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Love your school marketing chaos? If not, here are 3 things you can do.
Most Christian schools share with me that their biggest struggle is bringing order to their chaotic marketing efforts.
This chaos may be in the determination and implementation of the right kind of marketing tactics and tools. Should we still do direct mail postcards? How much do we spend on Facebook advertising? Do we host more than one Open House event in the spring? If the competition is on Instagram, should we be doing it, too?
I appreciate these questions and understand why people ask them. But in reality, if you are struggling with your tactical plan, it is likely that you have a poor marketing strategy.
Trendy fads do not make up a sound marketing strategy. Just copying what you see other schools doing is not a smart way to market your unique school. And if you are just continuing year after year, doing the same things in marketing, then you know that most likely, you are going to get the same results.
Here are 3 things you can do to stop the chaos:
- MAKE IT A SYSTEM: I always tell Christian schools that before you develop your tactical marketing plan, you must have a strategy. But before you can begin to craft a strategic approach to marketing your private school, you must have built a marketing system first. A system ensures you have the “big picture” in mind. A system for marketing Christian schools is different than marketing a business, but in today’s integrated (traditional/digital) marketing world, a system ensures you are not marketing your Christian school the same way you were doing it 5 or 10 years ago. A system makes certain you have the right resources to do marketing the best way for your school (budget, personnel, skill sets, etc.) A system is also holistic in its marketing approach, solidifying your schools’ efforts at the 3 Rs of school marketing: recruitment, retention and referrals. A customized marketing system for your school will be the engine behind your school’s strategic vision and a catalyst for the strategy and tactics you put in place.
- STRATEGY BEFORE TACTICS: I once did church planting missionary work in West Africa (hear John 3:16 in the local dialect that I learned). In a meeting of the minds sitting on a wooden bench under a mango tree, discussing a daunting task of communicating the gospel to unreached peoples in the area, I once heard an older gentleman describe a proverb that is based on a 100-year-old legend of their tribe conquering a once larger neighboring tribe to gain access to land. As he likened it to the David-Goliath battle, he reiterated “nsu sensenwo wugan enuwawa sensenwo”. This proverb essentially means that “smart thinking beats large weapons”. Schools face stiff competition from the other private schools in town, but also from homeschool movements, online education and free public and charter schools. But if you have a strategy in place, you know who you are targeting, how to communicate with them, and how to reach them and turn them into loyal ambassadors for your school.
- PRACTICAL & TACTICAL: Rather than just tossing time and money at the same things that you did last year, you have to build your targeted assault that is based on how to reach your ideal target market. Copycat marketing does nothing but cause you to spend your resources unwisely. Having a billboard on the highway because your competition does too is not way to market your school. Advertising in a publication only because “our competition does” is not a marketing plan based on leadership in the market. If you build a sound system and work through a targeted marketing strategy, the tactical tool box builds itself.
March content ideas for your private school
As I have done in the past with content ideas for January and February months, here are a few things to be posting about during the month of March:
- DAY OF PIGS – I’m not sure what you would do here, but March 1st is “National Pig Day”. I used to work for a woman who loved pigs. She decorated her office with everything pig! She used this funny day to host her annual open house. The pig-shaped cookies and the pig theme made it fun for her vendors and clients – and it was something everyone knew about her. This was something that made her unique in the city! Maybe your Head of School can greet the students and parents in the parking lost with some great tastin’ bacon! Be creative in order to be memorable and remarkable! [click to tweet]
- DR. SEUSS DAY – have some fun with the big strong football players reading Dr. Seuss books aloud to the tiny Kindergartners (this maybe guarantees a high share-ability of these videos simply because of the “cute factor”). If anything, you might contact the local TV stations and ask if they might want to send a crew out for this special day if you do something special. News organizations like “oddball” material for their news programs and your school might be the one who gets coverage on TV because you are willing to do something a little off the wall.
- NATIONAL ANTHEM DAY – Celebrate the Star-Spangled Banner on March 3rd – have a school-wide contest for the best performance of Francis Scott Key’s song and then celebrate that winner’s performance at your school’s basketball game that night. If you live in a town with a university or professional basketball team, arrange to have the contest winner sing the national anthem at the event. Again, think “news coverage”!
- LADIES, LADIES – International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th, so coordinate video interviews with some of your most notable women graduates.
- SPRING RENEWAL – March often ushers in springtime, so why not post things about your campus that are “renewing”. Maybe it is some spring flowers, new construction, or maybe your school has a renewed vision for the future.
- WHAT DID YOU LOSE NOW? – Daylight Saving Time is March 11 so have some fun with the time change (“Spring Forward” so you lose an hour of sleep – maybe do a parody video about the Head of School losing things. . . his phone, his hat, his pen, his keys, and then losing an hour of sleep. These videos are just a fun way to showcase the lighter side of your leadership.
