s International Days & Weeks
• International and European Days by the Council of Europe
• Your diary or organizer for National Holidays and Awareness Days 
• This website is for dates around the globe.
• British Holidays and Observances Days
• American holidays and celebrations
• Sign up to the GR School Marketing Newsletter for reminder of dates and tips&tricks for social media posts

I think integrating dates connected to British and American Culture and also English Speaking countries, in general, are complementary to language teaching as culture and language go hand in hand. For this reason, give it a try on social media and see how your students react.

Post ideas for Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin

I hope you will agree with me that these are all doable social media post ideas. Actually, it is a single idea that can generate multiple posts and it is very useful especially when you have nothing to post about.

Once you choose your dates you are ready to post on Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin as in the examples above. Please make sure that the copy of the post is relevant to the photo or video and that it has the right tone of voice for the chosen platform. If you follow my advice you can generate tons of extra social media posts that are relevant to your language school regardless of whether it is a brick-and-mortar school or an online language school.

Learn about Social Media Marketing for Language Schools through consultancy and training . Book a non-obligation video call and find out how I can support you with my ELT marketing services. Drop me a line to book the call.