More than I wish, I hear Christian pastors, church leaders, Christian school administrators and Board Members express an “uncomfortableness” with the term “marketing.”
I often ask what the definition of “marketing” is and get a surprising variety of negative answers:
All fluff – flowery fund-raising campaigns, theoretical gobbledygook and sugar-coated promotion
Manipulation – they don’t say it this way, but they express something they observe on TV and in stores where people are made to feel guilty about buying something
Obsessive self-promotion – no one wants to be the “salesman” – the family who talks about their school all the time so much that their friends get weary and fatigued at their incessant one-topic communication. Thus, families (and schools admins) shy away so as not to be “like that.”
“Getting people with a specific need to know, like and trust you.”
That’s it. Of course, the result from building a trusting relationship is creating loyal ambassadors (repeat business and motivated referrals!)
In the world of private Christian schools, this definition works so well – because it’s all about cultivating trust with families. And when those families (the “people” part of the definition) have their pains/frustrations/fears alleviated (this is the “need” part), they become a long-term family for your school and they will certainly be your best ambassadors at their church, in the community and on Facebook!
More and more private schools are exploring how to integrate technology into their classroom. They are exploring ways to use online tools, internet games and social media to expand ideas and create innovative solutions. Whether it’s a tablet program, MacBooks, or iPads in the classroom, administrators are seeing this as a marketing weapon.
IT’S UNIQUE – while you may not be the only school in the state with a MacBook for every high school student, you may be the only one within 20 miles of you. When parents are investigating your school based on its technological readiness, this will stand out.
PREPAREDNESS – parents want their kids to be on the cutting edge of 3D virtual reality, worldwide Skype chat, and using the web to collaborate with students in schools in other countries to solve some of our world’s most challenging problems. The 60×60 classroom and the 60 acre campus has to grow and include the fast-paced technological world.
BUZZ – when students get to use social networking sites for good, to create change, to collaborate or to innovate, this is something that is often not said of the public schools in your area (perhaps their storyline is about budget cutting, bullying or low test scores). The local (and beyond) press loves stores of educational initiatives in schools – because “kids doing good” makes great feature stories!
WORD-OF-MOUTH – students and parents love to talk about their school’s MacBook program or their iPad initiative – so this makes for great W-O-M candy out on the social networks.
Here’s a great video of one school in Iowa who is capturing the enthusiasm of their students and the school’s technological initiatives.
In your marketing, you are obviously needing to target specific demographics. You need to address the needs/pains/frustrations/fears of our audience – but who is your audience?
Prospective families
Returning families
When developing your magnetic content (the kind of content that draws people to your site and school), think of creating/capturing content that is exciting for prospective new families, but also things that current families will find worth sharing, repeating and passing on to their friends.
Consider content, especially in this day, that can be passed along in an email, shared on Facebook or talked about at church on Sunday.
This is awesome – what talent from Peoria Christian School! This is the kind of content you need to capture at your school’s programs. They make great content to share on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Not only do parents (and sometimes older students) share it on their profile, but friends and proud grandparents could share as well. Word-of-mouth social marketing at its best!
