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 GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

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 GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

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 GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

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 GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com