Here’s a bitter pill for school marketers to swallow.
What you see as the high academic quality of your school’s educational program is meaningless unless parents agree with your assessment. Likewise, your belief in the outstanding calibre of your faculty doesn’t matter if parents don’t concur. Because when it comes to school marketing, perception is reality.
What happens when the way your school is perceived is not the way you want it to be? It’s a common dilemma. Often, there is a gap between the way a school would like to be known – its intended reputation – and the way parents actually feel about it – its perceived reputation.
The implications of a reputation gap are serious. Your school’s messaging – what you say on your website, on social media, in digital ads, and in communication with current parents will have less impact because parents doubt that it’s all true. And that will negatively affect your enrollment efforts – both recruitment and retention.
That poses two critical questions: How do you know if you have a reputation gap, and what do you do about it?
To determine whether or to what degree your school is in the throes of a reputation gap, you need to uncover your school’s intended reputation and its perceived reputation.
You can do that by asking lots of different people lots of questions.
The Intended Reputation
Have educational, enrollment and advancement leaders answer these questions:
- What do you believe is the most important thing your school offers students
- What does your school deliver that other schools don’t
- What are the most impactful outcomes of an education at your school?
- How is the parent experience at your school different from that at other schools?
- What are the intended attributes of a graduate of your school?
- What is your big why?* What is the overarching rasion d’être of your school?
Answers to these questions can also be revealed in your school’s mission, vision and values; educational philosophy; staff handbooks and faculty guides; and communication to current parents
(* Watch Simon Sinek’s incredible Ted Talk – How great leaders inspire action)
The Perceived Reputation
Have current parents and, if possible, prospective parents answer the questions below. This can be done in focus groups or via a distributed survey. Prospective parents can include those in the admissions pipeline and, if possible, parents who inquired or toured but chose another school. Prospective parents’ views can also be ascertained via parent review sites, Niche reviews, and social media comments.
- When you think about OurSchool, what’s the first word that comes to mind?
- In your opinion, what is the best thing that OurSchool offers?
- What does OurSchool offer that other schools don’t?
- What type of student would be most successful at OurSchool?
- What type of family would fit in best at OurSchool?
- How does OurSchool compare to other schools in our catchment area?
Bearing in mind that there will never be a perfect match, there are two possible outcomes to this analysis
One – The intended and perceived reputations are relatively well-matched. Take a moment to pat yourself on the back and then think about how you can make the match even tighter.
Two – The perceived reputation is much different than the intended reputation.
There are two potential reasons for the mismatch, with a different prescription for each.
It could be that the reality of what you are offering doesn’t live up to the xxx of the reputation you are trying to foster.
If this is the case, your value proposition is being described but not delivered. (You can read more about that concept here.) You need to have a heart-to-heart with educational leaders. Present the survey findings to them as well as an assessment of whether your school is delivering the product/experience you say it is. You can also examine what other schools are offering and discuss possible changes or improvements to what is being offered.
The second possibility is that while you offer high-quality programs with excellent outcomes, parents don’t see it that way.
This is a messaging challenge. Here’s what you can do about it:
- Create a messaging guide that equips all stakeholders with the tools and language to consistently and effectively communicate what sets your school stand out. You need all school stakeholders “singing from the same hymn book.” This guide will direct the messaging used in recruitment materials, the website, the viewbook, teacher-parent communications, and speaking notes. For more information on crafting strategic messaging, refer to this blog post.
- Leverage testimonials from current parents, students—especially those nearing graduation—alumni, their parents, and donors. You should also request testimonials from school administrators at the institutions where your graduating students enroll. Nothing is more persuasive than a testimonial from someone familiar, and they can be incorporated into all types of communication.
- Enhance your digital presence. Ensure that the content on your website powerfully conveys the themes and demonstrated outcomes of how your school wants to be perceived. Consider using lead magnets that focus on areas where your school excels. Next, implement an SEO strategy that reinforces your desired reputation. Additionally, ensure that all digital ads clearly highlight offerings and achievements that align with the reputation you want to project.
- Align the admissions experience. Be strategic when creating events and tour routes. The reputation gap could be a result of prospective parents not seeing what they expect during their visit to your school. All admissions communications should consistently emphasize the ways in which you want your school to stand out. That applies to personal and email communication, tour routes and scripts, spoken remarks at recruitment events, follow-ups, as well as acceptance packages, videos, and related messaging.
- Establish a formal ambassador program that trains parents to become strategic storytellers and effective docents for prospective parents. For more information on what your parent ambassadors need to know, read this.
If you accept that perception is reality, then the goal is to reduce the distance between your intended reputation and your perceived reputation, making that reality closer to what you want it to be.
By bridging the gap, you can create a powerful reputation that differentiates, resonates with parents and drives enrollment success.