- SPRING BREAK – unless your break occurs in April (which it might if your school’s break is centered around Easter and that holiday happens during the month of April), have some fun talking about this “holiday”. In advance, have someone write a blog post about the “Top 10 Things to Do on Spring Break in ___(your city)___”. If posted early enough, this could get some good traction and traffic if shared enough on social media. Maybe a college counselor can write, “How to Gain $$ for College During Spring Break” where he could not only talk about seasonal jobs, but more importantly how juniors and seniors could spend their break prepping for an improved SAT score which could lead to scholarships. As well, post pictures on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter of students/parents holding a small toy mascot or your company logo on a piece of paper. This would be fun to see where all the places around the world your people visit
- EASTER – notably the most significant event on the Christian calendar, you should be sharing spiritual reflections on the meaning of the resurrection of Christ. Record video testimonials of parents and staff who tell of their spiritual journey of faith. Have fun with the younger children and record videos of them answering “What is Easter all about?” You will likely get a lot of funny responses about the Easter bunny and hiding/coloring eggs, but you could certainly find some who will talk about Jesus, too. With Easter coming on April 1st, use the month of March to get videos recorded and edited (warning: be careful about doing any “April Fool’s Jokes” about the Resurrection – it’s the highest holy day on the Christian calendar).
- PURIM – another holiday on the faith calendar is Purim, a celebration recorded in the book of Esther after Haman’s prescribed massacre of the Jewish was thwarted because of Mordecai’s perseverance and Esther’s obedience. [Dates vary according to Hebrew calendar]
- MARCH MADNESS – this is the NCAA’s “shining moment” where 60+ teams compete around the country for the title of the #1 team in college basketball. I would suspect you have some alumni at some participating schools, perhaps even some who are playing in the tournament. This affords you a great chance to interview that former student via Skype about the impact your school made on him. You can certainly do the same for women’s college basketball and teams that make the NAIA men’s basketball championship.
- ST. PATTY – March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day. In addition to the annoying (my feeling) “pinching” going on because of someone not wearing green, you may also want to share something of the historical nature of the missionary, St. Patrick. Here’s a video I recorded about the story of St. Patrick.
- NATIONAL PANCAKE DAY – made famous by IHOP, you may wish to enjoy some flapjacks yourself and post about this March holiday, too (usually celebrated during the first week in March – check IHOP’s website!)
- PI DAY – no, I’m not talking about cherry pie, but the mathematical celebration of Pi. The 3/14 date, when written 3.14, looks a lot like math’s PI (the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter). Have some fun with pie and pi – maybe a pie eating or “pie-in-the-face” contest with administrators. If you order it in time, you could play this game, “Pie in the Face” game from Hasbro and make some really funny videos. (WATCH A HILARIOUS VIDEO BELOW!)
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WATCH THIS FUNNY VIDEO OF THE GAME, “PIE IN YOUR FACE”
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Four Fun February Content Ideas for Your School
Recently, I wrote a post called “Happy New Year: 7 Content Suggestions for Your School in January”. Now, I offer 4 content ideas that your school should be using on your school blog and social media platforms in February.
But first – why? This time of year, admissions offices are overwhelmed by preview night planning and re-enrollment deadlines. So I have heard many schools say, “these are neat, but we are swamped right now.” But the strategy behind these content ideas is not just to have fun (although revealing your school’s personality is important). You want engagement on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. You want your current followers to like, favorite, comment and share your content. These allow your school to reach into similar audiences as your followers when they share your content with their friends and followers. So there is a real strategy behind creative content.
Here are 4 February content ideas for your school:
- GROUNDHOG DAY – the 2nd day of the 2nd month is the popular cultural event where the groundhog supposedly predicts the upcoming months’ weather. You can use your own mascot to “predict” 6 more weeks of winter. Another cultural reference to Groundhog Dad stems from the 1993 Bill Murray classic movie of the same name. Thus, Groundhog Day references have also come to include having to endure unpleasant situations over and over until changes are finally made (like the experience of the arrogant weatherman Bill Murphy portrayed in the movie). With some creativity, you could create a mini-movie of a public school family experiencing the same struggles over and over until they finally emerge with a new plan to explore your school that will change their future!
- SUPER BOWL – because it is very often one of the most trending topics of the early part of this second month, be sure and have contests to predict the winner (fun wagers between coaches or lower and upper school principals can result in future video fun as the loser has to do something embarrassing in front of the student body). If there are any local tie-ins to the NFL players from the 2 teams, capture those and hit up your local media and let them know about it!
- VALENTINES DAY – approach this holiday from a variety of angles! Feature longtime romance stories of your staff by interviewing them (in a written article with photos or a video interview) about how many years they have been married. Schools of the Christian faith may want to feature the historical background of St. Valentine. You can also have fun with images on Facebook and Instagram where you have a large chalkboard that students and parents will hold up with “Why I LOVE My School”.
- HISTORICAL FIGURES – whether it’s Black History Month or Presidents’ Day, this month provides you plenty of opportunities connecting your present-day school life with the past. Perhaps your community or school has direct ties to significant events from African-American leaders. This would give you a way to connect your school to the things that your community is talking about. With Presidents’ Day, why not also do a feature on your own school President. Or let the President of your Student Council do something creative to showcase your school’s personality.
There are a host of other celebrations in this month, including bizarre events like “National Cherry Pie Day” and “National Tooth Fairy Day” (who knew?) Have fun with as many as you can!
If you need more ideas on having your own content calendar, download our FREE spreadsheet calendar and a complimentary content guide.
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