Schools are busy places. When a parent rings the office they are often placed on hold while information or staff are tracked down. What do they hear while on hold? Silence? The radio? Many schools, and businesses, recognise the opportunity to educate the listener during this waiting time.
Enjoy this video tip on making the most of callers time when waiting.
At this year’s School Marketing Aforia Principal Chiray Fitton gave us some insights into the Montessori vision of education. The website for her school on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Montessori International College was tired, very busy and hard to navigate. Her team reviewed many school websites and felt they were all too similar.
As Montessori takes a different approach to education they wanted their website to reflect that difference. The long scrolling down home page invites you to participate in the website. I especially like the Meet the Staff page with staff photos and avatars.
Well done Chiray and team on being bold enough to do something different.
If you are curious to see the before and after screen shots open the gallery below.
Schools in Australia are coming to the end of their year before the summer holidays. To say Merry Christmas 2012 I felt it appropriate to share this Australian video. It combines the YouTube sensation of 2012 ‘Gangnam Style’ with synchronised Christmas lights.
I shared this video as something fun but also as a challenge. Consider the opportunities of using this as a marketing strategy. For many years the Messages on Hold business have used strategic ambush marketing to gain free publicity. This video was shared with me via facebook on Friday when it had 300 views. By Monday it had 18,000 views. Two weeks later it had over 790,000 views. A video is something simple to share. What clever ideas will you have for your school marketing in 2013?
A word of caution though. This display was done in a residential street. The growing crowds meant it became hazardous. The display was taken down well before Christmas. The danger of going viral.
This week mark’s 12 months since we took over the leadership of the Centre for Marketing Schools from the founder Dr Linda Vining. I would love your feedback on this email newsletter. What works? What doesn't? What would you like MORE, or LESS, of?
Have you seen, or used Popsurveys yet? They are colourful, easy to use and very fast to complete. I decided to use one for our online survey. Here it is below...
Reading, watching webinars, attending conferences and seminars can provide a renewed enthusiasm for your school marketing roll. My colleague Suzanne and I have a poster challenging “when was the last time you did something for the first time?” It’s a reminder to be willing to do new things.
If you want different results in your school marketing then choose to learn from others, as well as other industries. Marketing is fun, varied and involves risks. Simply repeating what you did in 2012 and 2011 may seem safe, but is possibly the riskiest strategy of all.
In Australia ‘Schoolies Week’ at the popular Surfers Paradise Gold Coast holiday destination in Queensland makes many schools, and parents, nervous. This end of school party is for students completing their secondary, or high schooling.
The tragic death of a student is always sad. If it happens during Schoolies Week it attracts national media attention > Death of school student. While obviously saddened by this story, I was impressed by the school’s quick response, and letter to parents. It was published on the school’s website. I wanted to share it as believe we can all learn from their proactive response.
reinforced what the school was doing with counselling
included positive background comments about the student
stated that the Principal had gone to the Gold Coast to be with grieving students
opens the door for future contact
Parents and students are naturally going to be talking about the incident. Having information helps them share some facts rather than rumours. Being proactive, and as informative as possible, helps fill a vacuum with the media. Several online newspapers included direct quotations from the school’s statement.
Thoughts: You never know when your school may be put in the spotlight.
How many people at your school can update your website in an emergency? Is your Critical Incidents Policy known and up dated?
Julie Ralph of Adelaide High School in South Australia posted me a copy of their very impressive year book. This is the only government school in Adelaide city centre. They have 1,200 students and were established in 1908.
The first distinctive about their year book was the size. It is a whopping 344 pages. With 2,306 images and 144 articles it is their biggest ever and provides an amazing window into the life of the school. Students from Year 11 Journalism, Year 10 and 11 Digital Art classes help put it together.
There were a few things which stood out to me. I learnt about their hearing impaired, pastoral care, Greek parents association, kayaking club study tours to France, Germany and Italy and even the canteen.
There were six pages of individual formal staff photos. What was unusual was having another six pages of casual staff photos. This was of staff at events, dressed up for carnivals or interacting with each other. These candid photos provided a wonderful insight into the culture of the school – which formal photos rarely do.
