Target marketing is a highly strategic approach to enrollment marketing, but it can also be scary as hell. Let’s unpack why something so effective instills so much fear in school leaders, and why that fear, while understandable, can get in the way of better enrollment...
In Gertrude the Governess, Canadian humourist Stephen Leacock recounts how Lord Ronald, one of the story’s characters, “flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions.” It’s the perfect metaphor for tactics without strategy. Strategy is, or ought to...
At the turn of this century, Jack Trout wrote a book titled Differentiate or Die: Survival in Our Era of Killer Competition. A generation later, I can’t think of a better description for the situation independent schools find themselves in. With increased competition,...
When John Wannamaker and then Henry Ford said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half,” people at the time chuckled approvingly. But I bet your Head of School or Board Chair wouldn’t find that very amusing. In...
If you want to make your messaging more impactful, use numbers. Numerous studies confirm that using numbers makes messaging more believable, compelling and memorable. An article from the Wharton School refers to this phenomenon as “Quantification Fixation.” The author...
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...
