Q: Building Bridges With Faculty Through Marketing
/Jokingly I ask: Is this even possible?
Seriously: I am asking for expertise on how to authentically and genuinely build bridges and develop relationships with faculty. This comes from a Marketing Director who loves connection, but also finds comfort in working behind a desk. I know our school community is not the only one that feels the divide between marketing and communications, fundraising and admissions vs. faculty, especially now in the time of COVID-19.
There is an overall sense that the moral compass and ethics are different between the two groups because the faculty focus is in education and the staff is focused on revenue. Our Head of School is great and is somewhat helpful, but I am looking for advice or examples about successful marcomm professionals who have influenced faculty to support, work on projects and even friend the "business" side of the school.
From Anonymous
A: WADDINGTON
Great question!
This was something I struggled with mightily during my time as an admission and marketing director. There's no quick fix, but three things that helped me most were as follows:
Spend as much time as you can (especially early in your tenure at a school), getting to know teachers, students, and parents, genuinely - not asking for their marketing or admissions support. Cover for teachers who need recess duty help, cover classes, chaperone field trips, become a coach, etc.
Request the inclusion of specific questions during teacher interviews or be a part of the process. Questions may include, 1- How do you see yourself helping to market the school? 2- Are you familiar with student shadow days, and how do you think you can make them successful for a student(s) who is visiting? Gauging their reaction to these questions and answers should be an essential part of the hiring process.
Make them food! Each spring, we put on a big breakfast for the teachers to thank them for "putting up with admissions." I played an omelet chef and took orders for 90 minutes. It showed that we weren't just buying food and setting it out, but we were involved in making them something special.
I hope these examples help!
A: NOAKES
Simple. Stop talking 'Marketing' and reframe the conversation to your #SchoolStories. Authenticity is the fuel needed to drive any content or comms strategy anyway. It also drives engagement between the school (faculty), marketing and your community. Marketing departments are often the bottleneck to timely comms too — and faculty are often frustrated that their voice is never heard (or a few are heard too much e.g. athletics!).
If they own their story, they will be empowered, and you (marketing) will benefit as the master curator of these. Celebrate these stories too with weekly "Tweet of the week" or "Photo post of the week" — as this will highlight importance — as well as drive that all important competition between departments.
Good luck!
A: CONNOR
Ah, the old “faculty in admission/marketing” issue! Since I started as a teacher, I have a strong opinion on this topic! In fact, getting everyone “enrolled” in your admission success—including trustees, CFOs and others is equally important.
So here’s a possible solution to your dilemma.
Teachers hold the credibility cards. They are believed by parents more than administrators. BUT they need you if they want to attract the students they want to teach, and because families enroll in schools based on evidence of good teachers and great teaching, you need them to attract families, period. Both of you have skin in the game.
Here’s what I’ve found helpful:
Tips for administrators to encourage faculty support:
Educate faculty to the fact that you can be true to your mission while also listening and responding to those you seek to serve – your market. Explain that you agree that marketing objectives must support the mission and also be in line with the school’s values.
Because marketing is essentially about connecting, building, and deepening relationships and shared values, help your faculty understand your goals and convince them of the role they play in securing the school’s reputation.
See the world through their “lens.” Spend time with faculty at school events. Ask what motivates them. Let them know you want to tell the world about what they do and why it matters. Ask how you can best communicate their goals for their students and what they want students to gain from having known them. What’s the most important life-long lesson a student will learn from that teacher?
Encourage appropriate teachers to offer their perspective on educational, ethical, and character issues. Offer these as interviews or as opinion-editorial pieces to social media, the journals, newspapers, and radio talk shows. Taking a stand on issues advances the public debate about education as it reinforces your core values. A school’s recognized leadership in education validates enrollment, re-enrollment, and donor support. What can you do to be recognized as the leader locally? Regionally?
Share marketing research and Image Audit projects with faculty prior to conducting the research. Then share the results, what the results mean to the school, and next steps. Help ensure faculty buy-in by including them from the beginning.
What can teachers do to promote enrollment and retention? Have them consider the following questions and ask them to share their answers at admission events parent conferences, and with visitors considering enrollment. You can also create great social and web content with their answers:
Why did you choose to teach/coach here?
What do you enjoy most about teaching/coaching?
What motivated you to become a teacher/coach?
Who are your mentors? What experiences of people had the most influence on you and why?
What do you want my child to get from having known you?
What is the most important life lesion you want my child to learn in x course/activity?
What do current and past parents and alumni tell you about the impact you made?
What interests you outside the classroom? What are you personally passionate about?
What are your favorite moments with a student?
How do you help them learn how to learn?
How do you get the results you want each student to achieve?
How do you keep current with the subject areas you cover and apply the latest learning research?
PS. You also might want to consider that the education/revenue divide you noted in the question may be a red herring. Private schools are businesses, and faculty compensation is the biggest item in the budget. Faculty have an enlightened self-interest to work with enrollment management to ensure the sustainability of the school where they teach. We are co-dependent in that sense. THE HEAD MUST MAKE THIS CLEAR and support you in your need for faculty support both for admission and retention!
And sometimes it’s helpful to remind faculty that what they do in the classroom or on Zoom is marketing, whether they call it that or not. Good teachers are:
Always seeking to improve the quality of their “product”: teaching and learning
Always trying to get student “buy in” and make it relevant
Constantly getting feedback on how they might be even more effective.
