Assert your school’s profile

Schools seldom have the luxury of their own marketing department; it’s usually just another of the head’s responsibilities. However, tough economic conditions will be forcing even the most reticent schools to the fore, which makes an effective marketing campaign crucial, write Carolyn Reed and Nicola Berry

Review your current situation
Take a look at the following areas, talking to all your key admissions/admin staff in the process:
• how have pupil numbers changed over recent years?
• are there particular year groups that have experienced more change than others and is there a reason you can identify for this?
• what is the internal perception of the school “message” that is being transmitted? (This will be especially interesting if you ask members of staff separately);
• how consistent are the messages that you send out (on your website and in your prospectus) with your identity? You’ll need to gather all your marketing materials together in one place to look at these;
• can members of staff who need to use the identity (logo, colours, fonts) find it easily if they’re briefing suppliers or producing marketing material inhouse?
• how do you compare to your competitors? Take a look through their websites, prospectuses and advertising. What is your unique selling point and is there a clear and appropriate point of difference between you and your neighbouring schools? and
• is your website up-to-date and does it come high on Google’s search list? How does your literature look?
This should expose any initial problem areas.

Do some research: how is the school perceived?
Next stage is to research the views of everyone who matters: from teaching staff, current parents and pupils, to families who turned you down. Talk to parents who have never even considered you but know the school, to find out why they went elsewhere. Local suppliers and shops can be particularly effective sources of information if your school plays a key part in the local neighbourhood.

Take the opportunity to engage anyone in conversation that may have an informed opinion about your school or your competitors. The more you know about perceptions of your school, the more effectively you’ll be able to market it.

This doesn’t have to be an expensive exercise. It’s possible do a lot of the research inhouse. But it can be advisable to employ professional help for the questionnaires and to make sure you’re acting within recognised market research guidelines. A consultant also provides impartiality and can tackle the more delicate subjects for you – talking to rejecters and the disenchanted parents who may prepared to be more candid with their opinions.

This process will take time but it will be a positive and enlightening experience and will certainly bring you closer to your stakeholders. Parents in particular like to feel they are being consulted and involved. Make sure you report back to them in due course.

Suggestions for varied research methods are:
• informal coffee mornings (have an agenda and write notes immediately afterwards);
• governor clinics: once a week for parents with any problems;
• parent-governor trends groups. Ask a parent governor to gather parents for informal get-togethers to discuss recent trends in their area that may affect the school;
• parental focus groups;
• telephone conversations with feeder school heads;
• telephone conversations with rejecters;
• whole school parents satisfaction surveys; and
• informal workshops and one-on-ones with staff.

Bring all the findings together to do a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats), to agree what your school is good at, areas it needs to address and what action is needed to take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace.

Establish what you’re selling
You can now formalise what your school is offering, based on the analysis of these findings. Set down in writing your mission, ethos, and brand proposition.

Now distil this into “the elevator pitch” – three succinct sentences that sell your school to prospective parents that you, any member of staff or indeed a parent could deliver in 10 seconds – or the time it takes travelling three floors up with you in a lift.

Revisit the review
You know what the right message is now, so look back at the results of your initial review and see which of your existing communication channels are already sending this message out and which aren’t. Make a list of what to keep and what to change.

Set the budget
It is useful to have a rough idea of what items cost in advance, even though they may be subject to change. Then set a realistic budget. Don’t expect it to be completely accurate, but at least this will give you a guide.

Go through your files and find old invoices or, if this is all new to you, ask some consultancies/suppliers, printers and even friends or colleagues working in other schools to give you some general figures without forcing them to do a lot of work. Useful working examples would be:
• a 16-page full colour brochure;
• a similar size website with calendar; and
• some signage.

Time for planning
A simple spreadsheet will do to start your planning with the basic list of communication channels, building on those you used for budgeting. These might typically include:
• identity and a usage manual;
• website;
• template for press advertisement;
• prospectus or a folder into which you can add info sheets;
• stationery;
• newsletter template;
• open day materials;
• signage; and
• photography (it’s worth employing a professional who specialises in school/prospectus photography. A half-day shoot can be sufficient and should provide several memorable images that can be used to update any adverts).

Then add the other optional/less obvious ones:
• minibus;
• uniforms and sports kit;
• teachers and other staff;
• alumni;
• pupils;
• old boys/girls; and
• parents.

You can now move on to the implementation step, remembering the golden rule: make sure everything you do communicates your core message and looks and sounds consistent.

Above all, this core message must become embedded into your organisational culture. To achieve this it needs everyone behind it.

Key points
• preparation is vital;
• know and understand your audience;
• work out where the best opportunities lie and how to capitalise on them;
• clarify your core message accordingly;
• establish the right image and tone of voice;
• make sure all ambassadors for the school are fully briefed; and
• maintain consistency at all times, it's key to brand recognition.

Carolyn Reed is a director of Reed Brand Communication for Schools and Nicola Berry is the marketing director at Colfe’s School.

Return to Marketing