This document discusses strategies for driving word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing at schools. It begins with an overview of WOM marketing and the factors that drive WOM, such as satisfaction, quality, passion, loyalty and trust. It then provides 15 specific strategies schools can use, such as developing a WOM marketing plan, using parent advocates, capturing memorable moments, and measuring customer satisfaction. Examples are given of schools that have implemented successful WOM campaigns. In conclusion, the document stresses that schools need a WOMbound marketing strategy to maximize referrals from existing parents and students.

1. Rick Newberry, Ph.D.
Rick.Newberry@EnrollmentCatalyst.com
www.EnrollmentCatalyst.com
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

2. } During this presentation we will discuss
how you can put the WOW into your
school’s WOM!
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

3. Education
Admissions and Marketing
Family
Blog
Coaching
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

6. } President, Enrollment Catalyst
} Enrollment and Marketing Strategy Coach
} Blog at www.enrollmentcatalyst.com/blog

7. 7

8. Enrollment Catalyst partners with schools to
provide coaching for leaders in their enrollment
management and marketing systems and
strategies needed to reach their goals.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

9. © 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

12. } Introduction
} A primer on word of mouth marketing
} What drives word of mouth?
} 15 strategies to drive word of mouth at your
school
} Examples of word of mouth marketing
campaigns
} ADVIS review of websites that tell their
school’s story

13. Word of Mouth drives buying
decisions including those of
your prospective parents.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

14. 14

16. } We rely upon word of mouth in our own
buying decisions.

17. “Word-of-mouth recommendations from
friends and family…are still the most
influential, as 84 percent of global
respondents across 58 countries to the
Nielsen online survey said this source was
the most trustworthy. Trust in advertising on
branded websites increased 9 percentage
points to 69 percent in 2013 as the second
most trusted format in 2013.”
• Nielson
84% Trust Word of Mouth

18. “92% of all consumers report that a word of
mouth recommendation is the ‘leading
reason they buy a product or service’.”
• Rand, Highly Recommended

19. Word-of-mouth is the number
one way that parents first find
out about your school.

21. Isn’t it ironic that even though we know that
word of mouth is our leading inquiry source,
we don’t…
◦ Develop and implement a word of mouth marketing
plan
◦ Cut back on our traditional, outbound marketing
strategies
◦ Give our parents tools to share
◦ Tell our school’s story very well
◦ Use our website to tell stories of students, parents,
faculty and alumni
◦ Drive more word of mouth by asking parents to
invite their friends to consider your school

22. A primer on word of mouth
marketing.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

24. WOMbound Marketing

25. “WOMbound is the intentional and proactive
strategy to generate, facilitate and inspire
word of mouth through your advocates. It is
how brand advocacy works by harnessing the
power of word of mouth to reach your
prospective parents and students
most effectively.”
• Rick Newberry, Enrollment Catalyst
WOMbound

26. Ø New media
Ø Web-based
Ø Pull
Ø Listen
Ø Engage
Ø Hub
Ø Authentic
Ø Content
Ø Stories
Ø Old media
Ø Traditional
Ø Push
Ø Interrupt
Ø Broadcast
Ø Megaphone
Ø Slick
Ø Ads
Ø Slogans
Ø People
Ø Mouth
Ø Advocate
Ø Share
Ø Relate
Ø Conversation
Ø Trustworthy
Ø Experience
Ø Credibility

28. “Word of mouth is more effective than
traditional advertising for two reasons:
First, it’s more persuasive.
Second, word of mouth is more targeted.”
• Berger, Contagious
More Effective

30. “So what is word of mouth
marketing? In this book, I
define it as ‘Giving people a
reason to talk about your stuff,
and making it easier for that
conversation to take place’.”
• Sernovitz, Word of
Mouth Marketing
WHAT IS WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING?

34. “The best marketing is the kind you don’t buy.”
“If parents are satisfied, you won’t have to spend a
dime to advertise. We talk continually about the
education of our children.”
“Your best marketing is with current parents and
students being satisfied with their education. “

35. “Stop spending so much money. Word of mouth
from satisfied families is your best marketing. An
ad is not going to influence anyone.”
“When you have a great product, it is much easier
to market and word of mouth will be
much stronger.”

