School Marketing Blog

School Marketing Manager

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:21:00 GMT

The School Marketing Manager (SMM) is responsible for a successful School Marketing Plan - a critically important role within any successful school. The school needs to be seen its best light in order to build a solid reputation and student and staff body.

Overview

The School Principal will often delegate this School Marketing Manager role to a school staff member.

Full-time, Part-time or shared? The Principal’s decision…

However, it is best not to lose sight of employing the best person for this position.

The SMM will be responsible for the School Marketing Plan and responsible to the School Principal.

Full / Part-Time or Shared Role

Most SMMs would be part time in this position these days. Budgetary restraints would basically necessitate this. These people would combine this role with their other primary role, usually that of Assistant / Deputy Principal or School Manager.

To share the role, I believe, could be detrimental to it. Having someone knowing everything there is to know about was has occurred, is being planned for and involved with the future implementation of the School Marketing Plan is a definite advantage.

I feel that the time is coming when an individual school or at least a combination of schools within a certain region / religious order / system will employ a
full-time SMM.

School Marketing Manager Skills Needed

The person who takes on this role will need to:

•   be interested in the area of marketing and preferably passionate about it

•   be a person of integrity

•   be able to base the SMP on the School’s Vision and Mission statement

•   be aware of the marketing needs of a particular School

•   have good interpersonal skills

•   be able to build professional relationships with key stakeholders, members of the media and various local business personnel

•   have a creative flare and appreciation of what ‘catches the eye’ of the targeted audiences

•   have good literary skills

•   have good computer skills, particularly with creative AV software packages and internet usage, or at least an appreciation of these along with other staff members or parents who would implement the software packages under your direction

•   have a good appreciation of the internet and be able to implement all that this means of communication offers your particular school

•   be capable of developing and implementing a viable budget

•   be keen to learn and develop more successful forms of marketing and marketing skills.

The School Response to the SMM is discussed in in detail in the school marketing manual ebook.

The 'School Marketing Manager' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

Advertising in the Traditional Media - School Marketing

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:18:00 GMT

Advertising in the traditional media, as part of the School Marketing Plan, is a form of advertising for a broad reach within society. It is still a very successful form of marketing the school. Remember to use both the traditional and contemporary forms of marketing for success overall.

Traditional media advertising goes well beyond the school community.

Common forms include: newspaper, radio, television and magazines.

Purpose and Overview

This form of advertising is mainly used to:

•   Reach a broad audience beyond the school community
•   Build a reputation within the broader community
•   Have the reputation created support those within the school community
•   Advise the broader community of the advantages of your school to society
•   Encourage parents and their child/ren to consider enrolling in your school.

Success rates will vary depending on each individual publication and geographical location.

Advertising costs will also vary according to each individual publication and location.

Thorough cost analysis needs to be done by the SMM prior to developing a School Marketing Plan (SMP).

Often the smaller more localized publications are the best value as they often cost less and usually reach the targeted audience more effectively.

However, you need to be satisfied about:

•   outlet’s philosophy
•   usual content
•   style of presentation
•   advertisement placement positions
•   distribution method.

Advertisement Creation Options

Two options are usually available:

•   The school creates and produces its own advertisement or
•   The media outlet creates it for you

Each media outlet would normally create the advertisement for you, if you so wish. You should provide as much information and as many resources as possible, particularly the branding style needed (see ‘Branding’).

Don’t expect this method to be thoroughly to your liking though. You may need to go back and forth with the outlet until satisfied.

Other Topics in this Chapter

The other topics in this chapter from the ebook by Bryan Foster include:

Background Preparation
Be Prepared
Proofs
Signing Off

Specific Details and Examples for:

Newspaper and Magazine Advertising
Creating the Newspaper and Magazine Advertisement - Instructions
Radio Advertising
Creating a Radio Advertisement - Instructions and Sample
Television Advertising
Creating a Television Advertisement - Instructions

The 'Advertising in the Traditional Media - School Marketing' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

Managing the Media Interview - 6 Key Strategies

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:24:00 GMT

The media interview is often a challenging, yet necessary, and often a very rewarding experience, for those involved with marketing - yet each interview needs to be well managed and prepared for...

Following are six key strategies needing special management prior to and during the interview.

The case study below is relevant for most professional and business media interviews but is based on the school situation.

