Sharing Good Practice
How to market your school to parents
By Elaine Stallard
According to the ISC , the international education market made $ 38.5bn in the last year alone and shows no sign of slowing down . With the constant pressure on international schools to innovate and differentiate themselves from others , there ’ s no better time than now for schools to consider how best to market their school to parents .
Below is a summary of tips that Elaine Stallard , CEO of Winter ’ s International School Finder , shared with the audience at IPSEF Middle East Forum 2016 in a bid to advise schools on improving their marketing strategy .
Research , research , research
The first step is to research competitor activities . Direct competitors are similar schools in the same area , whereas audience competitors are other brands and companies competing for attention and share of voice with parents and students . To effectively take control of the share of voice , it is advisable to carry out research among your current parent group in order to build a profile , find out what parents are looking for in a school , as well as what the best way is to engage and interact with them throughout each year .
Putting parents first
Don ’ t underestimate the power of content when it comes to getting parents ’ attention . At Winter ’ s International School Finder , our content is commissioned in-house in its entirety . One example of it working well is our interactive ‘ moving abroad ’ infographic , which caters to parents who are looking for information ahead of moving to another country . The infographic covers a wide range of topics , such as disposable income , global climate zones across the world and every day prices like taxi fares . By making a wealth of information easy to digest in this shareable graph , we received hundreds of visits to our website . It is important to think about the information your school has at its disposal and how you can use it to tell a story or provide information to parents to encourage interaction .
Getting started on social media
Parents investigate schools ’ social media channels as part of their research process ahead of making the big leap , often in search of answers to their many questions about living abroad . Schools thus should have a presence on social media supported by an engaging content plan . In order to effectively manage social media platforms and the various campaigns , you can use tools such as Sprout Social or Hootsuite to schedule posts and ensure a regular stream of content .
Using Google to your advantage
Google and other search engines can play a key part in boosting the profile of your school ’ s website . PPC ( pay-perclick ) activity and the Google Banner Ad Network enable you to reach new audiences , by targeting your key demographics , as established by your parent group research . Coupling these activities with Google Analytics will enable you to track user journeys , which can help you develop an understanding of the information parents are looking for when deciding the right school for their children .
Elaine Stallard previously presented on this topic at IPSEF 2016 .
26 | Mar - Apr 2017 | | Class Time