Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Is your School on Message?‘Good communicators think audience first’
Audience
Message
Means of delivery
Me!
Is your school on message?
“There is no magic wand in marketing”
“For big organisations its about ideas and money for small organisations its about ideas, graft and no budget”
Is your school on message?
Marketing is a scary subject for educators
You have a responsibility to inform potential users/students; more especially if the service is unique in an area.
Hard working staff can be demotivated by lack of recognition
Focused marketing does work – be positive
Marketing a school means:Showing what happens to students inside the
premises/grounds
What parents can expect their children to gain
This is relatively simple; it must also be credible
Marketing your school!
What are you doing?
Audiences
Who are you trying to/should you be
marketing to?
Audiences• Parents, potential parents• Students, potential students• Past pupils• Community, leaders in the community• Partners, potential partners• Funders• ‘Those who can recommend’• Media, local, national• Staff!
Key Messages• What are we about?• How are we different/unique?• What do we do well?• What is our ethos our philosophy?• What can we do for each pupil - the individual?• What about our staff? – their attitude and
expertise• Describe the physical structure….grounds etc• Is it a safe place?• Will parents be involved and kept informed?
Message drafting and placingWhere do your key messages emerge from?Are they lived within the school?Who drafts the ‘key message’ material?
N.B. What, When, Where, How - is the means of delivery of ‘key messages’ to ‘key audience’?
‘PR and Marketing is a Living Thing’
A Living Thing….Are we on message internally?Do those working with us, and attending
understand what we try to do?Do we engage with parents; not lecture them,
just engage and let them see and experience?Are we welcoming?, Are we transparent?Are we honest? Do we practice what we preach?
A Living Thing…Do we listen, good PR is as much about
listening as it is about informingWhen we listen and respond we build
relationshipsPeople who have a good relationship are
more likely to be happy with the service/product
Good relationships lead to satisfaction and positive sentiment
The Marketing DevicesWebsiteLetters / correspondenceInterviews / meetings with parents, pupilsPast pupil involvementParent eventsParent involvementOpen days/sports daysPhone manner and efficiencyNewsletter / BrochureNational/Local Media
Local and Specialist MediaLocal media do follow good news stories
about local schools
Specialist media, e.g. Education Correspondents, do follow new angles and developments, positive and negative
Watch out for parental permission on all media interaction with pupils
When it works its seamless…“Its more about the day to day activity and effort
being witnessed, experienced and communicated than the development of slick marketing material and gimmicks, that don’t add up”
“For most parents its one of their biggest decisions – they will dig deeper than the website to establish the facts”
Then is goes wrong…
React in difficult situationMedia are interested in negative so are the
readers…it’s a storyGet the facts; if you have a problemInform internallyInform parents, trustees, board etcPartners should not be informed through the
mediaPrepare a media response
Your rights….Media have a right to ask questionsThey have no right to enter your premises,
take pictures there or talk to you studentsThey can film from outside the premises and
take picturesThey can talk to pupils outside the groundsYou do not have to respond to queries, ignore
or indicate, ‘no comment’
Your response….Generally better to respondDraft statement which deals with the issueShow action and responsivnessDon’t try to achieve too muchRemember the main audiences – if you were
one of them what would you want to hearYou may need to do an interview, be selective
and be prepared
Your responseAlways have a second person look over the
statementIt can always be issued tomorrow, it can
never be taken backDon’t be pressurised, work at a pace that you
can manageRemember that all difficult situations passThe aim is not to win but to deal with it as
best you can - and to communicate this
Finally..You are what you are…Do you know and value what you are?Do you communicate this to the wider
audience?
If you had a problem at the school, have you considered how you would respond internally and externally?
What is success for your school?