1. Be well prepared!

The media interview is a very important means of getting your message across to an outside media outlet. Again - Be well prepared! (This can never be repeated enough!)

The interview is usually conducted by a journalist at the school. Sometimes over-the-phone interviews occur.

2. Who is interviewed?

Students are mostly interviewed. Sometimes the Principal and various staff members may be interviewed. Often the School Marketing Manager (SMM) will be interviewed but this is mainly as a result of clarification being needed by the journalist for a particular story or upcoming interview.

The SMM may be asked to give quick quotes for the completion of a story or for an addition to a news story requiring a school's input. The SMM may need to seek the Principal's input for these types of quotes. The SMM may need to obtain a quote from the Principal.

3. Preparation for the interview

School representatives need to be well prepared for any interview. If possible, practice interviews should be conducted before the journalist arrives. The SMM should pre-empt possible questions for those being interviewed.

Even if the interviewee is the only person who knows the detail being sort, the SMM's preparedness is required. Go over with the interviewee what the procedure will be and possible questions. The SMM needs to build confidence in the person about to be interviewed. This is best done through thorough preparation. People feel more confident when questioned on areas for which they are prepared.

Prior to the journalist arriving, the SMM should make firm plans with those to be interviewed to meet at a designated time and at a designated place. This allows the SMM to ascertain whether everyone is present and if any last minute change of arrangements is required.

4. 3-4 Key Points

Concentrating on the key 3-4 points you want to get across is often the best and easiest way of approaching the preparation and interview. However, it is also necessary to try and pre-empt possible 'curly' questions and develop possible responses.

5. Expect the Unexpected

Sometimes the journalist is late. This is unfortunate; however it is best to make plans to suit the journalists for as soon as they are able to arrive. This sometimes causes great inconvenience to the school, interviewees and SMM. Sometimes either the journalist or photojournalist arrives at different times. This is not usually a problem as it is possible to start with just one present.

6. Conducting the Interview:

• The SMM would meet the journalist and often a photojournalist at the School Office. Welcome them appropriately and have them sign in. They may need to wear school endorsed name tags while in the school grounds.

• Offer them a non-alcoholic drink.

• Have a predetermined venue on offer, whether indoors or outdoors depending on the nature of the story and weather conditions at that moment. Offer this suggestion to the journalist who will usually accept.

• Have a chat about where you are about to go, the interviewees involved and any restrictions e.g. time restrictions that may be apparent.

• The SMM then takes the journalists and interviewees to the selected venue/s.

• If some photos are being taken at the same time as some interviews, the SMM will need to arrange for another well informed staff member to assist the photojournalist.

• The SMM, or any designated staff member, should usually remain with the journalists until they leave the school grounds.

Conclusion

A successful media interview is both rewarding for those from the school interviewed and the school itself. Being well prepared is an absolute necessity. Being able to turn a negative into a positive is exceptionally rewarding. Remember to try and concentrate on your 3-4 key points, however difficult this may

The 'Managing the Media Interview - 6 Key Strategies' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

The Number One Strategy of School Marketing - Word of Mouth

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:36:00 GMT

Word of Mouth - #1 Strategy to Market Schools

Let's keep it simple. From my experience there are a number of classic and contemporary methods to market your school. These should be at the forefront of any successful school marketing plan. A number of these are free or relatively inexpensive. The number 1 method though is ‘Word of Mouth’ is free!

School and Wider Community Support Needed

Now this may seem quite obvious and simple to many, that the number one strategy in a school marketing plan is word of mouth, unfortunately it can be anything but that. Word of mouth requires the great majority of people to be speaking positively about your school. This not only includes those directly in the school community e.g. staff, students and parents, but also those in the wider community who may influence those within and without of the school community. This would include: grandparents of students within the school, others directly associated with the school e.g. suppliers of school goods, professionals e.g. those charged with the finance guidance and auditing, architects and engineers of the building plan, people on the school parents and friends / citizens association and the school board, past students association, etc.

Hence, these people need to be fully informed and communicated with, concerning all the events and happenings within the school. This includes the positive and the negative.

Negative News Can Become Positive News

Why the negative you may ask? If the school is run effectively it will have policies and procedures to deal with most, if not all, circumstances it may face. When people within and without the school see that the school is dealing with those negative aspects in a professional, caring and effective way, they will more than likely support the school. For many of these people they will go much further and espouse how wonderful the school is in the way that it deals with negative issues. This can be a very effective method, overall.

