Q: Pushback About Or Devaluation of Marketing
Hi Gurus. I request anonymity on this one. Over my years of doing school marketing in-house since 2006, I've noticed a reluctance among admins to take marketing advice or value what is said by consultants or in marketing seminars as to how to establish an online footprint, engage an audience, and shape opinion. For the zillionth time, I've emerged from an in-depth seminar on how to build audience and engagement and address topics of interest to our constituents, only to face a mighty argument with decision-makers above me as to the effectiveness and cost-benefits of doing this type of work. It's exhausting and disheartening to try to improve my tool set and knowledge only to have no shared belief in those tools or knowledge be missing. I think they personally think marketing efforts (while required is a waste of time). They seem to only trust the power of parent-to-parent word of mouth, but don't believe in the power of marketing to shape the conversation or win converts. It would be comforting and heartening to know if this is still a common problem for marketing staff at schools or if I'm an outlier in a unique situation - that's my basic question. From Anonymous
A: Goodman
Is the school's enrollment stable and with wait-lists?
How are the school's online reviews and what percentage of prospective families report learning about the school through word-of-mouth?
Who do you report to, and what is your professional relationship like with him/her?
If the answers to the first two questions indicate a school that has a declining enrollment trend and waning word-of-mouth, then I wonder if the problem is less about the inability of the admin to see the value of the marketing, but more about the asker's ability to increase his/ her influence and be heard and valued within the organization. Perhaps this is more about navigating within a potentially dysfunctional organization and less about understanding new marketing concepts.
A: Noakes
Marketing covers such a broad topic area - many school leaders and proprietors misunderstand it and have narrow views.
I would also agree with the management of the school that “parent word of mouth” is still the biggest factor in new family acquisition - but that does not cover all bases! Marketing is the difference between hitting a home run with all bases loaded - or just getting to 3rd!
Marketing helps you amplify your brand reach and shape how you want your school to be seen. We call it “Shouting with Style”.
Just take a look at at some of our work to see the difference and get ideas http://interactiveschools.com/#work.
A: CAIN
This is a common problem in academia.
You can start by educating you leadership on the value of marketing. That means that sometimes you have to market the marketing. You may even need a PR plan for your own office within the school community. But watch the jargon - you made the effort to learn your leadership's jargon but he or she won’t necessarily learn yours. So speak and write in plain language for generally intelligent audiences. It’s also important to demonstrate in sometimes small ways the contributions of the marketing and PR team. The way staff need to think of this is not as bragging, but as highlighting a successful partnership and results that advanced the overall strategy of the school.
We did a webinar and a white-paper on this subject called “Approach the Throne”. Link is below.
https://zehno.com/whitepaper/approach-the-throne-convince-your-president/#post-gated-content
A: Connor
I feel her pain, but if she’s/he’s been in this situation since 2004 I wonder if she’s been in the right schools for him/her. Why would these schools even hire a marcom person if they don’t value his/her contribution. Reminds me of those heads I worked for who, when I would suggest market research, would tell me “we know who we are” and brush it off. And we could never get to full enrollment. I quit after 10 years of this.
So maybe this blog will let her inform his/her boss of the dire straits our schools are in. If she/he is still not getting any response, then that should tell him/her something important: Head for the hills and save your sanity and skills for someone who will appreciate them!
A: Peters
You are not alone!
With some institutions, we avoid using the “M” word altogether and instead talk about our work first as an expression of institutional alignment around an idea, or we use “messaging,” “positioning…” whatever word leadership can swallow and get behind.
It’s helpful to think (and talk) of good, ethical marketing as a kind of beacon that goes out into the community and draws in people who share your values, value your strengths, and strengthen your mission.
If you can reconceptualize marketing, from aggressive selling that coerces prospects into the pipeline to a mechanism that helps families who really need what you do find you more easily, you’re more likely to build internal buy-in. Also, switching the focus from more applicants to more aligned applicants can help others see the value of good marketing as a way to ensure that your school is really seen by the students and families who will be happiest and most successful there.
Regardless, your first step is to meet your leadership where they are and avoid “trigger words” like the dreaded marketing, branding, etc.
Good luck!
A: Major
Yes, there is still a problem in academia. Take comfort in knowing you're not alone.
One approach that can be helpful is to show the impact of Word of Mouth Marketing in the digital world — and this manifests itself in online reviews. Word of mouth marketing manifests branded searches, and branded searches bring up everything about your school, what people are saying, and where. Simply do a search for your school's name, and you'll find reviews on niche.com, Facebook, GreatSchools.org, etc. Bringing these reviews to your team and saying "WOMM is playing a role in digital marketing now, too" could help your case for some extra budget or resources in that arena.
Good luck!
A: Kadison
Tie everything you do to enrollment and get the data that shows your impact on enrollment starting with increase in inquiries into the funnel. If leadership understood the value of brand positioning, in particular its impact on Word Of Mouth, you'd also want to measure impact on brand awareness and preference. I say start with inquiries and go down through the funnel because that's what they should understand. Of course your admissions office has to be operating at best practices and measuring numbers and conversions along the funnel for you to quantify impact. They have to be willing to share data and partner with you so you can help them nurture families once in the funnel. Lots of dependencies for your ability to prove bottom-line, revenue-growth or -stabilization worth!
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