Some things to consider with year books
Involve students and make it a learning experience
Photos with captions increase their impact (think of National Geographic)
Make the most of your work and give it a longer life with photos and articles on a blogsite
Congratulations Julie on a great year book, and thanks for sharing it with us.
How visible is your school? Mobile advertising on buses and cars is still rare enough in many places to be effective. Principal Alan McIntyre of Owairoa School in New Zealand has been using them for years. Seeing your school message in different, or unexpected, settings can make people take notice. If you only advertise where people expect schools to be, like the newspaper, then it can be hard to stand out from the crowd.
Some schools own their own buses. They should be considered as a mobile billboard. Others pay for temporary advertising on buses.
Some tips on paid school marketing on buses;
keep the main message short
take a look at other adverts and see what works – some areas of semi-transparent advertising can lose their impact
reinforce the same message in other media
consider a large QR code (not for drivers but for their passengers)
include a call to action
If it is on your own school bus
Consider if there is a way of including a changeable message
Keep the vehicle clean
Buses spend a considerable amount of time sitting idle. Don’t hide them when not in use. No one puts an expensive billboard where it can’t be seen
The financial value of a new family enrolling can be significant – especially when considered over the lifetime of their education. Lowering barriers to entry can help a family across the line.
Would offering the first term free to families who change schools help them decide? What about free initial uniform? Incentives can make price comparison more difficult between schools. Knox School
in Victoria offers a $500 Uniform Voucher if someone enrolls based on your word of mouth endorsement of the school.
Do school websites, and advertising which are devoid of people seem weird to you? Some schools choose to showcase neat buildings and classrooms without any students or teachers. At a conference this year I was presenting some photos of a school website. A delegate said it looked just like Chernobyl. After radiation leaked everything was left deserted and lifeless as the people evacuated. I thought it was the perfect summary.
Schools are communities of people. Take a review of your material. Do you focus more on the facilities or the people learning in them?
Principal Bobby Scott from Perimeter Christian School in Atlanta USA recently connected with me via my LinkedIn account. Before you go into his school website there is a flash animation saying “Perimeter Christian School is different, Very different.” Seeing Bobby flying through the air on a zip line (flying fox) in their promotional video was certainly different.
This is a fast pace video where the Principal personally takes the viewer on a tour of the K-8th grade school of 500 students. At times they use a green screen to add speeded up video behind him. One of the distinctives of the school is free play. With 90 acres of land including woods and ponds there is room to run. Small class sizes appeal to many parents Another distinctive is having younger grades go home early at midday. The school grounds are used for summer day camps with a ropes course, basketball fields and a 50 metre swimming pool.
Comment: Tell parents what is different about your school, while reassuring them about the quality of your education. Passionate word of mouth marketing doesn’t occur for boring things. People talk about things which surprise them or exceed expectations.
As the world’s second largest search engine YouTube continues to tweak and improve their service. Their goal is to keep people watching their videos for as long as possible. Why? It is the same as Television. The longer you watch online the more advertising you can be exposed to.
YouTube is therefore now favouring videos which contribute to a longer overall viewing session online. Previously many videos received large numbers of clicks but were not necessarily watched in full. YouTube will now recommend videos which people actually engage with. Your video isn’t more likely to be seen just because it’s shorter. If your content is interesting and relevant then your audience will watch and share it.
In the hype of Gangnam Style viral videos it can be easy to forget why YouTube is so effective for schools. You don’t actually need 500 million views for your school videos. You just need to help current, and prospective, parents know more about your school. A video watched by a parent who missed their child’s speech in assembly can be as powerful as 5,000 views by people on the other side of the world who won’t ever enrol. A prospective parent seeing and hearing your vision, listening to a testimonial, or hearing a speech from a school captain, may be convinced your school will be a good choice for their child.
Larger numbers of video views, and enabling monetisation, does however have benefits. YouTube offers additional features including customisation of thumbnails. Normally there are only three random screen shots available. A good thumbnail can dramatically lift views from casual visitors.
Question: Do you have a customised YouTube School Channel to share with the network?
