Most of us in Catholic schools don't market our schools very well, mostly because we see it as a luxury we can't afford. In fact, newspaper ads, slick admissions brochures, billboards and radio spots are very expensive, and given what we pay our teachers, it's not an unreasonable position to be hesitant to spend money on what may or may not "pay off" in the long run. But that makes us uneasy, because we know that enrollment is the life blood of our school's long term health.
The best marketing, however, doesn't cost us anything.
I believe the best marketing for our school is "inside-out" marketing--that is, equip our parents and teachers with "good news" stories about our school, and then let these "insiders" share those stories with others. If you think about it, "word of mouth" is the way that parents choose schools for their children anyway--they don't do it by the quality of an admissions brochure.
So what are our parents saying?
Parents are proud of us, and they want to feel good about their choice and sacrifice to send their children to our school. Teachers are proud to work with us. They both want to hear good news stories, and they're eager to share this news with others.
The key question is this: how do we equip our "insiders" with these stories?
I believe that it's incumbent on us as school leaders to generate 2-3 "good news" stories every week about our students or teachers, and we must be creative in doing so. It isn't just what Mrs. Johnson did in second grade this week, although it could be. It might be about a student who just became an Eagle scout. It may be an interesting service project our kids are involved in. It might be a quick "catching up" with a recent graduate who is now in high school or college. It might be a quick interview with a teacher who is celebrating his or her 10th, 15th or 20th year in our schools. It could be an interview with four sixth graders who tell us what they like about our school. Perhaps it's a quick interview with a new parent, about why they chose our school for his or her child.
These stories need not be the long "feature length" quality--in fact, shorter is usually better. But they should include a picture that resonates with the reader, and they should reflect on the mission of our school and all the diverse, wonderful things our students, faculty and parents do.
Don't have the time to write these stories? Perhaps that's something we can ask a volunteer to do for us once/week.
Once we have these 2-3 stories, we should share them with everyone. They should be posted on our school's facebook page and as links for our "Twitter" feeds. They should be placed as links on the front page of our web site (if they're on page 2 of our website, no one is reading them--see how we do this here: www.jp2hs.org). They should be sent out as links in the school's weekly email to all of our constituents. They should be mailed to the diocesan and local papers (What they publish we can't control, but if they need content, we're giving it to them. With the razor thin margins papers are operating with, we've found about 1/2 of what we send to them is published, often word for word with what we've written.)
In this world of "rubber-necking" to see the latest accident or tragedy, we must be very disciplined and persistent in countering with positive stories about our school and students. The word "gospel", after all, means "good news."
Let's share the gospel unabashedly!
The best marketing, however, doesn't cost us anything.I believe the best marketing for our school is "inside-out" marketing--that is, equip our parents and teachers with "good news" stories about our school, and then let these "insiders" share those stories with others. If you think about it, "word of mouth" is the way that parents choose schools for their children anyway--they don't do it by the quality of an admissions brochure.
So what are our parents saying?
Parents are proud of us, and they want to feel good about their choice and sacrifice to send their children to our school. Teachers are proud to work with us. They both want to hear good news stories, and they're eager to share this news with others.
The key question is this: how do we equip our "insiders" with these stories?
I believe that it's incumbent on us as school leaders to generate 2-3 "good news" stories every week about our students or teachers, and we must be creative in doing so. It isn't just what Mrs. Johnson did in second grade this week, although it could be. It might be about a student who just became an Eagle scout. It may be an interesting service project our kids are involved in. It might be a quick "catching up" with a recent graduate who is now in high school or college. It might be a quick interview with a teacher who is celebrating his or her 10th, 15th or 20th year in our schools. It could be an interview with four sixth graders who tell us what they like about our school. Perhaps it's a quick interview with a new parent, about why they chose our school for his or her child.
These stories need not be the long "feature length" quality--in fact, shorter is usually better. But they should include a picture that resonates with the reader, and they should reflect on the mission of our school and all the diverse, wonderful things our students, faculty and parents do.
Don't have the time to write these stories? Perhaps that's something we can ask a volunteer to do for us once/week.
Once we have these 2-3 stories, we should share them with everyone. They should be posted on our school's facebook page and as links for our "Twitter" feeds. They should be placed as links on the front page of our web site (if they're on page 2 of our website, no one is reading them--see how we do this here: www.jp2hs.org). They should be sent out as links in the school's weekly email to all of our constituents. They should be mailed to the diocesan and local papers (What they publish we can't control, but if they need content, we're giving it to them. With the razor thin margins papers are operating with, we've found about 1/2 of what we send to them is published, often word for word with what we've written.)
In this world of "rubber-necking" to see the latest accident or tragedy, we must be very disciplined and persistent in countering with positive stories about our school and students. The word "gospel", after all, means "good news."
Let's share the gospel unabashedly!
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