Making your school stand out from the crowd can be difficult... but Marketing Advice for Schools is here to help!
Visit the How To page for help on all aspects of marketing schools, Careers for our job feed & to find training courses, Library to find books, research reports and online information, Suppliers for experts to turn to for help, and The Blog for the latest education marketing issues.
The Gallery showcases excellent school marketing work - please recommend more!
Please get in touch (email simon@marketingadviceforschools.com or tweet @mktadvice4schls) if there's anything else you need to help you or your school or if you've seen something that's missing!
The Gallery showcases excellent school marketing work - please recommend more!
Please get in touch (email simon@marketingadviceforschools.com or tweet @mktadvice4schls) if there's anything else you need to help you or your school or if you've seen something that's missing!
What's New?New How To: Create a Great Employer Reputation
Changes in teacher pay will create a new balance of power in recruitment. Schools need to consider, manage and in many cases improve their reputation as an employer. Doing this will of course also help you find the great teachers that will make a difference in the classroom. Add your thoughts here...
New How To: Keep Prospective Parents Warm
It's that time of year when most parents have chosen their schools. But that shouldn't mean we stop communicating. Keeping parents warm will help at the start of term and make it easier to recruit next year. Find out how (and add your tips) here.
New Blogpost: Let teachers teach & find experts for the rest
I've a suggestion for the teacher pay review body. Why not forget about 'banning' teachers from photocopying and instead just suggest schools hire experts for any activity that teachers aren't trained to do - including marketing of course!
New Blogpost: Education Myopia, Theodore Levitt & Schools
Over the holidays, I took the time to re-read one of the first ever articles on marketing - 'Marketing Myopia' by Theodore Levitt. It set me wondering what would happen if we took off our glasses and applied some of his ideas to UK education. Comments appreciated!
New How To: Persuading Primary Schools to Market
Marketing is still only slowly gaining acceptance in the Primary sector. However, changes such as the free schools initiative and the expansion of the academies programme have made it a priority for us all. Primary Marketing Expert Nic Eversett explain how to start...
New Blogpost: Mind your language - the ASA is watching!
As the school market changes, those marketing schools are beginning to face new challenges that other sectors are used to. One example is the use of the Advertising Standards Authority to challenge school advertising material. Read on to find why 'outstanding' is not allowed and other judgements...
New How To: Creating a Case Study Bank
A file full of case studies is a great asset for a school marketer. They can be used in a wide number of ways - in media relations, in prospectuses, on your website and in individual communications with parents. They are proof of the impact your school has on individuals. Click here to start your collection!
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Recent How-Tos
Recruit Great School Marketers
Schools marketing is an expanding sector. It's not going to be easy to find someone who has worked for a school like your school to take on the challenge of promoting it. Here are three things you need to look for (and where you might find them!)
Making the Case for Marketing in Your School
Schools are under financial pressure - and with staffing and building costs taking up most of the budget, marketing can be seen as low priority. To counter this there are two good arguments: Efficiency and Effectiveness. Learn about them here.
Work Out Who Matters To Your School
Schools have complex relationships with the people and communities around them. It is easy to just communicate with those who come to you - or even just with those who are the loudest. The article introduces a simple tool to make sure you're talking to the right people in the right way!
Use Video To Promote Your SchoolWhat does the video below say to you? It's perhaps not what you'd expect from Eton. But it's been seen over 2.6 million times (as of 18/11/12). And it's also pretty good at selling the school - it says we're creative, have great facilities - and an English self-deprecatory sense of humour!
Is your school making the most of video? Change your School to Meet Community Needs
Schools have never needed to stand out from the crowd in their communities more than now - with competition increasing every day! One model that helps school leaders approach this in a structured way is the 7P marketing model. Let's see how this fits a school!
Create Powerful School Newsletters
I'm a great fan of newsletters, whether printed or electronic. I think they are great because they contain stories rather than dry facts. In a community such as a school those involved in the stories, their parents and their friends will pass stories around and pass good things about your school to a wide audience. How do you do this efficiently and effectively?
Find Engaging Stories in Your School
A school can claim to do many things - to be academic, caring, exciting, inclusive - but without actual evidence this will not be trusted.