Conclusion

Once this strategy is accepted as the primary means to market a school, it then becomes evident that the next challenge is to select numerous forms of communication and a number of strategies, which are going to be needed for the ‘word of mouth’ strategy to be fully informed and hence, successful.

The 'The Number One Strategy of School Marketing - Word of Mouth' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

Photos - Key to a Successful School Marketing Plan

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:03:00 GMT

Photographic images are the basis of any successful school marketing plan. The more relevant and appealing the better! Remember - 'a picture tells a thousand words'!!!

How often have you been inspired by a photo or image? The higher the content relevance of the image the greater the success should be. In any school marketing campaign it is the relevance of each component, which will decide the campaign's success. One poor choice can turn that campaign into a flop. A poorly chosen photo / image can lead to the viewer ignoring or not seeing the message on the one extreme, to being totally against the whole message on the other extreme.

The quality of the image is also important, yet this would also depend on the artistic use of it. Most often a quality photo of the chosen subject is necessary for success. Yet, sometimes a poorer quality, or artistically enhanced, image may be quite appealing in a specific circumstance. The product and demographic of the campaign would decide this.

The digital camera has opened up a whole new world for most people. No longer are very expensive cameras and add-ons needed for that successful photo. The quality of many of these digital cameras is quite extraordinary now. The raw photo is often quite good, however add to this the qualities that software, such as Photoshop can add, and a whole new world opens up to even the least qualified photographer.

Of course, quality DSLR cameras, associated lenses, lighting apparatus and software such as Photoshop, will lead to considerably higher quality images in the hands of a photographer of merit. The marketing campaign will dictate the quality of image required.

Even the basic editing tools included with most Windows, Apple and Android products can enhance an image. Often all that is needed is a little cropping or light adjustment.

The smart phone supporting a large enough camera these days can become a part of a successful marketing plan. A smart phone with the appropriate apps downloaded will allow various images to take on that 'Wow' factor.

The digital camera allows for a large number of photos to be taken. Don't be a miser here. You will find that some photos work for you while others won't. Hence, the more you take, the more chance of that 'magic' shot. In time you will develop an appreciation of the number of shots needed to achieve your aim.
The moving video image also has a place to play. The photo image is more often used within a video for special effect.

The photo image is a key component of any successful marketing campaign within so many common media. When an image is used effectively it grabs the attention of the viewer and makes them take note. Use it well and that 'thousand words' will become part of your marketing campaign.

The 'Photos - Key to a Successful School Marketing Plan' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

Top 10 Free School Marketing Strategies

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 05:14:00 GMT

Free or Inexpensive

A successful school marketing plan and budget will need to incorporate most of the top ten free school marketing strategies if it is to be successful. The top 10 strategies can be free, or at least relatively inexpensive, depending on the school’s present arrangements.

By effectively using the media and the school website, there should be little expense activating these top 10 strategies, especially when the digital option is the primary method used, instead of hardcopies. If it can assumed that the school has a website, which can be managed by the school, as well as a school signboard and a good digital camera, then these strategies can be implemented for free or little expense.

The first strategy is in itself free, yet is also reliant upon a number of other key strategies to be implemented successfully – ‘Word of Mouth’.

Top 10 Free School Marketing Strategies

1.   Word of Mouth - School's Reputation
2.   Quality Teaching and Opportunities for Students – Curricula and Extra Curricula Activities
3.   Professionalism of staff in action and appearance
4.   School Website
5.   Use of the Media - both traditional and contemporary – including editorial, images and advertising
6.   Information Sessions - night and day times – including observation of the school in action (a transparent approach), parent nights, entertainment by students, school boards and parent associations, open days, etc.
7.   Newsletters and Flyers - digital (and hardcopy where needed)
8.   Front Signboard
9.   Social Networking Sites e.g. Facebook and Twitter
10. Cross Information (within the region’s schools or parish)

The number 1 strategy, ‘Word of Mouth’, is dependent on those espousing various views about the school being well informed. To do this, the next 9 strategies have an important role to play.

The school needs:

•   to have a high quality curriculum,
•   an easy to use professional website,
•   the ability to engage the local media so that the good stories are told to the whole community, and even the negative stories being told with the school’s professional approach for solutions being seen in a positive light,
•   openness to various visits to the school and
•   the acceptance of the place of the digital flyers and newsletters

• acknowledgement of the place of social media in today’s digital world.

