Recognising that many schools do not have the benefit of an inhouse marketing team, we have put together some tips on how you can maximise your PR opportunities and be the school of first choice.
While the best results will be achieved by those who market themselves consistently throughout the year, you may find you can achieve some quick wins from our suggestions.
1. Your website is your shop window so make sure it is up to date and there are no broken links. Create a dedicated page for prospective parents so they can find key information with ease. Show continuous improvement by highlighting what has been achieved in the last year. Post frequently asked questions, show the role of governors and give an insight into a typical school day.
2. Be a part of the community. Attending the summer fete or carnival, volunteering to take part in community litter picks or having a presence at civic occasions such as Remembrance Sunday are positive ways for your school to get involved in the community.
3. Review your prospectus. Is it exciting and does it set you apart from other schools in the area?
4. You will have lots of good news stories so get into the habit of issuing regular press releases to the local media. Be sure to add the story to your website and if you are on social media, post it on your feed so as to drive people to your website where they will find more information.
5. If your school has a social media account, is it being used effectively? Facebook is a great tool for adding posts to community sites such as ‘I Love [town]’ and Instagram is ideal for sharing a visual insight into your school but if you are not resourced to post regularly or to respond to comments, it may be best to concentrate on other channels of communication.
6. Survey new children and parents to find out their first impressions, why they chose you and their experiences of your school. This will highlight improvements you can make and will give you data to benchmark yourself against, for example you may find that: ‘In 2019, 95% of parents who responded to the survey rated school communication as good compared to 70% in 2018.‘
7. Ask your students what they like about the school and film their reply. Short videos are great for sharing on social media or on your website.
8. Open days and open evenings give prospective parents an insight into your school but don’t limit them to the period when parents are making their choices; hold them at other times of the year too. You could also extend invitations to local community influencers eg invite a small group for tea and cake made by the students or to a special assembly.
9. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, so take look at what other schools are doing to market themselves and adapt the best ideas for your school.
10. Finally, fitting in your PR around the day job and doing it well always takes longer than you expect so plan ahead. Aim to do a few campaigns well rather than lots in a chaotic and inconsistent fashion.
We specialise in working with community organisations and are currently working with schools and educational providers. Our PR care plans can be adapted to suit your requirements. We can provide support for a one-off campaign or you can reap the benefits of regular support with prices starting at £149 per month.
Free consultancy
During October, we are offering three, free one-hour consultations to local schools that would like some advice on a current PR or marketing challenge. The consultations will be allocated on a first come first served basis so contact us if you are interested.