School marketing podcast #34: John Jantsch Pt 1 of 2 – guest interview with @ducttape #ducttapeselling

School marketing podcast #34: John Jantsch Pt 1 of 2 - guest interview with @ducttape #ducttapeselling

I’m so excited to finally have the opportunity to interview John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing!  John has been a marketing mentor of mine since I was invited to join the global network of Duct Tape Marketing consultants in 2007. At the time of this episode (May 2014), John is launching his 4th book, “Duct Tape Selling: Think Like a Marketer, Sell Like a Superstar“.  When I heard John was going to be launching this book, I reached out to him and asked if he would join me for this podcast and he graciously accepted.

I know that many in the Admissions community may not enjoy thinking of themselves as “selling”.  I do not pretend to equate what you do with that of a traditional salesman, I do think there is a similar function inside the organization. One premise of John’s book is that any disconnect or tension that has previously existed between sales and marketing, should no longer keep a business, nonprofit or school from adopting a new look at marketing and sales. In many schools, you may wear every single hat of communication, online presence, admissions and PR. But in many schools, the marketing arm is run by board members, the web/IT folks, a group of volunteers or a conglomerate of all of these players (where everyone considers their job as “marketing” yet no one is talking to the other!)

BUY JOHN’S BOOK – DUCT TAPE SELLING

My interview was so good that I decided to split this interview into a 2-part series so we could continue our unique 14-minute/29-second podcast format.  In this first episode, I ask John a few simple questions about:

  • How do admission personnel serve both as marketers and salespeople?
  • What are the key elements of selling and how has this changed over the years?
  • How does this impact our relationship building with prospective families?
  • What is the role of social media in relationship building with current and prospective students and families
  • What has replaced the traditional pitching and promoting our “billboard and brochure” mentality?
  • What roles does storytelling play in this new way of marketing and selling in the school environment?
  • How do schools incorporate content marketing, SEO and social media into local search?
  • What kind of content should a school produce to effectively reach our ideal prospective family?

See our shownotes at the conclusion of this post for details, links, and other resources that we may have mentioned in this episode.

SHOWNOTES: (more…)

School marketing podcast #29: Retention, Referrals & Amy Grant

School marketing podcast #29: Retention, Referrals & Amy Grant

Coming on the heels of Episode #28 where we discussed the definition of school marketing, now we talk about a term “loyal ambassadors.”  In previous episodes, we talked a little more in depth about what it means to be a “loyal ambassador” (see the SHOWNOTES below for the links to those shows).  When you think about what you are doing in school marketing, only pushing “enrollment” is short-sighted.  You need to recruit new students, but also focus on retention (loyalty) and referrals (ambassadors and word of mouth). Making this episode even more interesting, we also talk about Taco Bell, Amy Grant, Quebec City and Randy’s upcoming speaking engagement at the National Christian School Association Annual Conference in Nashville.

RELATED: Download our free report on “The 3’s of School Marketing”

SHOWNOTES: (more…)

School marketing podcast #28: An Easy Definition of Marketing for Schools

School Marketing Podcast #28 - An Easy Definition of Marketing for Christian Schools

Every school’s marketing team must be on the same page when it comes to defining “marketing” – if not, chaos will ensue! Everyone knows we are ultimately talking about enrollment growth (“filling seats”), but the path of getting there will be challenging if the Head of School, Admissions Director, Social Media Coordinator and Marketing Team Volunteers (Parents) are all on a different wavelength in terms of what marketing is (and what it is not).

In this episode, we lay out a clear definition of marketing that applies to every school. It sets the stage for future episodes where we talk about the strategy and tactics that are essential for successful school marketing.

SHOWNOTES: (more…)

School marketing podcast #27: New Open House Ideas

School marketing podcast #27: New Open House Ideas for Your Private Christian School

Most likely your school is gearing up for your next marketing and admission season.  The effort to recruit and find new families is so important to the life of the school (and to your school’s budget!)  We even addressed this in the recent two-part series “Attracting the Right Kinds of Families to Your School” in podcast episode #24 and #25.  In episode #26, we also got a little more specific into what types of content marketing you should be producing to capture the attention of these targeted family segments.

In this episode, we talk about a number of fresh ideas you can use BEFORE, DURING and AFTER your next Open House, Preview Night, or other Admission event on your campus.

SHOWNOTES: (more…)