What really brings your pupils to your school on enrolment day, and why does it matter?

Enrolments are the backbone of the school’s future, for without a solid set of bottoms on seats in Reception the school really is only heading in one downward direction. Attracting and retaining the children from your local community to choose your school instead of the school along the street sounds simple and often happens naturally as a school lives off its great reputation amongst the local parents.  And yet we are living in an ever more competitive world and so being a great school with great learning taking place day after day is not all that it takes to keep those families signing up to join your school.

We are living in a world which has become ever more transparent and digital. People are consuming astounding amounts of quick burst information in the form of video content on their digital devices. Parents all over the world are practicing social distancing which means those inconsequential chats over coffee, or over a supermarket trolley just are not happening. Those are the conversations which generate ‘word of mouth’ free marketing for the great schools to continue to thrive upon. They say that education is a referrals business, because one parent will refer your school to another parent and, hey presto, you have more children joining your school. Yet those free referrals may happen less now than ever before.

Marketing has long been thought of as a department which supports any organisation. More and more we are seeing schools with great branding, compelling stories and regular social media posts which have followed their brand colours and palette. Yet the schools who are doing great marketing are the ones who do not leave marketing to sit alongside academics as a support department. Instead the culture of creating content is harnessed within the leadership, and aligned by the marketeers.

The core strength of your marketing will always be knowing and understanding your school’s unique selling point. Schools are living breathing ecosystems, made up of the parents, teachers, children and the community who contribute to them. Schools are unique and ever-evolving as the cohorts and teams develop, grow, and graduate. The part of the school’s identity which makes the local parents choose that school is its unique selling point.  Knowing and sharing that sounds simple but can be quite complex.

Identifying your school’s value proposition is a full team effort. Talking to the parents, talking to the teachers and administrators of a school will allow you to paint a picture of what it is about your school that is drawing in those students. There will be many contrasting ideas of what makes up the identity. People’s observations and interpretations will reflect their own perspectives and perceptions.

Distilling all of those notions into an absolute core which could be a short sentence or a few words that become the pillars of the communication strategy. Sharing, embracing and aligning all of the members of the school to use those words and align their content generation to perfectly articulate that identity is where the magic happens. And as I said before, schools are alive, and all things that are alive grow. It would be a mistake to think that once you have your core messaging agreed by the Governors that it remains static forever more. This year has been a year that many schools have, and will continue to re-invent their branding – probably the best tag-line example of that is Winchester College’s “Manners Makyth Man”. What a fantastic tag-line which has resonated with their audience for hundreds of years. This year, however, as they open their sixth form to girls, this tag-line might need rethinking!

Consistency is my final note, as guidance says that a LinkedIn article should be 500-700 words, and I cannot sign off without re-iterating the need for consistency. The messaging to your parents, teachers, children, Facebook, Insta, LinkedIn and Twitter should all have a thread and consistency that is overarched by a brand strategy and guided by a qualified and dedicated resource.  I learned a little about marketing from a good friend of mine @Jennifer Palmer, make sure you have a marketeer in your armoury.