Conclusion

Free key strategies are often the best approaches to marketing your school. When the school has set up a professional website and the school community has a positive attitude toward the school and what it offers, along with what the digital age can offer, then a free, or relatively inexpensive, school marketing plan is possible. This approach can also work when the attitude of the community is not as high – however, there may need to be a need for various forms of paid advertising to counteract such negativity. The best school marketing plan would incorporate most of the free top 10 strategies for marketing your school.

The 'Top 10 Free School Marketing Strategies' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

Branding for School Marketing

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:39:00 GMT

Branding is often a person’s first contact with the school. It is usually a visual image seen. It may also be a verbal input. This should be a key aspect of your school marketing plan.

Branding’s importance must not be underestimated.

First impressions do count!

First Impressions

The first impression may be gained from the following:

•   Reputations of school as espoused from someone within the community or other family member, friend or work asscoiate

•   Website design

•   Welcome by office staff / office decor, etc

•   Prospectus / Information Pack - cover, pages and inclusions

•   Uniform of students and office staff

•   Stationery received

•   e/i-Newsletter, newsletter or newsletter design and front page content

•   Telephone call response by office staff / voicemail response / telephone transfer instructions / dedicated line for upcoming events recording, etc

•   White and Yellow pages listings

•   Advertisement in newspaper or magazine, radio, etc

•   e/i Flyer or Flyer

•   Student or staff at school

The branding of the school needs to be well considered and representative of the school’s vision and mission.
It needs to show how the school is to be seen within the community.

Uniformity

Branding needs uniformity to be a powerful, positive tool.

Mixing and matching branding causes a weak and disjointed image to be apparent. This is to the disadvantage of the school in a number of ways. The confusing images distract and hence do not leave the desired impact. The school may be seen itself as disjointed and ‘not together’ and hence causing various follow-up difficulties.

Other sections covered in the school marketing manual include:

Key Branding Areas - Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
Branding Changes
Creativity of Design

The 'Branding for School Marketing' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

Television Advertizing for Schools - Beware the Challenges

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:38:00 GMT

Schools may gain considerably from television advertising but there are a number of challenges to initially overcome if this advertizing pathway is selected. Is television advertizing a part of your school marketing plan?

“It’s cool!” Even more cool than radio - A commonly held view by many in the school community. Televsion is one such form of media advertizing for schools.

Television advertising is an expensive form of advertizing. It is difficult to justify the expense / success ratio! Television is most likely seen as the coolest main-line commercial medium.

Beware: the challenges!

Quality

Television advertising is fraught with various levels of the ‘cringe factor’ if not produced and presented in a very professional manner.

Quality is paramount, as all weaknesses are multiplied when shown on air.

Large Cities

Capital city advertising is very expensive. Similar to radio, there remains the question as to whether there is any benefit in advertizing over a large area for a specific school in one location.

System level advertising would often be of benefit for those schools within the region. There is also the flow-on effect of like schools e.g. other Catholic Schools being seen as equivalent to the advertised ones.

Smaller Cities and Towns

Smaller cities and towns also have the question mark over the effectiveness of this form of advertising against the cost involved. Quality of production may also be questionable.

The local television channels usually only produce a nightly news program. All other shows are normally direct feeds from the main networks. The advertizing is added from the local station and interspersed with the major companies’ adverts.

The major question here is - how many people watch the local station when they could be watching the main networked station?

Hence, how successful would placing local adverts through the local station be?

Television Station Advertising List – Learn from…

The best way to decide on this is to see the local channel’s list of advertisers.

This is easily obtained from the station’s advertising consultants. Once you have the list, check the businesses, schools and community groups, etc, which advertise.

Does this advertising list inspire you to also advertise with this channel?

It may become apparent that no really significant local or larger business accounts exist and hence there is probably little reason for you to use this form.

If the major businesses and community groups don’t use it, there is usually a good reason why. This reason is most likely that the number of viewers is limited.

A case could be made for regional or system level advertising in these smaller places.
Once again, check who are the present advertisers and decide whether this suits your SMP.

