Category Archives: Marketing Your School

Marketing the Benefits of Your School

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Focusing on the benefits valued by parents etc. rather than a list of the school’s features is important.  You can read more about that in an earlier article. You should not assume that what you value is the same as what parents value. So how do you find out what those values are?

Small Focus Groups to Establish Parents’ Criteria

Start by investing time in small focus groups. Invite a few parents/carers to a neutral venue to discuss these types of questions:

  • What do you believe it is important to consider when choosing a school for your child or grandchild?
  • Which of those would you view as the most important in deciding which school to select?

Invitees to the focus groups should be drawn from a range of users:

  • parents who have recently had children join the school;
  • those searching for a school;
  • parents whose children are in the last year of the school;
  • estate agents to identify what parents ask them about schools in the area.

The invitees above should provide a cross section of ages and potentially differing perspectives.

In addition, you should hold focus groups for a cross section of children in the school to establish what they value especially those who have joined recently and those who are in the final year and may be more reflective about what they now value about their school.

Avoid Bias in Collating the Feedback

Identifying their views is not easy as they will need help to open up about what they truly value. Collating those views and then establishing the common values can be difficult and carries the risk that you may allow your views to influence the sifting of the data. Remain objective throughout or arrange for a third party to undertake the discussion and collation stages.

A survey may be helpful but that should either be preceded or followed up by focus groups, as above, to explore the issues in more detail and to gain a real sense of which values are more important to parents/carers.

The results can then be used to help you to focus your promotion of the school in brochures, your web site, articles in local papers and in text provided to local estate agents and similar services.

© 2014 HR Management Dimensions

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Marketing Your School – winning hearts and minds

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Schools are in competition for pupils and to gain and retain an effective reputation amongst parents/carers. Whether or not you realise it,

you need to market the benefits of your school to win the hearts and minds of parents so that your school remains well attended and has the commitment of parents to the success of the school and of the children.

Focus on Emotional Benefits

An attractive and informative web site and brochure setting out the features of the school is a help but more is needed.  Other schools will also produce similar materials so what will make a difference?  Listing features such as ease of parking is not a deciding factor.  Service companies have learned over the years that the loyalty of customers is won through the emotional benefits that your service and experience provides to them.  For example, Center Parcs learned that their guests, within a short time of arriving, would unwind rapidly and valued the security of the site.  That was a strong emotional benefit experienced by guests when on site and led to their loyalty.

Marketing Ideas

Emotional benefits are relevant to the marketing of schools as well. What key emotional benefits will parents experience if their child goes to your the school e.g. attainment levels, physical and mental development, character building to make their way in life, a secure environment, catch up teaching time?  Identifying what is important to your current and future parents is important.  Next, you have to consider how best to convey that to those considering your school.  Testimonials from parents who have experienced key benefits is a powerful influence and those parents will also be your ambassadors in the communities in which they live and work.

Beside communicating with parents, what other interested parties should be approached?  Have you identified housing developers in your area as they may wish to publicise the nearby facilities such as schools. Also consider alerting estate agents to the age range and facilities at your school e.g. nursery, 6th form. Produce a leaflet of the key emotional benefits as well as the facilities for estate agents to include in a pack for prospective home buyers. Make sure your web site contains key words that describe the facilities and benefits as this will help your school pages to appear in searches made by parents in the area or thinking of moving into the area.

You could just list your features in a brochure but do no be surprised if the children pass your school by on a bus or in a car with a parent and have no idea as to the benefits that are offered at your school.

© 2014 HR Management Dimensions

Web Site and Related Sites

Blogs: Headsup HR; 
HR Management Dimensions
Web site:  HR Management Dimensions
Facebook: HR Management Dimensions.