News

Decisions, decisions: what prompts your customers to buy?

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013 | Blogs, Marketing, Strategy

Blog by Irina Yaacoub, Marketing Consultant

Understanding the decision making process your customers go through is fundamental in developing an effective communications strategy that delivers results. A typical five-stage model implies customers go through most, if not all of the following steps:

 

This model should be considered as whole when devising a marketing strategy. Customers’ perceptions and attitudes are gradually shaped in the stages leading to purchase, while the post-purchase evaluation step determines the likelihood of recommending the purchase to others.

At the very beginning of the decision-making process the customer identifies the need to buy. In the context of education, that could be triggered by child nearing nursery age, a mother returning to work, or the continuing tendency of parents outsourcing their responsibilities, among others.

For many families, the enrolment of their children for school is a simple decision. They would enrol them in their local school. Other families, however, go to extraordinary lengths to find what they consider to be the best school for the child and/or their family. And one thing is for sure; parents will carry extensive research, putting schools under scrutiny before trusting them with their children and money.

Many schools depend heavily on advertising, media releases and open days to recruit, but the truth is that prospective parents would use far more complex framework to build their perception about a school. Research shows that word-of-mouth is still the leading influence factor when selecting a school and that more than ever parents rely on the Internet to access information.

Customer-touch-points have increased significantly with the advancement of technology and schools play catch up with most of the now well used by parents mediums like social media sites, blogs and forums. Schools with strong digital marketing presence are most likely to create a positive impression of a modern day organisation that is fully capable of preparing pupils to take their place in a fast moving world.

Communication strategies should therefore take in account the need of establishing a proactive two-way communication with parents, monitoring effectively and responding promptly to conversations in the digital space. Being part of the conversation means that schools are given the opportunity to engage in dialog and understand better what customers really think about the school, what their needs and expectations are, helping the school to more closely match  their offerings to market demands.

Parents have more choices in schools now than ever. Perceptions of continuous improvement in state schools, increased competition within the independent sector and the establishment of academies and free schools creates a dynamic market where securing market share becomes ever more difficult.

And with the market environment rapidly changing presenting new opportunities and threats, the survival of any business is linked to the awareness and adaptability to the new environment.  Understanding the full spectrum of the socio-economic factors that may be influencing school recruitment rates is therefore vital in achieving competitive advantage.

Identifying target markets, understanding the desirable characteristics parents would like to associate with a school, and developing communications that are responsive to their specific needs takes the school a step closer to being a school-of-choice.
mtmconsulting is one of the first consultancies to focus on the education sector in the UK. Established in 1984 to be the leading educational business consultancy specialising in strategies for schools and colleges, mtm has since worked with over 500 education groups, large and small, independent and maintained.

Our areas of expertise include strategy, research, marketing and development for:

Independent Schools
Academies and Free Schools
State Schools
FE & HE Colleges and Universities
Investors in Education
Suppliers to Education

mtm consultants are based across the UK and work worldwide.

Call our UK office on +44 (0) 843 308 7548 or email office@mtmconsulting.co.uk  for more information.

No knock-off goods here: it’s the real thing.

Monday, December 17th, 2012 | Blogs, Marketing, Research, Strategy, Uncategorized

Blog by Dick Davison – Head of Strategic and Research Services

Somebody once told me that certain ‘knock-off’ goods – the allegedly Prada and Louis Vuitton bags you can buy from street traders on the Ponte Sant’ Angelo in Rome, for example – were not actually cheap imitations, but genuine goods stolen from the production line and sold through the black market. Probably not true, and certainly not true of the ‘Rolex’ watches with cheap quartz motions which a few dollars could purchase in the back streets of Taipei.

But musings on the real value of prestige consumer brands came to mind recently when I was approached by a third-party fixer to brief a very well-known international consulting firm on trends within the UK boarding market. It transpired, during the course of a very long telephone call (from Mumbai, where the consultant was based) that the well-known consulting firm’s ultimate client was a UK institution, interested in investment opportunities within the British independent education sector.

So the client was paying a colossal fee – in all probability, six figures – for advice, collated and analysed in India, with the assistance of the third-party fixer, also charging a fee, but which came, in all essentials from a specialist UK company which could have provided the expertise for a fraction of the price. What’s in a name indeed?

Perhaps surprisingly, it’s an increasingly common phenomenon in independent education. And often, the grander the educational brand, the more likely it is that its advisers will be the fashionable legal firms, the blue chip PR companies and the international management consultants. It’s perhaps unfair to suggest that prestige demands prestige: the fear that a high-end brand might be devalued by association with a less well-known one. Probably it’s more to do with comfort: governors who, in their business or professional lives, are familiar with the likes of PWC or Ernst & Young feel reassured that their school is in good hands if they recognise the name of the adviser.

Which may be a good – if expensive – thing if, for example, it’s investment advice you’re looking for. What a school needs to know about managing its invested capital is not very different from what any small or medium business needs.

But if what is needed, as is often the case, is a detailed knowledge of the UK independent sector, and the structural, social, financial and regional trends shaping its future, it surely makes more sense to go to the specialist expert. You might be surprised at how much of the big name consultants’ knowledge of sector trends comes from the mtmconsulting Independent Sector Reports , published at two-year intervals since 2007.

No knock-off goods here: it’s the real thing.

Ending on a high note

Friday, November 23rd, 2012 | Blogs, Events

Blog by Irina Yaacoub, Marketing Consultant

The rather intimate Proprietorial Schools Autumn Forum 2012, which took place on 15th November 2012 in the prestigious Cavalry and Guards Club, Piccadilly, London, once again proved itself to be the only place for proprietors to meet, discuss and receive industry specific knowledge.