Other topics and strategies covered in the School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed) 2011 are:

Creating a Television Advertisement for schools:

The Proposal
Professional Quote / Professional Proposal
School Marketing Manager and Advertizement Preparations
School Personnel and Facilities
SMM's Role in Production

The 'Television Advertizing for Schools - Beware the Challenges' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

How to Write Your Own Book or e-Book and Get it Sold - for Schools

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:39:00 GMT

This may seem quite difficult for most school staff, and it is, however, I very much believe every teacher and school leadership person has at least one good book within themselves. It may or may not be on the theme or genre that you initially expect, but it is there.

All school staff have particular skills, be these professional, trade-based, business, religious or spiritual, artistic, social or family-based, etc. These days people who 'have made it' want to tell us how they did it. May be this is your area. May be you are very creative, tell great stories, or consistently have people eager to listen to your every word - may be a fiction book or autobiography is your best approach.

Unfortunately, we are not going to see the fruits of all these skills as most people will not ever get to complete their masterpiece. Do not be one of these. Make the commitment, plan the process and Begin! Begin! Begin!

You will then need to commit to either a full time or part time writing schedule. Extended breaks dedicated to writing are the best options. However, a well scheduled weekly part time regime and out of work hours is another viable option.

Options to Sell Your Book / e-Book

The key approaches a new author could take are:

Chasing a Publishing Company to Publish Your Book - often quite time consuming and with a minimal chance of success.
Self Publishing - Printing, Marketing, Selling, etc - printing costs are high. The problem of getting your book marketed and into the stores - difficult.
Creating Your Own Professional Website and Online Store for e-book sales - relatively expensive to do well, however cheaper options are developing right now - but this method will get your work out there in a reasonably quick time. Then there is the challenge of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), i.e. the process of getting your website high on search engines - quite difficult but not impossible.
Selling e-Book Through Commercial Online Stores - probably the simplest and least expensive. This is the area which has taken giant leaps in the past 2 years.
Creating a Hardcopy in a Way Which is Inexpensive and Then Sold Online Through a Commercial e-Book Store - developing now before our eyes - and often offered through the top end online commercial bookstores themselves. This way allows for both the book and e-book versions to be sold, often by the same company - doubling your marketing options.

Check out the top end online bookstores for what they offer, such as Amazon.com. At Amazon com you can Amazon self publish your books inexpensively as well as sell your book as an e-book at their Amazon Digital Text Platform.

Check out various options to build your own website in relatively simple and inexpensive ways, such as at Yahoo Site Builder. Also see various search engines and others who offer this option, as one possible route for this to occur. This will allow for both the sale of your book as a book and an e-book online through both commercial online bookstores and though your own website and its online shop.

The more options you give yourself for sales, the more books and e-books you will sell.

You may also be interested for more information the blog post: How to Write an e-Book Yourself - Yes You Can - My Experience Writing 5 Quality e-Books

The 'How to Write Your Own Book or e-Book and Get it Sold - for Schools' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

School Website Homepage Integral to School Marketing Plan

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:07:00 GMT

The School Website Homepage is essential for a successful School Marketing Plan.

The homepage is the most important page to get correct. It is the page the viewer normally reaches on their initial search. First impressions are critical.

Appearance

The appearance needs to be in-line with the school’s selected branding styles:

• colors
• photos (for ease of acquiring and using professional images, check out such sites as: istockphoto (http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php) and crestock.com (http://www.crestock.com/). These sites provide professional standard images at relatively inexpensive rates. You buy royalty-free images which you can then use on your website. You may, however, have good professional ones done for you. These photos need to be professionally presented. Don’t skimp on costs here.)
• logo
• motto or catchphrase
• selected key words and key phrases
• good graphics
• clear, directing toolbar/s and other links
• attention grabbing inclusions e.g.

news updates
upcoming events
webpages on your website listed

This website is discussed through the school marketing manual by Bryan Foster.

The School Marketing Plan must include provision for a professional and inspiring school website homepage. This is where more and more students and parents will continually visit throughout their time in the school.

Target Audiences

School Marketing Managers and key school staff should use the website for interaction between the various stakeholders within the school e.g. their students, potential students, staff, families and other interested people including parishioners.

Regularly updated bulletin boards and newsletters, upcoming liturgical and social events, St Vincent de Paul and other charitable needs and requests, photo and video galleries of school activities, etc, are needed.

School Website Examples

To view good school websites, for ideas for your own school’s website, just go to your browser and type in such words as: ‘outstanding school websites’, ‘school websites’, ‘best school websites’, etc. There are so many good examples out there.

