by Joe Faulkner, mtm schools marketing consultant
An article in The Indepedent newspaper today, “How to get Past the Spin at School Open Days“, gave parents constructive advise on gaining a strong sense of the individual ethos and identity of independent schools at open days and avoiding the “varnish and spin”. But what should school marketers and business leaders consider when planning open days to ensure their school’s marketed in the best possible way?
Firstly, remember the golden rule in school marketing: every school is different! Open days should promote the best aspects of your school’s distinct personality. There is no point trying to come across as an ‘academic hot-house’ at open day if for the rest of the year you focus on all-round pastoral care.
Secondly, school’s marketing teams should carefully consider the timing of their open days. A saturday may seem easier but a school empty of children, or where all pupils are enjoying sports may not accurately reflect that school’s character. Conversely, if your school is in a catchment area where many households have two parents working full-time, running open days mid-week may deter parents.
How do you promote your open days? A small advert in the local free paper may seem like a good idea, but media advertising is not always the most cost-effective option, and with school marketing budgets under pressure to be used in the best way, may not bring the return in pupil recruitment you would hope for. If your school is on a main road into a city centre, do you have a banner advertising the school’s upcoming open days? have you considered a leaflet drop? mtmconsulting’s Mandarin catchment area analysis could help you to identify the best postcodes for distributing leaflets to your target market.
Who carries out the school tour on open days? In The Independent article, St Teresa’s School’s marketing expert Jan Shilling explains why pupils at the school carry out open day tours: “the girls are sparky and not arrogant. I can be confident they’ll represent the school well.” However, pupil tours can be uninformative and some fee-paying parents resent their children being taken out of lessons to market the school.
How effectively does your body of staff promote your school? In our schools marketing consultancy work, mtm is often told “our staff don’t think school marketing is anything to do with them!” Make no mistake, nothing will turn prospective fee-paying parents off quicker than a rude or nonchalent teacher. It is essential that all staff, from dinner ladies to bursar, see the importance of positive promtion and effective school marketing. If you suspect that your staff are not working hard to enhance positive perceptions, then mtm is easily able to help with a whole staff school marketing inset training event.
You should keep robust tracking systems in place to monitor the effectiveness of your school’s marketing overall, and the success of individual events in particular. There is no value in regularly attracting 100+ families to your school marketing events if none of them go on to register or arrive. Consider incorporating into your meetings a monthly review of enquiries, visits, registrations and arrivals. If your numbers are not stacking up right, it may be time to consider an mtmconsulting school marketing audit.
Finally, as mentioned in The Independent’s article, make sure that at your open days you give “students and teachers a chance to shout about what they love about their school”. Remember, good school marketing starts and finish with visibly happy children and parents.
To read the article: “How to get past the spin at school open days” on The Independent’s website, please click here.
To discuss mtm consulting’s school marketing, educational strategy, school research and pupil recruitment support services please contact mtm.
