Making Your School Shine: Tips for Increasing Enrollment
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Transcript of Making Your School Shine: Tips for Increasing Enrollment
Agenda
• Marketing 101 • What marketing says about your school • I want a billboard • Marketing Audit • Why do parents choose your school? • Enrollment Marketing • Pictures role in marketing • www.yourschool.com • School brochures • Resources
Marketing 101
Marketing is getting people with a specific need to know, like and trust you.
Marketing 101
Marketing is the set of activities used to: • Get your potential customers’ attention • Motivate them to buy • Get them to actually buy • Get them to buy again (and again…)
What does marketing say about your school?
• Everything! • Good marketing helps to:
– Attract new students – Reduce student attrition – Bond alumni and past parents – Keep good teachers – Raise funds – Build your school’s image in the wider
community
I want a billboard
I want a billboard
Perform a Marketing Audit
• Get an outside-in perspective of your school • You’re too close to the situation – “can’t see
the forest for the trees” • Helps evaluate a school's efforts and budget • Assign a person or a team to perform the audit • What are your goals?
Marketing Audit
• Consider all of your prospective parent/student touch points
• Spread out all marketing materials and external communications on a table – Brochure – Advertisements – Website – Email communications – Open house information – Registration process
Marketing Audit
• Listen to what your constituents say about their perception of your school and what they like and don’t like – and what they would like to see – Student leaders – Parents – Alumni – Faculty and staff – Prospective students
• Walk around your campus with a camera • Look at what your competition is doing
Marketing Audit
• Evaluate results • Look for marketing disconnects • Determine what needs to be done • Create priorities, timeline • Marketing plan
Recruiting
Recruiting is seeking families to your school who will be: • Great students • Supportive families • Great referral sources • Generous donors
Retention
• Customer Service • What sets you apart • Make them feel
needed
Retention
• Include them in your team
• Spotlight their kids • Be authentic
Referrals
• Always ask for a referral from your superstar parents
• Most schools admit that referrals are by far the best source of new students
• Train them. Teach them.
Why do parents choose your school?
Why we chose JP2 Catholic School?
Enrollment Marketing
• Things to do… – Foundation pieces – Website – Open house – Brochure – Advertising – Direct mail – Church bulletins – Make it easy!
Foundation Pieces
A picture speaks a 1,000 words…
Pictures Tell Your Story
• Emphasize: – Faith – Academics – Athletics – Extracurricular
activities – Spirit
• Show diversity
• Simple close-ups • Unaware action shots • Parent photographers • Stock photo files • “Pictures have legs!” • Talent waivers
FAITH
ACADEMICS
ATHLETICS
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
SPIRIT
www.yourschool.com
• THE most important marketing tool • Targets internal and external audiences • Keep it current, simple, clean • Focus on recruitment and retention • Publicize web presence everywhere • Make it a top priority
Your Front Door
Enrollment on the Web
School Brochure
School Brochure
Additional Resources
• Facebook.com/makingschoolsshine • Sign up for newsletter at
AcademicBranding.com • 10 Commandments of Academic Branding
– academicbranding.com/ten
• CHOOSECATHOLICSCHOOLS.org – Tools4Schools
• Fellow Catholic Schools – what works, what doesn’t, best practices