You may also visit various school websites, system-level office websites and diocesan websites for both ideas and for key personnel.

Three good examples which see the News as central to their homepage are:

St Joseph’s Hunters Hill at http://www.joeys.org/index.cfm
Brisbane Catholic Education at http://www.bne.catholic.edu.au/
Loreto Toorak site at http://www.loretotoorak.vic.edu.au/home/

Another good example follows and is a more detailed homepage version http://www.riverview.nsw.edu.au/, yet quite effective!

The school community will continually deelop their appreciation of the school's website and expect to interact more with it.

The 'School Website Homepage Integral to School Marketing Plan' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

Amazon.com Sells the School Marketing e-Books by Bryan Foster

Fri, 04 May 2012 10:40:00 GMT

School marketing e-books by Bryan Foster are now available from Amazon.com

These school marketing e-books may be applied across numerous marketing situations in so many fields. The schools, parish and church are the target niche market for these books.

On Amazon.com there is the option to download in virtually any format for whatever device you want to read the e-books on... whether PC, Mac, ipad, ipod, Blackberry etc,. All you need is the free reading app supplied by Amazon.com applicable to your device. You also have the option to use an Amazon Kindle reading device when purchasing e-books.

"Your purchase will be sent automatically to your iPhone, PC, Mac, iPad, or BlackBerry device." (Amazon.com)

Amazon.com Bryan Foster is where you will find Bryan's 5 marketing e-books.

The author has 20 years experience marketing within the Church. He has held senior positions in both Church and schools at the local area, including deanery and parish pastoral council chair and school principal. This experience has proved to be extremely valuable for compiling these easy to read and use e-books written in summarized point format.

Bryan's latest e-books published this year and available on Amazon are:

School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed)
School and Church Marketing Blog Posts: My First 100+
Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed)

These e-books are also available on both of Bryan Foster's websites: CPM Church Parish Marketing and SMA School Marketing .

Both these websites also have a raft of complimentary strategies and examples. There are over 150 blog posts and numerous Hints and Tips on everything from general marketing principles to specific church and school strategies and examples, along with general 'life' themed blog posts.

The School Marketing Manual in normal pdf format is 369 A4 pages, while the Church Marketing Manual in pdf format has 329 A4 pages. Both are written in easy to read summarized points format - a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips.

The 'Amazon.com Sells the School Marketing e-Books by Bryan Foster' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

Key Strategies to Link the School Marketing Budget to a Successful School Marketing Plan

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:01:00 GMT

The School Marketing Plan is strongly linked to the school marketing budget - there is often a reluctance to offer the necessary capital to allow this to be effective. Below are four key strategies to make this budget work - and work well!

1. Invest During Good Times - Financial and Otherwise

2. Invest During Difficult Financial Times and Other Difficult Situations

3. A Realistic Budget is Necessary

4. If Needed - a Shared Budget Across Schools or Regions

1. Invest During Good Times - Financial and Otherwise

Good times are the best times to invest. This enables the school's reputation to be enhanced considerably. Resting on the laurels of the past can become an expensive exercise when the reputation is forgotten or when a new challenge comes from other competing interests, including other schools and distractions within society.

2. Invest During Difficult Financial Times and Other Difficult Situations

However, all schools need to market themselves at whatever stage of the success cycle at which they find themselves. Do not give up in the tough times - all schools will experience these throughout their history. It is a most important time to market, fight for the dollars so you don not get left behind in the marketplace.

3. A Realistic Budget is Necessary

Various people within each school community have differing views on the amount which should be afforded to the marketing budget. School leaders need to be aware that the implementation of a good marketing plan would inevitably drive up community engagement and enrolment numbers!

In today's dollar values spending $20 000 - $40 000 for an average sized independent school (of between 600 and 900 students) would be a good investment. This would need to be proportionately reviewed according to overall School Budget, the number of enrolments and the overall need of the school to build and maintain enrolment numbers.

When the marketing plan is being developed for a specified year, key stakeholders, particularly the School Principal, School Manager and the School Marketing Manager, need to assess the budget requirements. The budget will have a significant impact on a plan for any year. The budget includes all areas of the plan which incur expenses.

