The reasons to upgrade your website’s look, layout, and content are obvious: to create more visitors, more leads, and more customers. Right?
Most private schools don’t have the budget for a full-time recruiter. That job gets shared by staff, board, and enthusiastic parents--often with mixed results. What most leaders don’t understand is that they already have a full-time recruiter who just isn't showing up for work.
Your school is unique, with great faculty, carefully selected curriculum, and rigorous academic programs. Yet, without the right kind of private school marketing that builds enrollment, none of that matters! Using an inbound marketing plan allows schools to consistently grow - and that can make the difference between thriving and barely surviving in the competitive world of private education.
I used to use 8-Track cassettes as a training prop - illustrating how obsolete technology impacts our businesses and organizations (here's the -->wiki on 8-track in case you've never seen one). I'd almost always get a laugh just by holding one of these bulky music storage devices up to the crowd. If the inventors and marketers of the 8-track, and so many other technologies, knew how short lived their strategy might be, maybe they would have made different decisions. Building an obsolete website is a real pitfall in growth marketing, especially given the pace of technology change.
Buyers today, including private school families, do at least 50% of their purchase consideration by looking online, before talking to anyone at your school. What they discover on your website can help them through the decision process and establish a relationship of value and appreciation even before they schedule a visit or attend an open house. Inbound marketing for private education is a potent strategy that positions your school for success in the new world in which consumers own the process.
Story Collaborative recently completed a series of focus groups comprised of millennials (ages 18-35) with the help of one of Honestly Magazine and Workforce & Community Education at Germanna Community College. The insights these millennials provided into their habits, preferences and challenges offer important clues to businesses that want to sustain and grow their brand. This is one article in a series of insights into business growth among millennials.
Story Collaborative recently completed a series of focus groups on millennial with the assistance of Honestly Magazine and the team at Workforce & Community Education from Germanna Community College. Focus group participants provided insights into their habits, preferences and life challenges which we combined with other research to shed light on strategies for effective business communication. This is the first of several articles.
If you listen to what Jeff Bezos of Amazon says about our brands, you’ll probably agree: “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
Your Brand Story
The story part of the brand is important too because the impressions that people have and share about our companies aren’t just fleeting observations-- they are stories that get told over and over again, woven into the broader life narratives that people remember and take with them into all of their relationships.
In a world with endless marketing opportunities, your budget has to be strategic. Having a smart marketing plan involves investing in marketing assets you own, like your website and email list.
A smart marketing plan invests in a website.
Your website is full of owned assets, especially if the content is ranking high in Google search. Since the content you write on your website is entirely your own, and AdWords are merely rented for a premium, this makes your website very valuable. If you don't have a good SEO strategy, that's the first place you can invest for a return. Remember that relevant and fresh content should be part of any SEO strategy.
