Marketing strategies for your school
Let’s start with the basics. A marketing plan is a document that describes your advertising and marketing efforts for the coming year; it gives your business a road map for finding and keeping customers. A marketing plan for your school is no different. It can be a powerful tool to help you allocate resources, increase enrollment and reach financial goals—but only if you take the time to create an accurate, useful and well-executed document. Whether you’re creating your first marketing plan or updating an existing one, these steps will guide you through the process of writing a detailed strategy:
- Set Goals & Objectives
- Do Market Research
- Analyze Your Current Marketing Mix
- Outline Your Tactics
Include budgets and schedules in your marketing plan so that it becomes a working document you can use as a reference throughout the year. It should also help you identify when changes are necessary so that you always have the best chance of reaching your goals.
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1. START WITH A REALISTICS ASSESSMENT OF YOUR SITUATION
Even the best marketing strategies need a great foundation. The first step is to do an honest assessment of your school’s strengths and weaknesses.
Start by comparing your school to similar schools in the area, noting any areas where you fall short. Maybe it’s your facilities, or maybe it’s in one of the academic programs you offer. Whatever the case may be, you want to know so you can work on improving those weak spots with some marketing strategies.
Next, list all of your school\’s resources such as faculty and staff expertise, financial resources and mission-related goals that can be used toward boosting enrollment.
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2. DEFINE YOUR PROBLEM
- You\’ll want to know if your school\’s marketing is getting the desired results.
- Who’s your target audience?
- Where is your school located?
- What’s your schools online presence?
- How does Google rank your school when people search for it?
- What does your website look like?
- How do you respond to inquiries from prospective students? When you talk with parents and educators, what are the most common questions they ask about the campus and its programs?
3. SET OBJECTIVES
Think of your fitness goals as a roadmap, and you\’re the person in charge of creating it. Before you start there\’s only one thing I want you to know: Don\’t get caught up in what other people are doing. This is about your goals and nobody else\’s!
When setting fitness goals, the first thing to consider is what you need from the activity that will help you become a healthier individual. Do you want to be able to run three miles? Or squat your own body weight? Maybe even do a pull-up without any assistance?
Setting ambitious but realistic goals allows for small victories along the way towards bigger ones. If you\’re brand new to exercise and have never been able to do a pushup before, maybe your goal is as simple as being able to do ten by the end of week three. If running is something that has always intimidated or annoyed you, start by setting a goal of completing half of a 5k at an easy pace! Start with small steps so that they are manageable and achieve.
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4. DEFINE YOUR CUSTOMERS SEGMENT TO FOCUS ON
First, as with any marketing strategy, you need to understand your customer. Instead of thinking about it in terms of demographics or age group, think about your customer\’s needs and wants. What is your business trying to do for them?
You can\’t market effectively if you don\’t know who you\’re supposed to be marketing too. The good news is that there are a plenty of proven ways to make sure you are targeting the right customers from the beginning.
5. SET SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM GOALS
When setting goals, avoid being vague. Be specific and explain why this goal is important to you. Do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to lose weight? Is it because you’re unhappy with your appearance, or do you simply want to improve your overall health?
The reason for wanting to achieve the goal will help determine what type of goal you set. For example, if your problem is that you’re overweight and it makes you feel unhappy with how you look, then your goal is probably more about appearance than improving overall health. If that’s the case, then a better goal would be something along the lines of “I want to lose weight so I can fit into a pair of jeans that are two sizes smaller than I normally wear.”
6. SCHOOL OWNERS CAN ALLOCATE RESOURCES AND HELP TO INCRESE THEIR ENROLLMENT WITH A MARKETING STRATEGIES
The marketing plan is a document that helps school owners evaluate the effectiveness of their strategies, define their target market, and create a budget for attracting new students to their school. A good marketing plan includes the following:
- An analysis of your competitors in the area and how your school differs from theirs
- A breakdown of who your ideal customers are (demographics like age and gender)
- A list of goals you want to achieve with this plan, such as \”Increase revenue by 10% within one year\” or \”Increase our enrollment by 1% each month\”
- Detailed strategies on how you\’ll reach those goals (for example: \”Work with influencers to promote our brand awareness\”), including what resources are needed for success and how much they cost
- Any other information that might help you succeed, such as insights into customer behavior or trends in education.
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7. MEASURE YOUR ONLINE MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS
In marketing, numbers don’t lie. Measuring the results of your advertising and marketing campaigns allows you to evaluate what\’s working and what’s not. This information tells you where to spend your resources and where to direct future efforts for maximum return on investment (ROI).
What are some metrics that can be used?
Metrics can be quantified in different ways. Some examples of measurements include site visits, clicks, impressions, new emails from a campaign or number of Facebook fans. Google Analytics helps you measure website traffic by channel: organic search, referral or paid search. You can see how long people stay on your website as well as other information about their online behavior.