4. If Needed - a Shared Budget Across Schools or Regions

Shared marketing budgets across a number of schools may be another way of efficiently budgeting.
This could be regionalized e.g.:
• a combined regional budget to be shared amongst schools or
• a RMM (Regional Marketing Manager) implementing the whole marketing plan for the region and individual schools, which are only required to develop their own essentials such as newsletters.

Or it may be a number of localized schools working together and sharing the budget.

A shared budget may see different schools marketing specific aspects for the cluster e.g.
• one may concentrate on Arts / Sport Education within the cluster
• another may market the varying sorts of key curriculum and extra-curricular areas on offer and differing times for each
• another may emphasize the pastoral, welfare and social justice aspects within the cluster.

For some schools this may be the only way to begin marketing or to maintain a budget in any form what-so-ever.

Caution - even though this may appear to save financially, it takes away from the individual uniqueness of each school. Marketing is often more successful when emphasizing a uniqueness.

A professionally run school will always allow for an appropriate marketing budget to assist with promoting the school - both in good and difficult times.

The 'Key Strategies to Link the School Marketing Budget to a Successful School Marketing Plan' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

School Marketing Evaluation Practices - Lost in Today's Digital Age

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:10:00 GMT

Good school marketing evaluation practices, methods and surveys are getting lost in this 'quick, give me the answer' or 'I do not need others' views as I know the answer' attitudes which are permeating our professions and businesses in today's digital world!

School Marketing Plans need to be evaluated on a regular basis. Too often these days the 'quick fix' and 'easily implemented' plans are at the forefront of most professional and business thinking. The School Marketing Plan needs to be evaluated at least yearly and more often if changes impacting on your product are being noticed in customer responses.

In the school situation key stakeholders are needed to engage in the marketing evaluation process. It is not wise to only listen to a few personnel who 'should know what is happening out there in the marketplace'. Surveys of key groups are also very important if an accurate gauge is needed - and I would hope this to be the case.

The Stakeholders

Representatives from the Key Stakeholders groups within the school need to give input.

These people would include:

• Principal and Leadership Team
• School Manager
• Parish Priest (if a Church school)
• Staff (as decided in consultation with Principal)
• Parent representatives
• Student Leaders
• Feeder School Principals and Leadership Teams
• Media Representatives (usually media contacts of the School Marketing Manager and advertising consultants the school deals with, as needed)
• Systemic representatives as needed.

Survey and Feedback

Feedback quantity and quality will vary.

Requested replies would be from both specific and general groups, for example, you may target specific groups of Parents e.g. School Board, but also invite interested Parents through the school's newsletters to respond.

A simple questionnaire sent to these people asking three questions will often give enough detail for a fair appraisal and follow-up discussion with the school leadership team and School Marketing Manager (SMM).

You may be inclined to do this through an online survey. The questions could be:

• The School Marketing Plan (SMP) for [School Name] for this year was successful in what ways?
• The SMP for [School Name] for this year was lacking in what ways?
• How would you suggest the SMP for [School Name] be adjusted for next year?
• Other comments

The SMM would then summarize these responses in an honest way and present the views to the school's leadership team.

It is also good to include specific examples from each question from key people e.g.

• a feeder school Principal may be the only one who is aware of issues regarding visitations or school involvement in his / her school
• a feeder school secretary may be the only one aware of specific parental / staff issues she hears espoused in her main office;

It is important that this is not lost in the summary.

A Different Survey Type

Others may like to develop a survey which ranks specific statements about the School Marketing Plan from 5 to 1. The number of statements in the survey would need to be minimal to gain a good percentage of replies.

This type of survey would more than likely achieve a greater number of responses, yet the detail is limited. You may like to try a greater number of statements for groups or individuals you feel are more likely to respond.

You may also like to include a section for written responses to questions similar to the above three.

Support

It is important that the SMM is supported by all groups to continue on the successful way or make various changes to improve.

Most common changes are made each year in the approach and / or forms of marketing used in each subsequent year.

This is normal and leads to a more successful School Marketing Plan each year.

A high quality marketing evaluation plan should be a necessary and integral aspect of a professional or business marketing plan. Listening to both key stakeholders and key groups is fundamental for success.

The 'School Marketing Evaluation Practices - Lost in Today's Digital Age' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

How to Write a School Marketing Plan

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:11:00 GMT

Knowing how to write a school marketing plan will lead to better opportunities to increase enrolments. It will assist your school in becoming more widely known for what it offers the community, along with its successes, etc, which should lead to better enrolments.

