Knowledge is power

Marketing without research to support it is ill-founded, says Katie Cardona

Sound decisions are not usually based on gut feeling, intuition or perception. Accurate, reliable, relevant and current information is essential when forging a strategy and making important decisions. Debbie Clewes, director of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, ran a seminar on market research at a recent conference. You might be surprised to read that she believes that a school’s marketing budget should be 5 per cent of school turnover and 10 per cent of that marketing budget should be spent on research.

Of course, the value of any market research projects lies in asking the right questions of the right people. In the competitive education sector, it is important for schools to know what their stakeholders are thinking. The views of parents, pupils, staff, heads of feeder schools and governors are all crucial. How else can the school offer what the market is looking for?

What do the parents think?
For schools with limited resources, a parent’s opinion survey will provide a good basic starting point/overview for relatively low investment. Responding anonymously to an independent research organisation means parents are more willing to be honest and open in their responses. So, what sorts of questions yield the most useful information? Asking how the parents first heard of the school, why they chose it and what other schools they considered provides valuable insights for informing media strategy and ensuring no money is wasted on advertising in the wrong publications. A school then needs to assess overall satisfaction, which means finding out whether expectations are being met and where improvements could be made.

Parents invest something of themselves in their children’s education, so want their voice to be heard with regard to the school’s future development. Parents who feel their views are considered and valued are more likely to recommend the school to others, so it is important to deliver the feedback/action points back to the parents promptly.

There are various ways in which a parent’s opinion survey can be carried out. The questionnaire can be distributed by the school directly or online. One school used business studies students from its local college to undertake market research for them.

No ticks
Questionnaires should be devised to avoid being an exercise in ticking boxes. There is scope to add opinion and air views. You should always be happy to follow up in person with any parents who wish to discuss a particular aspect of the questionnaire in more detail.

For schools that would like to take research further, hearing the opinions of current pupils and those who have recently left is also beneficial. The opinion of the child is a significant factor when parents are choosing a school. This is particularly important at the post-GCSE stage when pupils might be deciding to look elsewhere for sixth form.

Staff too
It is also valuable to hear the views of the staff. The staff will have a different perspective and firm ideas about the strengths and weaknesses of the schools. They will also have their own ideas about how improvements can be made. Staff will feel valued if they feel their views are being considered by the head.

Another important group from whom schools should be seeking information is the parents who considered the school, but then decided to send their children elsewhere. This is called “rejecter research” and it has become a vital tool in pupil recruitment. It is important to make contact with rejecter parents while the experience of the school is still fresh in their minds. Most of these parents are happy to give their reasons for choosing another school. This type of research provides an interesting insight into competitor schools too.

Research is the vital tool to drive strategy and influence decision making. The data and insight you will gain from market research will prove invaluable to your school’s marketing strategy.

Katie Cardona is a consultant with Reed Brand Communication. Katie can be contacted at katie@reed-bc.co.uk.

Return to Marketing