The best approach to take is that of a local journalist and find the stories that show your school at its best. Here are a few tips for doing this in a school environment... Segment and Target in Schools
One of the most important principles of marketing is that customers can be put into different groups and targeted with different messages (similar to the battlefield idea of 'divide and conquer!'). But what does this mean for a school - which groups do you choose and how do you then target them?.
Run a focus group in school
Focus groups are are a powerful way to provide focus for marketing, save time and money, and they don't have to cost very much. Schools don't use them enough - find out how to set them up here.
10 Tips for Keeping Your Website Up-To-Date
'Creating our school website was a challenge, but keeping it up to date is a chore!' - a common complaint from schools marketers. Here are 10 tips to make sure that visitors to your school site get the latest and best information!
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More Resources for Marketers
Why do people choose the schools they do?E-Bacc Survey Results - Communication Is Key
The EBacc is providing a challenge for all schools - both in terms of communication and curriculum development. We asked 28 schools what they were doing in response: 61% were considering changing the curriculum and more using it in their marketing. Find out more here...
Social Media Marketing advice
Marketing Advice for Schools (and supplier Re-Start Ed) were heavily quoted in the latest edition of Education Technology magazine in an article on social media marketing. Download the cutting below - or click here for the whole magazine.
Job Feed
The Marketing Cycle Explained
Thanks to SMT Magazine for running this article - how the marketing cycle can help your school stand out!
An Introduction to Marketing for Schools in paperback!
Following its success as an e-book, 'An Introduction to Marketing for Schools' is now available in paperback. The book provides a best practice model for schools looking to develop effective and meaningful marketing plans. You can read the first chapter here, and download the e-book from Amazon for £2.97 or buy the paperback for £4.99 from the publishers.
Suppliers - Free Advertising
The Suppliers section of the website is now open to companies offering marketing services. Just email 10 words or so, a logo and a website link (you can now see a number of examples!) to simon@marketingadviceforschools.com.
Find us on Facebook
Experimental site now on Facebook - find us at www.facebook.com/MarketingAdviceForSchools
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Recent Blogposts
Teachers - A Great Marketing Resource
So much of the discussion in the media on the role of teachers focuses on their classroom performance. Schools overlook that they are also people who interact on a daily basis with parents, students and the wider community. Their opinions are valued by current and former students. Here are some tips to make sure you're making the most of them!
Why Gaming is the Opposite of Marketing
Are schools entering students for the exams that give the best results in league tables or are the best for the students? Marketing theory says gaming league tables in this way is bad - for individuals and for schools. Find out why here.
Why Maria Hutchings' comments should spur schools to tell more stories
Tory candidate Maria Hutching got into hot water when she said that her son couldn't make it as a surgeon via a state school - but is this a lesson for schools just as much as for parents?
E-Bacc Update.. 'Events, dear boy, events'League Tables and Inspirational Heads
There's been so much interesting news around in the past few days that 2 blogposts were needed - the most recent is about maintaining the influence of great heads (and why academy chains might be the best at this). The second, more practical, is about how schools marketers need to respond to league tables. Please comment on either - or both!
Vision clear winner in free school marketing
This week the New College of the Humanities and the University of Exeter's maths specialist free school join the new school pack. Most of their media coverage has been positive because their marketing is clearly based on the each school's positive vision. Is yours?
What schools marketers can learn from Christmas advertsIt's OK to have an empty shop for most of February or March - but if you've not got the tills ringing in December and early January you might as well hang up the for sale sign. The best retailers use emotions and stories to do this - and so should your school!
Why companies, schools and young people need to talk!
Why is youth unemployment so high, while companies still complain about skills shortages? International management consultancy McKinsey produced an interesting report recently into this - 'Education to employment: Designing a system that works'. Find out more here.
Why the CBI deserves a read
In the recent past, there has been tension between schools and UK industry leaders. However, the Confederation of British Industry's 'First Steps' report is based on extensive research and makes a number of suggestions for marketing (and reforming) education. Download it here.
Who looks after the good news in education?
It's not been a good week for any of us in education. Those not in regular contact with the education system increasingly believe that all schools are dumbed down, full of disruptive students and doing nothing to prepare students for the world of work. How do we turn this around?
I'm confused - what about parents?
The changes to qualifications over the next few years are challenging teachers' understanding - so what happens if you're a parent? Schools need to respond positively, listen and develop the right curriculum - or sit back and lose out!
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