In the moonlight is a chance for us to shine a light on the people who make up Banana Moon. This week we spoke with Amanda, one of the Directors at Banana Moon Day Nursery in Dyce, who won the Social Media User of the Year award at the Midnight Moon Awards 2022.
“Being named the Social Media User of the Year came as a monumental surprise! We never expected to receive any nominations, let alone win the award. We had been striving for this specific award for several years, meticulously focusing on hitting targets across all platforms, diversifying our post types, and experimenting with posting schedules to boost engagement. Our strategy involves curating our posts, prioritizing quality, and meaningful content over quantity. Additionally, we’ve started to include Moon in our social media posts. Over time, Moon has amassed an impressive collection of outfits, and every year, for the Midnight Moon Awards ceremony, Moon dons a new, personalized outfit to match the theme. For instance, last year, Moon dazzled in a ringmaster costume complete with a top hat! We’re currently hard at work on this year’s Après Ski-themed outfit, eager to unveil it at the upcoming awards.
Social media has become a vital tool
Social media has become an invaluable tool for us, where our results inspire us to do even more. However, this success wasn’t instant; it required time to build trust and a sense of community. Parents appreciate our social media updates, as it provides a quick and convenient means of communication. To keep our content fresh and engaging, we selectively reserve some photos exclusively for social media, ensuring that our parents aren’t shown repeat content. We strive to post perfect images—no clutter in the background, no blurriness—and each post carries a deliberate message. We also aim to include our Banana Moon curriculum, the Early Learning and Development Programme, into our posts to show both the care inspectorate and our parents how the programme manifests into our daily activities.
As a team, we grow together
As a manager, my enthusiasm for social media is contagious among my team! I often set challenges to spark their competitive spirit. I prefer to encourage my team to self-reflect and identify areas for improvement in our content rather than dictating the changes to them. This approach motivates them to capture exceptional photos and self-reflect on their own images. We are perpetually monitoring the performance of our posts.
By reviewing post analytics, we gain valuable insights into the posts impact. We analyse the best posting times, content types, and continually compare and adapt to enhance our results. This approach has consistently increased our follower count and our engagement levels. We also use data-driven insights to schedule posts and craft compelling copy based on past successes. To illustrate the effectiveness of our strategy, a recent occupancy post generated 31 inquiries in just one week! It’s clear that our approach is paying off.
We love Banana Moon!
At Banana Moon Day Nursery in Dyce, we are enthusiastic about the Banana Moon brand! We love the community of the Banana Moon network, and we are always excited to showcase our spirit. The monthly network calls are a great opportunity for us to extend our experiences and knowledge to each other and gain inspiration from other Banana Moons. We know that every post we put onto our social media and website impacts the network as a whole and so we always want to strive for better. It is never competition, but combined success that we are aiming for.
