School District Marketing

School District Marketing
Joe Donovan

My goals:
1) Provide you with some tools and
strategies you can implement
immediately.
2) Provide some new perspective that
will help you add marketing
elements to your future
communications.

Please direct questions to…
Email: joe.donovan@donovan-
group.com
Text: 414-418-0512

I believe there are generally three
types of school district
communications efforts:

1) General engagement

2) Public relations

2) Public relations
3) Marketing

Public relations is strategic, often for
goodwill. It generally relies on free
media.
Marketing is done for the purpose of
compelling someone to do
something specific. It often includes
paid advertising.

I am increasingly of the belief that
school districts should have two,
three or in some cases four
communications-related plans that
work together.

Marketing has one very specific
purpose: to gain market share.
Marketing is targeted. It is focused. It
is direct.

Marketing is not for every district.
Don’t do marketing half-way.

The Anytown School District
 Losing resident students to private
schools and open enrollment.
 Has a lot of developable land
 Homes in the community are
affordable and popular with young
families.
 Has a new charter school

School district marketing is as
simple as answering six
questions.

Question 1
What are your specific goals?

Question 2
Who are your targeted stakeholders?

Question 3
What is your value proposition?

Question 4
What tools will you use to deliver your
value proposition to your targeted
stakeholders?

Question 5
How will you best use the academic
calendar to your advantage?

Question 6
How will you measure your success
and improve your return on
investment?

Goals
Be very specific about why you are
undertaking this effort.
Determine and find agreement on
what success looks like.

Goals
With a great deal of specificity, what
do you want to accomplish with you
marketing?
Be aggressive in your goal setting.

Stakeholders
Who are your prospects? Be specific.

Stakeholders
My Mom and Dad are not your
prospects. Do not market to them!

Stakeholders
Target your stakeholders like a laser.
Know who they are, how they inform
themselves, and what is important
to them.

Stakeholders
Take some time to find out more
about your very specific marketing
audience.
What characteristics differentiate them
from other groups.

Messages
After determining you key audiences,
think about what you would say to
individuals in that audience group if
you could sit down with each one for
coffee.
What would make them nod in
agreement?

Messages
Determine the four or five critical
messages that you would like to
communicate to your key audience.

Tools
Select communications tools for
delivering your messages to your
stakeholders.

Tools
What is the most effective school
district marketing tool?
The school tour.
Make your school tours special.

Tools
Facebook ads and other “pay-per-
click” type ads can be very effective
and efficient.

Tools
I find that direct mail and individual
contacts with key stakeholders, is
the most effective.
There is a great deal of “overspray”
with television and radio.

Timing
Try to determine when “buying
decisions” are taking place and time
your marketing accordingly.

Timing
When do your research, make sure to
ask those who open enroll out,
“when did you make your decision
to leave?”

Metrics
Do not begin a marketing campaign
without first determining how you will
measure its success.
Be specific.

Metrics
Break your marketing measuring
efforts into two categories: output
measures and input measures.

Metrics
The most important metric is your
output measure: market share.
For example, the percentage of all
school-aged children that attend
district schools.

Metrics
Input measures assess the
effectiveness of the various
marketing efforts. The combination
of these should lead to increased
market share.

Metrics
Determine a number of critical input
metrics that align with your output
measure, market share.

Other considerations
Parents increasingly think of
themselves as consumers with
choices.
Are you and your staff thinking of
them as customers?

Do not become an educational
commodity.

Effective marketing relies on your
ability to explain why your district is
truly different.
Do not be afraid to tell your brand
story.

School District Marketing

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (19)

Similar to School District Marketing

Similar to School District Marketing (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

School District Marketing