A tongue-in-cheek look at “TeachingCenter” (compare to ESPN’s “SportsCenter”) – what if we recognized our teachers like we athletes? It’s #teacherappreciationweek so look forward to show your teachers how much you appreciate them!
If we sing at Christmastime, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!” then the month of May may cause you to belt out a chorus, “It’s the Craziest and Busiest Time of the Year!” While this may be true, you must be active online with content that your prospective parents can see, listen to or watch. One of the easiest ways to connect to these audiences is to produce content that other people are already talking about.
As I have done in the past with content ideas for the months of January, February,March and April, here are my Top 10 content ideas for the month of May to help you plan and prepare:
Teacher Appreciation (first week of May) – you may already organize special gifts and recognition for your teachers, but do not let this be an internal celebration only. Showcase your teachers in your marketing to prospective parents. These front-line warriors are the faces and stories of the individuals who will be caring daily for the children of future moms and dads. And these parents are not wanting to wait until an Open House to meet them. Feature their expertise, education and experience on the website and then share those pages all over social media. Bonus: Happy Teachers Make Great Referrals
Star Wars Day – on May the 4th, the hallways and social media sites will be abuzz with the familiar greeting, “May the Fourth Be With You”, a clever play on words from “May the FORCE be with you” that sounds similar to this 4th day of May each year. Star Wars remains a cultural phenomenon across all generations at your school, so have some fun with this one!
Cinco de Mayo (May 5))- not actually celebrating Mexican independence as many think (that’s in September), Cinco de Mayo is a day to recognize the rich culture of Mexican and Hispanic heritage.
Kentucky Derby (second Saturday in May) – commonly known as “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports”, this is one a few major national sporting events in May, so you may want to be creative with this one.
Bucket & Puck Playoffs – with college sports behind us, it’s time for the pros to make a run for the championship of the National Basketball Association and for the Stanley Cup! While the championship events may not occur until early June, these playoff basketball and hockey games will certainly occupy your TV sets and tablets during May.
Mother’s Day (second Sunday in May) – when it comes to easy content, simply pull out your smartphone and ask your students to say why they love their Mom. Video content like this easy gold! Since it falls on a Sunday, plan ahead so you can share your videos the week leading up to the holiday or at least on the Monday following.
Chicken Dance Day (May 14)- this silly song gets every moving at weddings, proms, and daddy-daughter dances is the popular song on National Dance Like a Chicken Day! This may seem silly to you, but if you participate, you can show off your fun side and join in on what will definitely be a trending topic on social media. Get up a dance (like a chicken) – if you don’t know how, these elementary kids will show you how!
Armed Forces Day (middle of May, usually on a Saturday) – Many events across the United States take place on Armed Forces Day to honor Americans in uniform who served their country in times of war and peace. This is a great chance to feature moms, dads, grandparents and other loved ones who have served in uniform. Because it falls on a weekend, post some pictures on Friday or the following Monday.
Memorial Day (last Monday in May) – Memorial Day is dedicated to service men and women who gave their lives for freedom and country. Engage your families, alumni and especially grandparents about this holiday. Have someone on staff (or a volunteer parent) write about why this holiday is important – then post that article to your website/blog and share it in emails and all over social media. I suspect your web traffic will increase significantly!
Graduation – whether it’s the culmination of over a decade of school work, or if you are putting cap and gown on a cute little bunch of Kindergartners, graduation is a critical marketing event for your school. I recently wrote an article, “Did you miss these marketing opportunities at your recent graduation?“that will prompt with you ideas on how to make the most of this mile marker at your school.
ACTION ITEMS:
If you need help with a marketing strategy where this kind of content is critical, check out how we can help you customize an “Enrollment Marketing Roadmap“ just for your school!
“March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb.”
“April showers bring May flowers”
“April…hath put a spirit of youth in everything.” (Shakespeare)
Believe it or not, I proposed to my wife on April 1, 1995! No joke. It had to be a Saturday night and that was the weekend that particular spring when it was the perfect timing. Nevertheless, it still makes for some good laughs when I tell that to people.