Each School Marketing Plan should be based on 7 Key Strategies:

1. Define what you have to offer
2. Define your target group
3. Budget
4. Personnel and Talents
5. Develop Marketing Aims and Objectives
6. Marketing Strategies
7. Evaluation

Sample School Marketing Plan

1. Define what you have to offer
• vision and mission, personnel, basic underlying content and structures within the school, curriculum offered, pastoral and welfare support programs, facilities, extra curricula activities, etc
• specific demographics targeted e.g. ages and groups catered for - coeducational or single gender, etc, and their particular niche market
• future plans - programs, staffing, facilities, etc

2. Define your target group
• through various data, including surveys, observations, experience, gifts and talents available / needed
• proximity to / involvement with similar and / or churches and parishes
• any expansion - programs, facilities, staffing

3. Budget
• realistically support this marketing plan
• be flexible and open to growth and change as the needs arise
• continually develop over time through needs and experiences

4. Personnel and Talents available - including School Marketing Manager

5. Develop Marketing Aims and Objectives - from previous information

6. Marketing Strategies
• Marketing Relationships
• Marketing Resources (including branding, advertising)
• Media Use
- Internet and other Contemporary methods
- Both for Free (Media Releases / Editorial, etc) and for
- Fee (Advertising)

7. Evaluation
• The plan should be evaluated at least yearly and appropriate adjustments made for the following year.
• Changes may need to be made throughout the year depending on changing circumstances.

The 'How to Write a School Marketing Plan' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

How Can I Write an e-Book Myself - My Experience Writing 5 Quality e-Books

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:11:00 GMT

How often have you thought of writing your own school book - that is right - being an AUTHOR of your OWN work, which schools or students could use!? I would imagine that most teachers and school administrators have at some time in their lives had this wonderful thought. The only problem is that most of these people did not go the next step - BEGIN THE WRITING TASK. And what a task it is!!! But well worth it - take it from me - extremely rewarding!!!

Yes, the Beginning!!!

I found the most difficult step was actually BEGINNING! That's 'write' - actually putting pen to paper - well not really - actually putting finger to key board!

In my case I got to the point where I knew I had something beneficial to offer others and that the time was now right.

I locked away a four week block of time - moved to a quiet island near my residence and reflected and reflected and reflected...

put pen to paper for basic introductions and outlines
did drawings and sketches which would hopefully help the process
exercised
paddled my surf ski through mangroves and observed turtles and sea hawks - day after day until I realized the theme I had planned on was not to be.
My book of reflections and retreats would have to wait another day!

But No - There is More

But! When I sat down to my computer that night after realizing that it was probably all over, and that this whole experience was going to be either a waste of time or just a fantastic quiet holiday, another theme surfaced.

And before I really grasped the significance of this new direction, I had actually written almost a chapter on this new theme, over the first couple of days of this new session. From then on, as they say, the rest is history.

The first book was a hardcopy. It was written in two major sessions - the first three week block on the island, followed by over a year's break and then a four week Christmas holiday break. All up the final edition took eight weeks of intense work, spread over a fifteen month period. This was followed by another couple of weeks of proof-reading, final editing and deciding how best to market and sell the book.

The e-Book was Born

I eventually decided to change my hardcopy book into an e-book. I believed that this was the easiest and cheapest way to enter the world of the author! Since placing my first e-book online, I now realize that there are a variety of ways to sell e-books, each with varying costs, benefits and disadvantages.

The commercial online e-book store on the internet is still developing and is the new and probably best approach. It will in some cases allow for both the sale of the e-book and of the creation and then sale of this as a hardcopy through their online store - a double whammy! This is my main avenue now, which is combined with my own professional website.

The Challenge, Time, Sweat - Worth It!!!

Writing your own book or e-book needs dedication and commitment - no need to be put off by the challenge though. My marketing e-books are proof that it is possible! I am no different to anyone else.

I took the challenge, locked in the time and energy needed and went for it. Twenty-five weeks over three years and 6 books later, I am a very contented author, e-publisher and e-book seller.

You may also like to read the Write Your Own Book or e-Book and Get it Sold - the How to for Schools blog post for further information.

The 'How Can I Write an e-Book Myself - My Experience Writing 5 Quality e-Books' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GD PL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com