36. Eight factors that drive Word
of Mouth at your school.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

37. Word
of
Mouth
Satisfaction
Quality
Passion
Loyalty Trust
Service
Stories
YOU/People

38. Satisfaction

40. Pleased.
Happy.
Expectations match Experience.

41. Quality

43. “Word of mouth marketing isn’t about marketing
at all. It’s about great customer service that
makes people want to tell their friends about
you. It about fantastic products that people
can’t resist showing to everyone.”
• Sernovitz, Word of Mouth Marketing
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

45. “The best word of mouth is how a company
does business every single day.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation

46. Passion

47. “You must have have community before you
can ever even begin to dream of a
movement. And you know what moves
conversation within a community to
advocacy, the fuel for movements?
Passion.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation

48. “People will only talk about you if they are
inspired by their own passion.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation

49. Your parents will talk about their children
(their passion) and about their education
when they see the difference that your school
makes in their child.

50. Loyalty

51. Faithfulness or devotion to
your school.
Continued enrollment.
Advocate and supporter for
your school.

52. Trust

53. “Word of mouth marketing only works if you
have good products and services. It only
works if people like you and trust you.”
• Sernovitz, Word of Mouth Marketing

55. “Every brand and every recommendation, no
matter how big or how small, no matter how
reserved or vocal, online or offline, begins
with a relationship.”
• Rand, Highly Recommeneded

56. Word of mouth is shared and
believed in trusted relationships.
Enrollment rises and falls on
leadership and relationships.

57. Service

59. © 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

60. } When you serve your parents or students in
an exceptional way or do something that is
memorable, this creates a moment that will
be shared by word of mouth.

61. Stories

62. “Stories are part of who we are.
After all, you don’t tell slogans
about your grandfather, or how
your parents met, or even how
you were treated in a
restaurant.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church: Brains on Fire
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

63. We live in a story.
We relate to stories.
We listen to stories.
We can see ourselves in a story.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

65. “Like authors Chip and Dan Heath informed
us, stories stick. And here’s why: We
internalize stories. They become personal to
us, because we can imagine experiencing
them ourselves.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation

66. “No matter who you are or
what kind of company or
organization you work for,
your number-one job is to
tell your story to the
consumer wherever they are,
and preferably at the moment
they are deciding
to make a purchase.”
• Vaynerchuk, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How
to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World

67. “People don’t just share information,
they tell stories.”
• Berger, Contagious

68. } Stories about real people
◦ Faculty
◦ Staff
◦ Coaches
◦ Students
◦ Parents
◦ Alumni

69. YOU!
People

70. “Marketers do not decide what gets talked
about—People do.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation

71. “Word of mouth is natural conversation between
real people. Word of mouth marketing is
working within this conversation so people
are talking about you.”
• Sernovitz, Word of Mouth Marketing
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

72. You need to implement a
WOMbound marketing strategy
at your school to drive word of
mouth!

73. The following are 15
strategies that you can use to
drive word of mouth at your
school.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

74. #1
You Need a Plan
74

76. 1. Talkers—who will tell their friends about
you?
2. Topics—what will they talk about?
3. Tools—how can you help the message travel?
4. Taking Part—how should you join the
conversation?
5. Tracking—what are people saying about you?
Ø Sernovitz, Word of Mouth Marketing

77. #2
Marketing Director
=
Storyteller
77

78. } A school doesn’t need a marketing director to
place ads or design fliers; A marketing
director should drive the storytelling and
word of mouth marketing effort at the school.

79. #3
90%+ of WOM is
Face-to-Face
79

80. “More than 90 percent of the
conversations about products,
services, and brands that take
place every day in America
happen offline.”
• Keller and Fay, The
Face-to-Face Book
Talkers Talk Face-to-Face

81. } Personal Meetings
} Coffee and Conversation Meetings
} In Home Vision Meetings
} Large Group Meetings
} State of the School Address
} Car Line Greeting

82. #4
Parent Advocates
and Ambassadors
82

83. Word
of
Mouth
Advocates Ambassadors

84. 1. Encourage all of your parents to be talkers
for your school.
2. Launch a parent ambassador’s program.

