School marketing strategies for your school
Published: November 2019
With so many options to choose from, it can be difficult for students and parents to pick the right school for them.
One household may well have several schools in their catchment area and if one school in particular stands out – that will likely be the school they choose. If you’re finding your school isn’t catching anyone’s attention, it might be time to look at your school marketing strategy. Urban River have worked with a variety of schools in the North East and beyond – here are our top tips for improving your school marketing strategies:
Does your school have a niche?
What is it about your school that makes it stand out? Perhaps you have a fantastic drama department or all the latest ICT equipment. Think about what makes your school unique and tell the world through! That special something might be the difference between a parent choosing your school or another. Ensure to use your key messages throughout your school marketing strategies to ensure consistency and impact.
Branding
Remember – your brand isn’t just your logo. It’s your school colours, your values, your uniform and more. What does you brand say about your school? Maybe it’s been a long time since you last updated the brand…or maybe nothing has changed since the school first opened! Updating your brand doesn’t mean you have to throw the school’s entire identity out of the window – a few small tweaks can give your school a modern touch.
Success stories
Your school will have collected so many success stories over the years – whether it’s an outstanding Ofsted report or a high-flying student, you have plenty to shout about…so why don’t you? It can sometimes go against our natures to brag about our accomplishments, but it’s an important tool in marketing. Use all of your marketing channels to promote the successes that make you proud to teach at your school every day. It could be just enough to catch a potential student’s attention!
Try something new
Is your school on social media yet? You’ve probably considered setting up an account, but it can be hard to find the time to do so and to keep it updated when you’re already busy with the day-to-day activities at your school. However, your parent audience are probably very active on social media – as are your rival schools! Social can be a great channel to advertise your school (for free!) and using only a few hundred characters.
Blog & News
Does your school’s website have a blog or news section? Studies into content marketing have shown that blogging gets three times more leads than paid search advertising and organisations that blog get 126% more lead growth than those that don’t. A blog can be a great platform to share news, exciting updates and to write up the success stories we talked about earlier. You can then share your blogs out to all your social media channels for the world to see.
SEO
Does your school have an SEO strategy? If a parent is looking for a school to send their child to, the first place they will look is Google – especially if they are new to the area. A powerful SEO strategy will ensure that your school is the first school they see. This could give you the edge over your competitors and could land you some new students.
Video
Video is leading the way in marketing strategies, with 43% of people wanting to see more video content from marketers. Video is particularly popular with millennials and if you’re not sure if that’s relevant to you, remember that millennials are aged between 23 – 37 years old, so many are probably parents by now. A whopping 75% of millennials watch videos online every day – is it time you considered adding video to your school’s marketing strategy? Short videos can be an effective way of illustrating the benefits of your school, as well as helping future students and parents feel familiar with the school environment. A good piece of video content could be just the ticket!
Need support with your school marketing strategies?
If you’re struggling to get your school noticed – come and have a chat with us. We’ve worked with many schools to improve their brand and their online and offline marketing strategies. If you’re looking to take your school to the next level, you’ve come to the right place. Get in touch today.