Branding is often a person’s first contact with the school. It is usually a visual image seen. It may also be a verbal input. This should be a key aspect of your school marketing plan.


Branding’s importance must not be underestimated.

First impressions do count!


First Impressions

The first impression may be gained from the following:

•   Reputations of school as espoused from someone within the community or other family member, friend or work asscoiate

•   Website design

•   Welcome by office staff  / office decor, etc

•   Prospectus / Information Pack - cover, pages and inclusions

•   Uniform of students and office staff

•   Stationery received

•   e/i-Newsletter, newsletter or newsletter design and front page content

•   Telephone call response by office staff / voicemail response / telephone transfer instructions / dedicated line for upcoming events recording, etc

•   White and Yellow pages listings

•   Advertisement in newspaper or magazine, radio, etc

•   e/i Flyer or Flyer

•   Student or staff at school

The branding of the school needs to be well considered and representative of the school’s vision and mission.
It needs to show how the school is to be seen within the community.


Uniformity

Branding needs uniformity to be a powerful, positive tool.

Mixing and matching branding causes a weak and disjointed image to be apparent. This is to the disadvantage of the school in a number of ways. The confusing images distract and hence do not leave the desired impact. The school may be seen itself as disjointed and ‘not together’ and hence causing various follow-up difficulties.

Other sections covered in the school marketing manual include:

• Key Branding Areas - Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
• Branding Changes
• Creativity of Design

The 'Branding for School Marketing' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

Knowing how to write a school marketing plan will lead to better opportunities to increase enrolments. It will assist your school in becoming more widely known for what it offers the community, along with its successes, etc, which should lead to better enrolments.

Each School Marketing Plan should be based on 7 Key Strategies:

1. Define what you have to offer
2. Define your target group
3. Budget
4. Personnel and Talents
5. Develop Marketing Aims and Objectives
6. Marketing Strategies
7. Evaluation

Sample School Marketing Plan

1. Define what you have to offer
• vision and mission, personnel, basic underlying content and structures within the school, curriculum offered, pastoral and welfare support programs, facilities, extra curricula activities, etc
• specific demographics targeted e.g. ages and groups catered for - coeducational or single gender, etc, and their particular niche market
• future plans - programs, staffing, facilities, etc

2. Define your target group
• through various data, including surveys, observations, experience, gifts and talents available / needed
• proximity to / involvement with similar and / or churches and parishes
• any expansion - programs, facilities, staffing

3. Budget
• realistically support this marketing plan
• be flexible and open to growth and change as the needs arise
• continually develop over time through needs and experiences

4. Personnel and Talents available - including School Marketing Manager

5. Develop Marketing Aims and Objectives - from previous information

6. Marketing Strategies
• Marketing Relationships
• Marketing Resources (including branding, advertising)
• Media Use
- Internet and other Contemporary methods
- Both for Free (Media Releases / Editorial, etc) and for
- Fee (Advertising)

7. Evaluation
• The plan should be evaluated at least yearly and appropriate adjustments made for the following year.
• Changes may need to be made throughout the year depending on changing circumstances.

The 'How to Write a School Marketing Plan' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

An example School Marketing Plan is best considered primarily through an OVERVIEW and secondly through an ANALYSIS - each being a foundation for success in marketing your school. When each of these aspects is considered in detail, the effective planning may begin.


School Marketing Plan Overview

1. Define what you have to offer
2. Define your target group
3. Budget
4. Personnel and Talents available - including School Marketing Manager
5. Develop School Marketing Aims and Objectives – from previous information
6. Select Marketing Strategies
7. Evaluation

Analysis of the School Marketing Plan

•   The School Principal is ultimately responsible for the Plan.

The Plan:

1. is based on the School’s Vision and Mission Statement.
2. is used to market the school to the community. The community includes all people who know, or those who you want to know, about the school. These include the general public in your catchment region, parents, potential families, school staff, parish  staff, other schools’ staff especially from feeder schools, present and past students, parents, etc.
3. includes the strategies used within a defined budget.
4. is used to inform all stakeholders, and other targeted groups, of the benefits and successes of the school.
5. informs about aspects which may be of interest.
6. needs to plan for issues which may arise of a controversial nature.
7. should inform and emphasize the real nature of the school and the direction the school is planning or presently implementing.
8. should include a realistic budget.
9. can benefit from the combination of views of staff and others associated with the school community.

•   Marketing is relatively inexpensive when viewed in the terms of the potential gains made – reputation, new parents, supportive present parents, enrolments, etc.

•   In the initial stages of developing the school’s first real plan it is often best to include a variety of interest groups for gaining ideas and suggestions about how best to market your school. These thoughts may then be used as felt necessary.

•   The School Principal needs input and has the overall responsibility to implement the plan.

Other sections covered in the 'School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), 2010, by Bryan Foster are:

• SMP Evaluation
• SMP is Not ...
• Be Ethical
• Who Needs a SMP?

The 'How to Write a School Marketing Plan - Overview and Analysis' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com

The School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed) 2011 by Bryan Foster is a 340 page paperback and e-book specializing in strategies and examples for marketing schools. The easy to read summarized point format allows for considerable detail without the 'waffle'.

Business, religious and community organizations would be able to adapt these marketing strategy points to their particular circumstances.

The author has been marketing for 20 years within the Catholic Church at both educational and Church spheres. The education experience is in elementary / primary and secondary levels, in city and country, in both large and small schools.

Below are the Chapter Headings which explain the chapter key headings. Click for full detailed list of Chapter Contents.

Contents                                     
SMA Website                                                         
School Marketing Plan Overview Sample               
School Marketing Plan and School Marketing Manager                                         
School Marketing - Internet Applications with Samples and Instructions   (including screenshots and live weblinks)  
School Marketing and the Traditional Media + Instructions                                  
School Marketing - Advertising in the Media + Instructions               
School Marketing Relationships      
School Marketing Resources + Instructions   
Conclusion                                       
Glossary 
Bibliography                                  
Index

Easy to read and use, professionally compiled, detailed e-books for school and church marketing personnel -

written in summarized point format.

If you have ever wanted to get your hands on truly well valued, easily downloaded, 304-340 paged marketing e-books, then these two e-books published in 2011, are for you.

No more wading through unnecessary long winded text.

Through detailed Contents and Index pages, you will be able to arrive at the specific marketing method you need in your particular marketing niche – school or church.

Once there, you will find the necessary points for that method, quickly seen – in all the detail you should need. These points will include: 

• an explanation of what the method is
• various implementation strategies
• step-by-step development processes.

When you consider the high quality detail, you will agree that this is very good value. Why such good value? I believe in keeping my books and e-books within the industry price standards, including Apple and Amazon recommended price ranges.

Each book published in 2011, is a considerably revised edition of the previous ones published over the past few years.

These marketing e-books will help increase school enrolments and get people back into church and are available from Amazon.com and CreateSpace:

• School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), 2011, by Bryan Foster – 340 A4 pages
• Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed) 2011, by Bryan Foster – 304 A4 pages

The 'School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), 2011 - Strategies and Examples for Today's Digital Age' blog post was written by Bryan Foster, author of School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), (2011) - the paperback and ebook manual for school communications and marketing personnel - 340 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points - allowing for a considerably large number of quality strategies and examples to be detailed - with copyright remaining GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com