In education, marketing is becoming a bigger challenge. There are more independent schools than ever before and with that comes increased competition to attract the best students, faculty and donors. It’s crucial to communicate what makes a school special to its various audiences — and do that in a way that both connects and inspires.
Over the past year, I’ve spoken with numerous Heads of School and Directors in Admissions and Development from Boston Independent schools about their overarching approach to marketing and consistently heard one major theme: marketing efforts are siloed, creating huge inefficiencies and muddied messaging.
Many schools do an excellent job outlining their mission and core values, but the communications fall apart when they try to message those values across marketing materials and different areas of the school.
A better outcome calls for a better approach. Schools need to step back, think about their messaging (who they are, what they do, and how they do it) and identify what separates them from their competitors. Then, personalize that messaging to match each target audience, addressing their hopes and concerns.
This messaging needs to come across in all internal and external materials (website, brochures, emails, development and admissions campaigns, etc.). Once this is done, all of the internal audiences (faculty, students, and parents) and external audiences (potential students, parents, alumni, community) will feel that connection with the school. Just as important, the messaging will help create consistency in the way they talk about the school, which will help with referrals for new students and faculty, as well as building a school’s overall brand.
A second major theme was the need to start addressing inefficiencies across the marketing and communications plan. Many schools have a communications team or individual who are wonderful editorial writers, focused on magazines and newsletters. They are also asked to apply their skills to email campaigns and social media platforms and keep up with demanding deadlines.
But schools need to take into account the less formal communication efforts that may end up conflicting with those channel-specific marketing efforts. Admissions, development, and administrators are also sending emails, letters, and social posts at the same time. Which means their target audiences may be overwhelmed or underwhelmed by the array of communications they are receiving. In some cases, this turns off alumni and potential student families.
This is where Longview Strategies can help. We are a small group of senior marketing and communications specialists who work with companies to revise their messaging and marketing strategies. Through our marketing Accelerator program, we meet with leadership, determine goals and challenges, build a new messaging strategy and audit all marketing and communications materials to see if the school can more efficiently and effectively get its message across. We leave you with a strategy, new brand messaging and a one- to five-year marketing and communications plan for implementation.
We believe that the educational community is rightfully focused on the faculty, students, and staff, making sure they are delivering the best education possible to students. When it comes to marketing and communications, schools needs to stand out among their competitors as they succinctly explain why they are the best fit for potential students and faculty members – and why alumni and the community should support them.
We can help you chart a course for marketing and communications, so that you can focus more on the Herculean task of educating our children in their ideal environment.
