WHY: You don’t need us to tell you how important having a strong Twitter presence is. It’s how your members read the news, connect with friends (and strangers!), and keep up-to-date on their industry. Tweeting is a no-cost way of getting the word out about your elearning programs to your members. It can build up excitement for an upcoming course by getting the conversation started, and it can spark new interest in existing courses by reminding members about them. The sharability of tweets also helps you reach potential learners who don't know about your courses. So the truth is, not using Twitter as part of your outreach approach just isn’t an option anymore.

WHEN: To ensure that your tweets are consistent and well-timed, it’s important that you establish a daily schedule. Try planning out your tweets in three-week phases, especially if you've recently launched a course. Here is a suggested schedule:

• Week 1 of the campaign: Three tweets per day: one between 10am-11am, one between 3pm-4pm, and one between 6pm-7pm
• Week 2 of the campaign: Two tweets per day: one between 10am-11am and one between 3pm-4pm
• Week 3 of the campaign: One tweet per day: one between 3pm-4pm

If you're doing a three-week campaign leading up to the launch of a course, you'll want to reverse that order: in the first week, tweet once a day. Then in the second week tweet twice a day. And finally, in the week leading up to the launch, tweet three times a day!

WHERE:  Where will you tweet from? Scheduling software like Hootsuite allows you to schedule your tweets ahead of time in one sitting, so you don’t have to worry about being out of the office or forgetting when and what to tweet weeks down the road. Hootsuite’s basic scheduling functions are free, so we encourage you to give it a try. If you would still prefer to tweet manually, make sure to create calendar reminders for yourself and your team to stay on schedule.

WHO: Make sure you identify who will be responsible for each of the following steps in the process:

• Creating a tweeting schedule
• Researching what’s hot in the twittersphere, which keywords to use, and related articles and blog posts that complement your courses
• Writing out tweets and checking that they fit in the character limit
• Scheduling tweets or tweeting on the spot according to the tweet schedule

People involved could be anyone in social media, marketing, communications, education, and of course, yourself. Consider your resources and figure out who would be best for the job.

WHAT: 
Explain...

• Why taking this course is important and what new skills can be gained through the course
• Why taking this course in the online environment is beneficial
• If you have more than one course or session in your catalog, mention what each session topic is and why it’s relevant (tweet at least 1-3 times for each course or session)

Use...

• Compelling statistics to catch people's attention
• Photo or video attachments
• A conversational tone that is approachable and friendly

Hashtags:

• Key terms relevant to your industry (e.g. #RealEstateEd #CME #Legal)
• Event names if your content was recorded at a conference (e.g. #ChicagoAGM #Conference2014)
• Trending topics that you can tie into your programs (e.g. If there is a spring deadline for registrations and the hashtag #Spring2014 is trending, make sure to use it!)

Links:

• A five minute preview! Hook readers in with a quick way to find out more about the course
• Your online learning system homepage
• Articles about the benefits of online learning

ScholarLab hit the road to attend the 2014 National Association of Bar Executives (NABE) Midyear Meeting in Chicago earlier this month, where the presentations, conversations and even tweets circled around the theme of embracing change. It’s true, we’ve reached a new era of law (click to read why), and it is becoming more and more evident that bar associations need to be evolving to the changing demands of today’s lawyers. 

On the online learning front, this only reinforces how important it is to take a hard look at how lawyers learn today and in turn, build programs that cater to their education needs. Some bars have taken the leap into online CLE, but they’re seeing poor sales and still fighting criticism that bar associations should be doing more for new lawyers. 

The programs are, according to the conference’s twitter feed, failing to facilitate the interactive learning, network and post-graduate skills that lawyers need to successfully enter the legal marketplace.

But how to put such programs into motion? In a time with such sophisticated learning technologies at their fingertips, bar associations need to modernize their programs to walk in stride with the capabilities of our time. This means moving past the outdated systems that rely simply on the live streaming of content. Instead, bar associations can be providing members with an ecosystem of education and communication tools that will facilitate a more complete, networked and engaged learning experience. 

At ScholarLab, we are always asking ourselves, what keeps learners coming back? The answer at the end of the day is always a superior learning experience. It’s time we start giving lawyers just that. 

If you’re interested in learning more about some of the great ideas laid out at the conference, look out for online versions of select sessions from the meeting coming soon at: http://nabe.scholarlab.com/