Online Articles
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The following articles are concise and practical and full of real-life examples to illustrate marketing principles. They are downloadable as pdf documents, free of charge.
- Creativity - And how to get it
Creativity ranks with communication as one of the most important skills for successfully promoting your school, so how can you become more creative?
- Measuring Year 12 Satisfaction
Final year students are your finished product - fully processed and lovingly polished. Do you know how satisfied they are with their education at your school? This article shows how one school measured Year 12 satisfaction and how it used the information.
- Satisfaction With Kindergarten
Kindergarten is the starting point for a long and happy relationship with your school; or so you hope ! When a primary school conducted a kindergarten survey to measure parent satisfaction it unearthed a few surprises.
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Media Management During a School Crisis
Accidents, criticism and sensational allegations are likely to hit a school at any time. How you handle the media during a crisis can make a huge difference to the reputation of your school.
- Market Differentiation
Each school has its own personality but often the public is unaware of how one school differs from another. Market differentiation is a strategy that can distinguish your school in the marketplace and make it more desirable. The concept is illustrated with a case study .
- Market Position
What position does your school hold in the marketplace? . . . Stop . . . This question does not ask where you see yourself; rather it is asking how other people see you. This article explores how one school gauged its market position and subsequently changed its marketing strategy.
- School Tours
The School Tour ranks with the front office in establishing the image of your school. It must project warmth, care and professionalism. The preparation for tours must be as thorough as that undertaken by an actor taking to the stage; lines should be learnt,
the cast ready and props in place. An article by Linda Vining, Rob Olston and Marcia Matthews.
- Alumni as Advocates
Your school makes an enormous investment in its students and your alumni
represent your finished product. They should be there for all to see; they should be working in the community as your best
advertisements and strongest supporters. But all too often your hard-won customers walk away from their graduation ceremony
and are never seen or heard from again. If this happens at your school you are loosing contact with your most genuine and
powerful advocates.
- PR At The Parent -
Teacher Meeting
The parent /teacher meeting is a first-class opportunity for teachers to promote their profession and impress parents -
their most valuable customers. To get the best out of the occasion teachers need PR strategies, in addition to educational skills.
- PR For Student Hosts
Students can make excellent hosts and guides at school functions but if you are going
to use them as image ambassadors you need to train them in the social arts.
- PR for Office Staff
Office staff are the interface between the school and its customers. They are important at influencing impressions. Who are
your customers? What do they want from your school? How do parents judge office staff? What are the obstacles to good customer service? How
can the telephone be used as a public relations tool?
- Customer Relations Training
for NON-Teaching Staff
Good manners is an old fashioned word, yet it is a highly desired form of
behaviour that adds to a school’s culture of courtesy. To make sure that positive
PR greets people at your school,
you need to provide professional development in customer relations for non-teaching staff.
This article examines three
training models.
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OPEN DAYS: Converting Enquiries Into Enrolments
Open Days are labour intensive and expensive to stage. For a return on your
investment it should be much more than a showcase of your pupil’s best efforts.
If well designed and targeted to the
right audience an Open Day can be a valuable marketing exercise to increase enrolments
and strengthen your school’s
position in the education marketplace.
- Look at your schools LOGO
Schools are full of empty logos. Lifeless crests. Soul-less brands.
Look around you.
What is the quality of your logo/crest? How can you make your logo work for your
school as a modern marketing tool?
- Centenary Celebrations
An anniversary celebration offers great potential as a PR event.
This article discusses 12 marketing points to consider.
- Money For Marketing
How much money are schools spending on marketing and PR? How much
is enough?
Learn how to prepare a marketing budget, and how to get more money to achieve
your marketing goals.
- Expos and Education Shows - Making
An Expo Pay!
Expos provide fertile ground for enrolments but not every
expo is successful and not every
investment provides an immediate return. This article warns
of the pitfalls and gives advice on creating a distinctive
identity, devising a simple system to collect contacts,
promotional giveaways and the preparation of
staff.
- How Customer-Friendly Is Your School?
Check out the ABC of customer
service at your school and take a look at what your silent
communicators are saying about you.
- Principal's Appraisal
While some school principals may feel threatened when required to undergo
the rigours of a performance
appraisal, the process can be be most most beneficial to a school leader.
- Family Exit Survey
Why does a family quit your school? Is it something you have done;
or not done? Is there some
dissatisfaction you should know about? Has another school won them over?
A family exit survey
can uncover honest answers.
- Working With Parent
Volunteers In Schools
Who coaches the team? Who runs the BBQ? Who serves on the canteen? Thank heavens for volunteers.
They contribute endless hours in unpaid work. But, to keep a team of volunteers returning by choice
is not done by chance.
- EMAIL: The Illusion of Intimacy
The rapid explosion of email communication between schools and their customers offers many benefits,
but there are also hidden risks and a need for PR protocols for both staff and parents.
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