As your school get swamped in year-end activities, do not forget that potential moms and dads are also busy looking at school options for their kids. In order to continue to be top-of-mind with all of them (when your to-do list is already full), you must continue to produce content that is relevant to their lives. And if it is part of the cultural conversation on social media already, why not create content that would keep you in the forefront of their minds?
As I have done in the past with content ideas for the months of January, February and March, here are 11 content ideas for the month of April:
PB & Jelly Day (4/2) – have some fun with the younger kids and older kids and even the staff all enjoying a PB&J feast! According to Guinness World Records, one man holds the record for eating 6 sandwiches within a minute – who will accept the challenge to beat that record? As I have said in other months, think “free news coverage”!
College Basketball Championship (first part of April) – as March Madness winds down, the Final Four is college basketball’s “super bowl”! Make student connections with former students who are attending any of the competing schools; especially noteworthy if any former students are playing in the big tournament (interview them via Skype about the behind-the-scenes or about how your school helped them to prepare for college).
MLB Opening Day (usually around the first part of the month) – in the same way, recognize any former students playing in the MLB or interview your staff about who their favorite MLB player is. Hot dogs, nachos, peanuts and Cracker Jacks may be a fun lunch menu that on Opening Day!
National Library Week (4/10-16) – if your school has a school librarian, this is the week you want to do a special feature on this staff person (note: featuring all of your staff throughout the year is important!)
The Masters (ends on the 2nd Sunday of April) – golf’s most heralded tournament with the prized green jacket.
Tax Day (April 15) – publish FAQs on your website (that will remain year-round) that answer common questions like “can I deduct my daughter’s private school tuition?” or “can you use a 529 to pay for son’s private high school?”. People are likely asking you these questions already (or wondering in their head), so provide the answers.
Earth Day (4/22) – your local news stations may be looking for young people who take pride in the environment, so this may be an opportunity to do something unique that gets media attention.
Administrative Professionals Week (last week of the month) – another opportunity to introduce potential families to the personal (and personnel) side of your school.
Arbor Day (last Friday of the month) – plant some trees around campus and feature ones you have planted in previous years.
NFL Draft (toward the end of April) – while we watch our TVs and devices to see what round our favorite college players get picked by our favorite NFL teams, you may want to explore any connection you have to former students in this year’s draft (or you can list out other famous former student who have played in the NFL). You may also wish to have a video or essay contest if you can have students talk about the best character qualities of some of their favorite NFL players.
This week, we are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, an unusual holiday with all of it’s weird traditions (who likes getting pinched?)
But rather than focusing on those odd things, my wife and I have focused our conversations with our 4 kids on the historical account of Patrick himself. It’s a pretty fascinating story. In this video, I share some inspiration that we have found from looking at the life of a man who suffered greatly, but learn to hear the voice of God and embrace His mission.
Last fall, I was honored to be asked to be one of the presenters at the first SchneiderB Virtual School Marketing Conference. It was a fun format and I listened to many of the other presenters. I was blown away by the amazing quality of content that the other presenters shared. So many practical ideas and Brendan Schneider did a fantastic job fielding questions from the participants.
And all of this was VIRTUAL – which means participants saved thousands of dollars on travel-related expenses of normal in-person conferences. As well, participants did not have the hassle of being away from work and their families. Plus, the whole thing was recorded for future playback (with access for 1 year!)
Well, the 2016 SchneiderB VirCon is back and it looks equally amazing. This virtual conference is Monday, March 21st.
I don’t know all of these presenters, but many I do – this spring’s lineup is awesome!
Here are the presenters:
Hans Mundahl: Making Sense of Social Media Analytics: What matters, what doesn’t, and what to act on immediately
Daren Worcester: SEO Self Defense — Reviewing how to manage the school’s brand image in search results and the knowledge graph
Scott Allenby: Developing a Personalized Inbound Marketing Strategy – Understanding strategy from the data you gather to the content you deliver
Stacy Jagodowski: Marketing Plans: Your Roadmap to Success and Sanity
Simon Leeming: Social Media Strategy for Education Marketing
William Stites: Managing Social Media at your School
Brendan Schneider: Admission Office Funnel 101 – What to do after you get an inquiry
Jon Moser: Best Practices for Digital Engagement and Inbound Marketing
