EDUCATION MARKETING - MARKETING A SCHOOL
SCHOOLS MARKETING SPECIALISTS
The Business Firm creates websites, newsletters, magazines, PR, content marketing, podcasts , digital marketing , customer service training and press releases for schools, colleges and educational institutions anywhere in the world.
We also provide professional photography and video production for schools in Adelaide, South Australia. It is critical that schools engage in continuous communications with their community (their target market for student enrolments) so to remain relevent and the schools brand is well regarded in their local market. This requires ongoing content market, newsletters, videos, events and positive publicity from the press to achieve. We provide all of this for schools and can take the level of your communications (and your public image) from good to outstanding with the many schools marketing services we provide specifically to schools.
We can also provide assistance with your school fundraising by helping you secure sponsors for your school.
Please contact us for a free, no obligation first consult to discuss how your school or college can get more out of your marketing and your fundraising.
HOW TO MARKET YOUR SCHOOL
If you are in the education sector and want to know:
how the very best schools attract more students,
how they get the most positive publicity from the media,
how they build a strong community of supporters amongst their families,
and how they acquire amazing connections in the business world and in government?
…then the video at the top of this page is for you. It shows the exact managerial practises and marketing strategy used by the finest and most successful schools in the world.
What does marketing mean in the context of a school?
As parents of small children begin to actively consider which school to send their son or daughter, four main factors come into play when making their decision.
1. Proximity (the location needs to fit in with their work lives, their ease of transport and possibly with grandparents)
2. Familiarity or family history (perhaps a parent is an old scholar)
3. Reputation (this is a cumulative public relations influence that is built up over time, combining the parents’ direct knowledge of a school, with external influences). Reputation is shaped mostly by:
a. The appearance and behaviour of current students
b. The achievements of past students
c. What appears in the media about the school
d. What other people tell them about the school
e. How the school promotes its brand in the market
4. Price (how do the fees charged by schools compare with each other?). Is the substantial cost of a private school worth the investment for their kids, compared to a free, public school education? Many parents will ask, “is the perceived gap worth the school fees?”.
So in a very direct, microeconomic sense; there is a constant baseline competition between public and private education – as well as the more intense market competition within private schools – and there’s even competition within the public schools in a district.
This competition leads to all schools having to do more to attract enrolments and so every school strives to build as much advantage over other schools, as possible.
Let’s look at the forms that competition between schools takes:
• All schools compete on reputation, fees and proximity
• They compete on academic score (e.g. NAPLAN)
• Many compete on gender (e.g. all boys schools, or all girl schools)
• Some compete on specialty (e.g. STEM, music, business)
• They compete on facilities (e.g. stadiums, swimming pools)
• Schools compete against each other to attract teachers
• Schools compete against each other to attract sponsors
• Schools compete against each other for grants and other special funding.
- And schools also compete against the many halls, sports grounds and courts in their geographic area, because schools want to hire their facilities after hours to instructors and clubs that run their own classes and events (e.g. yoga, judo, music concerts, ballet, drama, tennis, basketball, Rotary etc.).
To compete properly in all of the above requires a professional marketing strategy if a school is to thrive in its market…if it’s to achieve the economies of scale required to operate a modern educational facility that can provide superb service to its community - and to ultimately, be commercially successful.
So, what constitutes world’s best practise in primary, middle and secondary education? What are the strategic things that the very best schools are doing, that gives them such a significant advantage over other schools?
To find out, you can hear directly from an experienced and highly regarded Principal of one of the best schools in South Australia, Mr John Foley of St Michael’s College – a private school in Adelaide’s premier beachside suburb of Henley Beach.
In the video at the top of this page, John shares the powerful ‘secret sauce’ that creates all of the conditions that put schools such as Saint Michael’s College, in such a strong market position.
DOWNLOAD A FREE EDUCATIONAL MARKETING PLAN
The Business Firm has developed a free marketing plan for schools that schools can use to market their school, college or educational institution. This Education Marketing Plan is designed to improve the marketing, public relations and brand of your school to help you achieve the best possible public profile in your community and to attract more student enrolments.
Download the free Marketing Plan for Schools & Educational Colleges