I can’t think of a more succinct way to get faculty to rethink marketing.
Finally, here is a link to a podcast I did with InspirED’s “Best Boy” Rob Norman on this topic. It’s full of other great (and sometimes radical) ideas I’m sure the other “gurus” will echo in their responses to you. https://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts-1/private-school-faculty-as-marketers
Good luck—feel free to call me if you want to explore in more detail. Happy to help!
A: ABRAHAMS
Certainly, I agree with the great suggestions from Trevor and Simon. In addition, I'll share that one of the best pieces of advice I ever received as an Admissions & Marketing Director was to meet with every single faculty member one-on-one (yes, all of them)!
These personal conversations can be scheduled at your convenience - maybe a few a week to keep in manageable. Use the time to ask each faculty member a little about their background before joining your school. Ask them why they chose your school and ask them why they stay.
To Trevor's point, the stories you will collect through these conversations are absolute gold for any admission, marketing, or development professional. And more importantly, you will be earning trust and building relationships with your colleagues. Faculty are far more likely to be interested in partnering with you for marketing and the "business" side of our work if you show a genuine interest in who they are and what they do.
A: MAJOR
Hi there! This is a great question...and I don't think there will be a one-size fits all answer here, but some thoughts:
Show GENUINE interest! We often practice the 4-1-1 or 70-20-10 rule on social media...but do we also practice it in our interpersonal communications? Just how you can't head on over to social media to only ASK for things, you can't only go to your faculty and staff when you need something. You need to show genuine interest in them, their families, and their kids (animals or human). Learn their hobbies. Sure, you can't do this for every single faculty member — but it's a great way to enlist some true faculty ambassadors who can help you get the content and conversations you need.
Fill their cup with compliments. Whether it's for blog writing, snapping a photo or coming in on a weekend to film video content, let them know how grateful you would be to have their time really TALK THEM UP! "We chose YOU because YOU are so totally AWESOME and SMART the THE BEST PERSON WE HAVE! THERE'S NO ONE BETTER! WE'RE LUCKY TO HAVE YOU!" They relish attention and want recognition, so focus on that. You cannot give them too many compliments or let them know how appreciated they are. You could also talk about their personal gains for helping you out.
Host "Random Coffees." This is a favorite activity here at Finalsite where staff members are randomly paired up with one another each month. Give them some prompting questions (to avoid any awkward silence) and let those relationships build organically. This is really good for building camaraderie across non-teaching and teaching team members.
Share faculty spotlights. And not just on social media (although, that's great too). I'm talking about the internal staff communications with all the must-know info – the one everyone sees. Highlight someone new in each newsletter and give them kudos.
Good luck! Remember you can never be TOO nice! :)
A: PETERS
So much great advice here! An overarching frame to consider:
It’s important to help every community member see marketing and admissions work as an integral part of the overall mission of the school. It’s not a separate thing with a different moral compass—it’s an important part of protecting and promoting the mission of the school itself. Not only does marketing work ensure an uninterrupted line of revenue, but when done properly, it draws families (and faculty) who are best aligned with—and most in need of—exactly what your school does best. They share your values, value your strengths, and ultimately strengthen your mission.
You can also reconceptualize the marketing process as a moment when teachers and staff are both heard and seen. Their perspectives on the lived experience of your classrooms are vital. And when they see themselves—their methods, their values, and their achievements—reflected in authentic, accurate messaging, they respond with greater buy-in.
Your school’s marketing should serve as a celebration of all the magic the faculty make happen each day. When everyone thinks about it in those terms, you generally see much greater engagement and interest in the process.
Good luck!
A: nELSON-ISAACS
I also echo all of the wonderful advice and perspectives shared already!
It occurs to me that faculty are largely less-than-educated about the complexities of marketing, and so they don't have an appreciation of how important it is and how important their participation is. This is ok, for the most part, as faculty are busy on the nuances of teaching and learning, and not marketing. However, some education can be useful, and help increase the empathy between faculty and marketing teams. One idea might be to ask a faculty ally to do a joint presentation with you at an all-staff meeting, where they talk about the top three things they love about their job, specifically as a teacher, and the top three challenges, and then you do the same with marketing.
Another thought is that faculty, in my experience, do not have the headspace to think of story ideas, but they love talking about the work they are doing. So, to follow up on other guru comments, use some of those coffees and visits to learn about what is coming up in classes and then schedule an interview so that faculty can share their brilliance easily.
Hope this helps!
A: hADLEY-LEONARD
Firstly, take comfort in the fact that this is a question I am asked all the time!
So what do I answer?
Set yourself a weekly challenge to engage in the faculty common room at least X number of times a week.
Share your departments strategy, goals and operations through whole staff training, staff meetings etc.
Ask for help from faculty! There is always a wealth of untapped talent in the staff body and people love to be asked! Who knew you were sitting on a skills goldmine!
Hold an open house coffee morning in your marketing department where faculty can come along and find out more!
Share details of events and campaigns well in advance so faculty can come along and again, ask for their help in areas they might actually enjoy.
Ask them continually for their stories. After all, it is their stories of engagement and success which you will ultimately use to sell the school.
Invite faculty to nominate older students who can become marketing ambassadors. Great for you, great for student CVs and great for faculty staff!
Attend school wide social events and mingle!
Merging the faculty and support staff had never been easy but it can work! Good luck trying!