Dick Davison, Head of Strategic and Research Services, speaks on school fees and how parents pay them.

The focus of this year’s Autumn Forum was on two topics of high interest: how parents pay school fees, and, hottest of all, digital marketing and social media, all in the context of the independent sector. Dick Davison, Head of Strategic and Research Services at mtmconsulting, lifted the curtain on a subject close to the heart, but rarely spoken of: “How do parents pay school fees?” The impact of the unstable economic climate, parents’ worries and concerns, and shifts in the distribution of available disposable income were all put in perspective and presented in line with mtm’s latest market research findings. It was interesting to note that some of the earliest market shifts recorded in the 2010 study continued in 2012. The leading reasons for parents choosing fee-paying schools remained being a genuinely all-round education and the best available academic education. Not surprisingly, families continue to reduce their expenditure to afford fees, but appear to be more confident in their ability to pay fees to the end of their child(ren)’s education. While the 2012 research confirmed the majority of earlier results, there was visible surprise when Dick unveiled brand-new findings that showed that a much wider spread of family income than the media stereotype made up the current and prospective client base.

Simon Hay (left) engaging in interesting discussions following his presentation on digital marketing.

The second presentation for the day by Simon Hay, a co-founder of Firefly Solutions, drew on the importance of schools being digitally and social media active. Simon emphasized the difference a well-presented and maintained website could make to school reputation and current parents’ satisfaction, and how it can be used as marketing tool to attract prospective
parents. And as the latest statistics by Ipsos Mori suggest that half of the UK adult population actively use the Internet, with Facebook being the most visited social media channel, schools can no longer avoid or delay taking part in the digital conversation. Nothing more than a modern word-of-moth, conversations in social media channels have the potential to reach millions of people around the globe in a matter of minutes. Ignore this at your own peril.

To find out more about market conditions in the fee-paying and state-funded independent sector and how to help your school plan for the future, please contact us on 0843 308 7548.

 

mtm/vwv Autumn Conference Report 2012

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012 | Events, Insights, Uncategorized

Following the 7th annual Practical Strategies conference held at the IoD in London on 18 September, 2012, we are pleased to release the conference report which summarises the sessions.

We are already looking ahead to next year’s conference, which will be held on 17 September 2013 at the same venue. If you have not already done so, please let us have your feedback so we can make the next Practical Strategies conference even better.

 

Practical Strategies Conference Report

The 2012 mtm/ISC School Fees Survey

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012 | Blogs, Insights, Research

Article by Dick Davison, Head of Strategic Services

The biggest survey of independent school parents yet undertaken has shown an encouraging rise in their confidence about being able to continue to afford school fees for their children’s full school careers.

The survey records responses from nearly 6,200 parents whose children were in independent schools during summer term 2012. Undertaken by mtmconsulting, using its secure online survey technology, the survey was carried out with the full support and co-operation of the Independent Schools Council (ISC).

It supplements the results of the first ever such surveys, undertaken by mtmconsulting in 2010 and, on a much smaller scale, in 2007. Read more

Don’t let your awayday let you down

Thursday, August 30th, 2012 | Blogs

Blog by Dick Davison, Head of Strategic Services

We all know how useful a strategy awayday can be. An opportunity for governors or the leader-ship team to get right away from daily duties and cares and focus on the big picture, the strategic development of the school.
At least that’s how it’s supposed to be. Too often we hear that strategy days haven’t gone according to plan, that discussions lacked focus, that priorities weren’t established or considered, that decisions were fudged and the vision dissipated. Read more

Cookies 102 – Putting your website on a diet…

Thursday, August 16th, 2012 | Tags: , , , Blogs

Blog by Chris Smith, Head of Business Development

As discussed in the last article, much like subliminal messaging in the 1950s, cookies do have a dark side. The data sent to a website’s database may include anything you type on that website, from simple search terms, such as “Car” or “Laptop”, to bank details. Some sites will use search activity to inform search optimisation, to give you bespoke results, but there is the potential that more nefarious websites might feed-back sensitive information. Read more

mtmconsulting recognised by EducationInvestor awards

Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 | Blogs, In the News

mtmconsulting is shortlisted for the EducationInvestor Consultant of the Year award. Article by Chris Smith, Head of Business Development

mtmconsulting is delighted to have been recognised for its contribution to the education sector, in being shortlisted for the prestigious EducationInvestor awards which identify and reward organisations who have supplemented the provision of education through their skills and expertise.

Read more

“The parents of your next Reception intake are now following you on Twitter”

Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 | Blogs, Events, Marketing, Strategy

#Tweeting 101: Practical Introduction to Social Networks, Tuesday 12th June, Cavalry & Guards Club, London – round up by Nicky Adams, Marketing Consultant

So the first message sent by the power of the interweb was ‘LO’ – no, not the inaugural use of txt spk, but as far as the operator got with ‘LOGIN’ before the connection froze. Well thankfully the internet is usually a more reliable method of communication these days and one that schools can really take advantage of when it comes to staying in touch with prospective and current parents. mtm web+digital’s recent #tweeting101 seminar was a whistle-stop tour of social networking for schools and gave a practical insight into how the power of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and the like can be harnessed to help keep your classrooms full.

Read more

Are your buses best?

Thursday, June 14th, 2012 | Blogs, Marketing, Research

Weekday mornings are usually pretty hectic in any family household so an alternative to the school run is often a very welcome offer – running buses through key residential areas can really boost your school’s recruitment, says mtmconsulting’s Head of Research James Leggett.

Read more

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