86. #5
New Parents =
New Love
86

87. } New parents can be the best resources for
your school to reach out to their previous
school, church, club, neighborhood or other
group.

88. 1. New love is powerful
2. Love and money don’t mix
3. Nobody talks more than a lover’s scorn

89. #6
Give Your Parents
Tools to Share
89

91. Postcard and car
magnet sent to
parents

92. 92

93. • Brochure
• Fact Sheet / Infographic
• Talking Points
• Business card
• Video
• Email to share
• Giveaways
• Spirit wear

94. #7
Ask Your Parents
94

95. } Tell the story of your school by communicating
experiences in their own words.
} Invite a friend to experience your school by
visiting campus.
} Write an online review of their experiences
} “Like” your school’s Facebook page and
participate in the conversation.
} Direct friends to your website to check out your
school.
} Refer a friend to the admissions office by having
a designated form on your website.

96. #8
Soft-Sell
Introduction
Events
96

97. } Library story time
} Play dates
} A day at the zoo
} Botanical Gardens
} Mommy and Me

98. #9
Tell Stories
98

99. } Website
} Blog
} Facebook
} Social Media Sites
} Online Reviews
99

102. #10
Involve Your
Students
10
2

103. } Student Ambassador Tour Guides
} Student Blog
} Marketing Group
} Testimonials and Stories
} Videos
} Events
10
3

104. } Host a special “friend” day for current
students to invite their friends to spend the
day with them at your school.
} The goal is to encourage and motivate
current students to focus on inviting their
friends they want to encourage enrolling in
your school, especially when students are key
to the decision!

105. #11
Capture the
Moment
10
5

107. 10
7

108. #12
Use Video and
Be Creative
10
8

109. Assumption “Firework” Lip Dub now has over
55,000 views on YouTube!

111. #13
Do Something
Memorable
11
1

112. } First day of school
} Birthdays
} Middle school hoodies
} Give something away
} Send a personal note
} School closing announcement
11
2

114. #14
Wow Visitors
11
4

115. High Point University provides
“WOW” moments for prospective
and campus students

116. #15
Measure your
NPS

118. } On a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being very
likely, how likely are you to recommend a
friend to your school?

119. } Score of 9 or 10
} Loyal enthusiasts who keep returning and
refer others, fueling growth.

120. } Scores of 7 or 8
} Satisfied or unenthusiastic parents who are
vulnerable to other options; may have some
concerns but continue to stay the course

121. } Scores from 0 to 6
} Unhappy parents who can damage your
school’s brand and impede growth through
negative word of mouth.

122. %Promoters - %Detractors
=
NPS

123. We will look at several schools
and their word of mouth
marketing campaigns.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

135. 13
5

137. 520
540
560
580
600
620
640
660
680
700
Enrollment
Re-enrollment for the 2014-15 school year
is the highest ever!

140. Sent to Parents by division and all Faculty

156. Based on my review of all of
the NYSAIS websites…
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

157. } Some bright spots but many schools
need a website overhaul
} Similar look and feel
} Some poor first impressions
} Limited storytelling focus
} Homepage doesn’t tell the prospective
parent about the school
} Static copy and not engaging
} Out-of-date blogs

158. Bottom 10
ADVIS Websites

159. You really didn’t think I would
show the bad ones, did you?

160. Top 15
ADVIS Websites

161. #15

164. #14

168. #13

175. #12

181. #11

184. #10

187. #9

190. #8

196. #7

201. #6

207. #5

214. #4

220. #3

225. #2

233. #1

241. #1 NYSAIS

255. Your website should primarily
be a marketing tool to tell the
story and stories about
your school.

256. What will you take away and
implement as a result of this
presentation?

257. What will you take away and
implement at your school as a
result of this presentation?

258. Actually, this is the beginning
for you to put the WOW into
your school’s WOM.

259. For More Information:
Enrollment Catalyst
Rick Newberry, Ph.D.
9770 Indian Key Trail
Seminole, FL 33776
727.647.0378
Rick.Newberry@enrollmentcatalyst.com
www.EnrollmentCatalyst.com
www.Facebook.com/EnrollmentCatalyst
@RickNewberry
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst