Practical Principles for
Effective Christian School Marketing

What Is Marketing?

Marketing is an integrated communications-based
process through which individuals and communities are
informed or persuaded that existing and newly-identified
needs and wants may be satisfied by the products and
services of others.
wikipedia.org

Marketing is the analysis of customers, competitors, and
a company, combining this understanding into an overall
understanding of what segments exist, deciding on
targeting the most profitable segments, positioning your
products, and then doing what's necessary to deliver on
that positioning.
marketingprofs.com

the act of buying or selling in a market.
the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from
the producer or seller to the customer or buyer, including
advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.
dictionary.com

Marketing is the act of getting and keeping customers.

Marketing Plan

Vision
Mission
Core Values
Objectives
Strategies
Action Plans

Vision
How will your Christian school
change the world?

To help all people live healthy lives.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

We are a global family with a proud
heritage passionately committed to
providing personal mobility for
people around the world.
Ford Motor Company

Changing education
for the glory of God.
Alpha Omega Publications

Mission
Why does your Christian school
exist? What opportunities or needs
can you address?

At Microsoft, we work to help people and
businesses throughout the world realize
their full potential. This is our mission.
Everything we do reflects this mission and
the values that make it possible.
Microsoft

To bring inspiration and
innovation to every athlete in
the world.
NIKE, Inc.

Educate, Inspire,
and Change Lives
Alpha Omega Publications

Core Values
What important principles will guide
your Christian school's decision
making/actions?

Dependable

Innovative

Respect

Civic Responsibility

Integrity
Commitment
Excellence
Dynamic
Christian Education
Alpha Omega Publications

Objectives
What do you need to accomplish?
What will you measure?
Verb + Noun + Date = Objective

Increase school enrollment 15%
by 8/23/10

Increase unique visitors to
school website 50% by 12/31/10

Increase student retention 10%
by 8/23/10

Strategies
How will your Christian school be built?
What will make it successful over time?

Search Engine Marketing

Virtual School Extension

Email Marketing

Action Plans
What specific projects and actions will be
taken this year to achieve the objective?

Launch new website by 1/1/10

Schedule open house for 8/31/10

Implement email marketing
program by 12/14/09

Marketing Tools

Analytics & Optimization

The simplest definition of Analytics is "the
science of analysis." A simple and practical
definition, however, would be how an entity (i.e.,
business) arrives at an optimal or realistic
decision based on existing data.
wikipedia.org

Why?

How?

Google Analytics
google.com/analytics

Unique URLs

Unique 800 Numbers

Website

Benefits

Cost Effective

Reach

Measureable

Keys to Success

Clear Goals

Relevant Content

Call to Action

Steps

Domain Name

Hosting Provider

Sitemap

Content Management System

Theme

Content

Launch Website

Tools

WordPress
wordpress.org

Drupal
drupal.org

Joomla!
joomla.org

Google Webmaster Central
google.com/webmasters

AOP School Messenger
aopschools.com/blog/school-messenger

Email Marketing

E-mail marketing is a form of direct
marketing which uses electronic mail as a means
of communicating commercial or fundraising
messages to an audience.
wikipedia.org

Steps to Success

Develop Email Strategy

Choose Email Service Provider

Add Email Subscription Form
to School Website

Stay Consistent

Resources

AWeber
aweber.com

CampaignMonitor
campaignmonitor.com

ConstantContact
constantcontact.com

Advanced Email Marketing
Jim Sterne
bit.ly/17XW0u

The Quiet Revolution in
Email Marketing
Bill Nussey
bit.ly/6Fz8c

Permission Marketing:
Turning Strangers Into
Friends And Friends Into
Customers
Seth Godin
bit.ly/xXZQF

Search Engine Optimization
(SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the
process of improving the volume or quality of
traffic to a web site from search engines via
"natural" or un-paid ("organic" or
"algorithmic") search results as opposed
to search engine marketing (SEM) which deals
with paid inclusion.
wikipedia.org

Pay Per Click Advertising
(PPC)

Pay per click (PPC) is an Internet
advertising model used on websites, in which
advertisers pay their host only when their ad is
clicked. With search engines, advertisers
typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to
their target market. Content sites commonly
charge a fixed price per click rather than use a
bidding system.
wikipedia.org

Steps to Success

Create Keyword List

Create on Page SEO Template

Create Ad Network Accounts

Create Ads

Run Ads

Analyze Results &
Make Adjustments

Tools

Google Adwords
adwords.google.com
adwords.blogspot.com

Yahoo! Advertising
advertising.yahoo.com

Microsoft adCenter
adcenter.microsoft.com

Facebook
facebook.com/advertising

HubSpot
website.grader.com

Aaron Wall
seobook.com

Social Media

Social media are media designed to be
disseminated through social interaction, created
using highly accessible and scalable publishing
techniques. Social media supports the human
need for social interaction, using Internet- and
web-based technologies to transform broadcast
media monologues (one to many) into social
media dialogues (many to many).
wikipedia.org

Steps to Success

Identify Priority Social Networks

Create Content
Syndication Strategy

Create Facebook Fan Page

Create Twitter Account

Add Social Links to
School Website

Tools

Facebook Groups

Facebook Fan Page

Twitter

YouTube

Tangle

LinkedIn

Additional Marketing Initiatives

Open House
http://bit.ly/k72hx

Surveys

Communication Plan

Partnerships

Additional Resources

MarketingSherpa
marketingsherpa.com

eMarketer
emarketer.com

Quantcast
quantcast.com

Harvard Business Publishing
harvardbusiness.org

Stay Connected via Twitter
twitter.com/aopschools
twitter.com/rfiv

Stay Connected via Facebook
aopschools.com/facebook
facebook.com/rohngibson

Questions?

Practical Principles for
Effective Christian School Marketing

Website Analysis

Practical Principles for
Effective Christian School Marketing