I was saddened and shocked to read that Professor Ross Vining died this week in a plane crash. Delegates at previous School Marketing Aforias would have met Dr Linda Vining’s delightful husband Ross. At the Aforia 2009 he spoke about measuring satisfaction, and turning data into valuable intelligence. As a top forensic scientist Ross used his skills to analyse much of the data for school surveys. At the 2010 Aforia Ross brilliantly led discussion on hypothetical scenarios where schools face damage to their reputation.
Twelve months ago I enjoyed several hours with Ross as he trained me on the databases he had created to manage and record the activities of the Centre for Marketing Schools. Our thoughts and prayers are for Dr Linda Vining and son Ben at this time.
Newspaper editors love a good photo. In this > video is another tip from the book Smart Ideas for School Marketers. Supplying high-resolution portrait and landscape photos, with captions including names, makes the journalist’s life easier.
A great story without a photo is harder to be accepted than an average story with a great photo. A great newsworthy story combined with great photos should be your goal. Depending on the newspaper they may send out their photographer if you give them enough advance notice.
The Sydney Adventist College in Strathfield is closing after 75 years. Built to cater for 550 students the enrolments had declined to 146. It always saddens me to see schools close. While it mostly impacts current students, families and staff, I feel for the former students and parents who shared the journey. The Final Roll Call and Last Staff Brunch that have been organised by the school is a great initiative. It is a proactive way to invite back former students, parents and staff to remember and celebrate.
Marketers realise that schools face external pressures of government funding changes, increasing competition, changing demographics as well as internal staff challenges. Let’s do what we can to ensure our schools survive, and thrive, to serve future generations.
When an invoice for a domain registration renewal came across my desk from accounts I was about to approve it. Wow $249 for a domain for 2 years. That’s expensive. Normally it is about $10 to $30 per year. Sure enough it was another scam.
The organisation had registered a ‘.com’ version of one of our many school website URLs. They had even gone to the trouble of redirecting that domain to our real ‘.com.au’ website to give it an added taste of authenticity. It pays to check – sadly we didn’t two years ago and had paid it.
One of my favourite authors is Malcolm Gladwell. This 17 minute video provides some fascinating insight into market research. It looks at Pepsi, spaghetti sauces and mustards but has implications for school marketing. Malcolm claims we cannot always know, let alone explain, what we want.
There is no perfect school but only ones which appeal to different groups of people. Some educators believe in a universal education system – a ‘one size suits all’ model. Interestingly the ‘one size fits all’ concept when applied to coffee lowers satisfaction for ALL. Gladwell argues that success comes from offering diversity. The Diploma in School Marketing is designed to help you consider what makes your school unique and then how to highlight those aspects.
This video is on edTed which is a great source of ideas and resources for school teachers.
Over the past few weeks my time has been focused on the 92 page soft cover School Year Book. Previously they tended to be handed out well into the coming year. Now we aim to distribute in the last week of school. This has worked well enabling students and families to reflect positively on the past year.
Rather than just let it be a record of activities it is deliberately a marketing document for prospective families. It doesn’t cover every subject, nor every student. More photos of families have been included. This is the first year of full colour and the printing quotations varied by over 40%.
I already have quite a few Year Books from other schools. Some are huge. Others are more like a magazine. There are hard covers, soft covers, glossy and plain. If you like your Year Book and have a spare copy (even past years) I would appreciate the chance to see them and share ideas with the network. I am also keen to hear if Schools outsource, use online services, have tried DVDs or other alternatives.
A thought: The School Year Book can be a significant cost in time and money. Make it worthwhile. It should be consistent with other marketing material and help tell your story.
Last week’s announcement of the two day School Marketing Aforia being held in Sydney next August generated many expressions of interest. It will be wonderful to encourage, equip and connect with more members of the International School Marketers network.
The network continues to grow each week with new subscribers. We welcome Emma Silva Director of Advancement, and and Ha Dinh Marketing and Relationships Officer from the United Nations International School in Hanoi, Vietnam and Tracey Blyth at Dainfern College South Africa.
As Montessori takes a different approach to education they wanted their website to reflect that difference. The long scrolling down home page invites you to participate in the website. I especially like the Meet the Staff page with staff photos and avatars.
Critical incident letter to school parents (300 KB) 
