Lessons from Jury Duty: Evidence is Essential – Part 1 of 2 (School Marketing Podcast #82)

Lessons

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Did you miss these marketing opportunities at your recent graduation?

Missed marketing opportunities at your private / Christian school graduation

Graduation is one of your school’s best marketing events. Tears of joy, cheers of pride, and years of experiences tell powerful stories of your school’s ability to produce top graduates who are ready to change the world!

However, like many campus events only witnessed by insiders (current families), many marketing opportunities are missed. When prospective families, your ideal target audiences and investigating students want to learn about your school, you need evidence to prove every claim you make on your website. Families are too sophisticated (and appropriately suspicious) of “marketing speak” they see on your brochures or website. They want validation. Highly emotional moments in the life of your school offer numerous opportunities for evidence.

In my recent guest article on EdSocialMedia.com, I mention some marketing opportunities you may have overlooked at your recent graduation event.

**UPDATE**
– in the commencement program, have a full page dedicated to the cumulative amount of scholarship money awarded to the graduating class and from what universities such money came. This is powerful evidence of the type of scholar produced by your school!

Click to read:  “Marketing Fail: 7 Opportunities You Missed at Graduation”

Learn more about our Enrollment Marketing Roadmap PLUS+ to get your enrollment strategy back on track!

18 ideas for your school’s social media command center

A Private School Social Media Command Center for Your Next Open House

As you ramp up your organized admission/marketing events such as an Open House or Preview Night, you need to be thinking smart about social media.  You need your very own social media command center.

As a Duct Tape Marketing consultant (learn why I believe Duct Tape Marketing is the best marketing system for any private school), we focus on strategically thinking about social media, not just treating it as an isolated island.   Enjoying an integrated marketing approach for your private school will not only help you see better results, you’ll have the confidence of a long-term, strategic social media effort as opposed to a “fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants” way of doing things.   Some of you know what I’m talking about.  Let’s do social media better!

John Jantsch, the founder of Duct Tape Marketing, recently posted 18 elements of a strong social media command center.  Have fun looking at this list and thinking about how you could implement one or more of them during your marketing season.  You will need to put your innovation hat on and think “outside the box” as you adapt the suggestions to your admission event, but I suspect you will walk away with some game changing ideas that sets you apart from competing schools.

READHow to Create a Social Media Command Center by John Jantsch

PODCAST: Part 1 – Creating Loyal Ambassadors – Retention

Private / Christian School Marketing Podcast - Marketing Twins - Randy Vaughn - Donny Vaughn

In order to significantly increase your retention rate, you have to cultivate “loyal ambassadors” in your school.  In this podcast episode, we begin a 2-part series on creating a culture throughout the year to ensure you have the highest retention rate as possible, and that your current families are enthusiastically spreading the word about your school.

In this episode of our school marketing podcast, we share some ideas on RETENTION.

Time [14:29]

UPDATE:   To hear Part II, click here

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School Marketing Retention Idea: Saying Thank You!

Private School Marketing - Retention - Thank You NoteIn an upcoming episode on our private school marketing podcast, we are talking about retention and the efforts it takes to cultivate “loyal ambassadors.”

Today, I read 2 articles to encourage your school retention efforts:

  1. What can we do to encourage our families to re-enroll early? (by Rick Newberry of Enrollment Catalyst)
  2. Increasing Student Retention – The Power of “Thank You” (Hyatt Bolden of The Ratner School in Pepper Pike, OH)

The article by Bolden reinforces how simple efforts play such an important role in cultivating an environment where families return year after year (loyal) and they talk enthusiastically about your school to their friends as if they were on staff with the school’s marketing department (ambassadors)!

To learn more about retention ideas, download the free ebook, “3 Rs of School Marketing” at the bottom of our website.  It’s FREE!

-Randy