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MONTHLY NEWSLETTER: NOVEMBER 2006 ISSUE
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HOW TO ENSURE THAT YOUR SCHOOL WILL NEVER BE FINANCIALLY STABLE,
OTHERWISE KNOWN AS...DON’T MARKET YOUR SCHOOL
BY BY SANDY HOUSTON
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Want to know the best way to guarantee that your school will not succeed? Just follow the mantra of those who believe marketing is a waste of time and money.
1) Don’t market your school. Just keep telling yourself that everyone in town knows what you have to offer by word of mouth.
2) Don’t market your school. Don’t send out direct mail brochures. Don’t advertise in print or on radio or TV. Tell yourself you just don’t have time to promote your school.
3) Don’t market your school. Don’t advertise. Just assume that everybody knows that you’re terrific.
4) Don’t market your school. Convince yourself that you’ve been around for so long, families will automatically come to you.
5) Don’t market your school. Forget that even if you fill up every year, do you really have that many more applications than spaces? You can never have too much interest in your school. There are new prospective families who would love to look into your school if approached in the right way.
6) Don’t market your school. Forget that every other school in town, charter or not, public and private, is trying to attract your families away from you.
7) Don’t market your school. Tell yourself that it costs too much, takes away from the children, and doesn’t give you enough bang for the buck.
8) Don’t market your school. Pretend that it isn’t ADM that pays your bills. Don’t bother to ensure that you will have enough students by setting aside an adequate marketing budget.
9) Don’t market your school. Overlook the fact that marketing is an investment in your future, not an unnecessary expense.
10) Don’t market your school. Don’t bother with public relations or paid advertising. Pretend that it’s not essential to keep reminding your current families about what makes your school special and that you appreciate their business.
Get the idea? If so…
Now for Marketing Savvy—Get the Word out Loud and Clear!
Being Branded
Being branded is not just something you see on a dude ranch! Being branded means refining and communicating your school’s special qualities to reach a specific market. If all the schools are the same par (generic), then parents will simply choose what is geographically nearby. You want to fight to establish your voice and individuality through branding.
Now is the time to make your school special by publicizing consistent qualities associated with your business. It’s also important that the design you communicate is realistic so that you can deliver what you promise.
There are three ways to present your school’s image (i.e. branding).
Product: We’re in the school business (generic).
Process: We’re in the school business, but we have a different process. We are experienced, sanitary, and friendly to children.
Outcome: We’re in the school business and the outcome of your children attending our school is that they will receive a better education, be healthy, and be well socialized.
Spreading the Word
When you have determined the image you want to present and have targeted your consumers, the next step is to “raise your flag” in this market by placing ads in newspapers, brochures, or the Yellow Pages, and/or using direct mailing or school resource referrals.
The Ad: There are two types of advertising you should know about: image-building advertising and immediate-response advertising. Most people think their ad will get an immediate response, when in fact it’s not designed for that. Image-building advertising helps build a business over a period of months or years. Immediate-response advertising has a time limit on it, like a coupon or a reward, so people respond sooner rather than later.
An image-building ad encourages people to remember your name and usually involves presenting basic information about your school. By seeing your ad over and over, people will remember your facility’s name and then respond when they have a need, or they will refer someone to your business.
Placing an ad in the Yellow Pages is an example of image-building advertising. The Yellow Pages directory is a great way to reach seekers who are “50-80% ready to buy when they go there,” says Harry Sleighel, CEO, Michaels Wilder Group, Peoria, Arizona. Seeing your school’s name consistently is a great way to be remembered.
Direct mailing, even though it’s not free, is also a great way to reach families. My recommendation is a regular direct mail marketing program targeted to parents in your community with children in the age groups you serve.
Mailing time is very important. Try to get your direct mail supplier to drop your mailing at the U.S. Post Office so that it arrives at addresses on Monday or Tuesday. Mail received on Friday or Saturday may not be as effective. On Wednesday your mailer might be lost in the flood of supermarket advertising fliers that show up in your mailbox.
The Face-to-Face: Using direct mailing to educate the public about your school is great marketing, and it also can be used to invite them to an open house. Getting parents to an open house is a good way to build trust by enabling them to experience firsthand what your school has to offer.
Whichever method you choose, don’t be pennywise and pound foolish. Loosen those purse strings and set aside some funds to market your school. You’ll be glad you did!
Sandy Houston is a cofounder and past board member of the Arizona Charter School Association
She was founder of the Arizona Montessori Charter Schools Consortium. She has owned and operated charter schools over a career spanning 35 years, and has opened 7 charter schools.
Email: shouston@resolutions-esp.com
Reprinted with permission of the Charter School Monthly, Phoenix, Arizona. Copyright © 2006. All rights reserved
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