• school marketing plan
• components of a school marketing plan
• independent school marketing training
• marketing ideas for independent schools
• marketing plan for independent schools

I conclude from this that there’s significant unmet need among independent schools for marketing tips. I don’t get nearly the same level of traffic for my college and university posts.

I’m a little shy about all of this because I wrote that entry back in 2009 to be provocative. I didn’t intend it as the final word or any sort of a comprehensive take on independent schools marketing plans. I really wanted to make a point about the growing obsolescence of traditional viewbooks (which independent schools in the U.S. do have an unhealthy attachment to).

So how do I feel now that  this one entry has had a consistent readership over two years with an average read time of 5 minutes? I went back and read the post and I’m still basically comfortable with the advice presented therein. The entry is far from comprehensive, but I don’t think there is anything that is fundamentally wrong. If an institution followed that advice they could in fact dramatically improve their market position.

Two years on there is one major caveat. What I’ve learned in the intervening time is that the mainstream of independent schools (at least in the U.S.) are wedded to a model of website production that locks them into falling short of the goals set out in the post. The independent school industry has grown dependent on certain high-volume industry specific providers for their websites: finalsite, SilverPoint, and WhippleHill. There are strong and valid justifications for hiring one of these firms. They offer a turn-key service to overworked communications staffs. They understand the independent school industry. And they are familiar with the school back-end data-bases. However, all of those firms, perhaps because of high-volume approach they take, are weak in the area of brand messaging and positioning. The sites all look the same. They are competent. They serve essential information well. But they are poor vehicles for conveying a brand platform.

To follow the advice set out in my post, a school would need the skill and self-confidence to build and manage a web-site outside the prevailing model. There are examples of such schools around the country but they are the exception. Unfortunately, the schools that are most in need of a marketing turnaround are just the ones with the greatest tendency to hire one of these three firms. So the advice from 2009 stands, but if you are going to follow it, be prepared to part from the fold in your approach to your website.

Why haven’t independent schools figured out what most everybody else has – that good design, high quality writing, and excellent photography are effective without over-the-top production.

One reason schools have not is the herd mentality of private school administrators. These folks tend to be risk adverse and not particularly expert in communications. Both combine to result in a tendency to ape the elaborate practices of the school down the road.

But I suspect there is a deeper reason as well – this is the price-point. In most large markets, the lifeblood of successful independent schools is wealthy families. Indeed, in many of the most successful areas,the public schools are reasonably good, and the private-school market consists of affluent families who will stop at nothing to give their children every advantage in the high stakes American education game.  The viewbooks reinforce the sense of outsized privilege that has come to mark this sector.

The irony – it goes without saying – is that the leadership of the independent school movement would deny just this sort of elitism as a goal. In their communications they strive to convey egalitarianism. If schools want to close the gap between their values and the image they convey with their overwrought viewbooks, they should rewrite their budgets – cut back on the production qualities of their viewbooks and direct  resources to the quality of the in-house staff responsible for marketing and communications. There is no solution to the clunky, overwrought independent school viewbooks other than more intelligent, professional in-house communications savvy.

One thing specific to the independent school sector is heavy reliance on high-volume, independent-school-focused vendors. Schools like to hire the same folks who did the work for the other independent schools down the road. To some extent, this is a natural and valid tendency – there are strong arguments in favor of hiring a consultant with prior segment experience. But independent schools take this tendency to an extreme. They overwhelmingly work with the same group of independent school vendors. The results are predictable – most of the work that independent schools produce is broadly similar and fails to differentiate the institutions from their (ahem, sorry to mention this unpleasant reality) competitors.

I am working now in one of the large, robust East Coast independent school markets. Their are a handful of “top-tier” schools and beneath them many other schools jockeying for position. Tuition hovers around $30,000 per year. Within that market, there are several dominant marketing vendors – the viewbooks and websites for many of the schools are produced by the same firms.

I mean the same firms. Not similar firms. When one of the top-tier schools gets a new website or viewbook, the other schools seem to take this as a sign of approval and get on board. How crazy is that?

On some level, the goal for these schools needs to be about differentiation. Yes, I guess it’s helpful to have a family resemblance to top-tier institutions but it’s definitely not sufficient. If these schools are to thrive, they need to develop a distinctive presence.

Here’s another point – if you want to look for really good examples of educational marketing you don’t look to top-tier institutions. Prestige plays such an overwhelming role in perceptions of quality that top-tier institutions have little pressure to market themselves well. (In this way, the dynamic is exactly the same as in the higher education sector.) In most cases, top-tier independent day schools have mediocre websites and bland viewbooks. But just because a top-tier institution has blessed a particular vendor, the other schools in the category believe their problems will be solved if they also sign up.

It will be interesting to see if, in the new more challenging economic landscape, more independent schools will have the courage to break from the pack. Opportunities certainly exist. The herd mentality of the sector creates ripe opportunities for those with the courage and conviction to swim against the current.

Network Technology, Marketing, and Independent Schools

by Patrick Pei-Ning Ko

The way the information is produced is rapidly shifting from an industrial production model to a de-centralized production model, which is facilitated by the rise of inexpensive network technology. The components of this new model includes publication tools such as blogs or Twitter, social media tools such as Facebook and many others that enables individuals to produces, share, consume, and evaluate information in faster and more accessible ways than ever before.  In this paper, I will first discuss three major changes in our information society as a result of the shift in production model, and how each of them impacts the marketing paradigm in our modern world.  Second, I will tie these changes to the communications environment of independent schools, leading to some concrete recommendations for schools to not only respond, but also to take advantage of technology and lead in the field of education.

The de-centralized production model of information brings about three major shifts in our information society. First, increased individual production and value of these individuals as “trust agents” (Brogen, Trust Agents, 2009). Second, more cooperative efforts in information production.  And third, a shift of power from major information producers to information aggregators and organizers.

With inexpensive networked technology, anyone with access to the Internet can produce information that is available online. The desire to be known and heard has always been human nature. More than ever before, there are now easy ways to satisfy such desire.  Blogs, websites and mobile applications such as Yelp and Foursquare make it easy for individuals to voice their opinions. There is almost no barrier to entry.  In fact, anyone with poignant thoughts and good web writing skills have the opportunity to become extremely influential experts or “trust agents” in the world of online information (Brogen).

This connection between deep human desire and effective tools leads to more information production by the individual. According to Benkler (The Wealth of Networks, 2006), the material requirements for effective information production and communication are now owned by numbers of individuals several orders of magnitude larger than the number of owners of the basic means of information production and exchange a mere two decades ago.

In this environment of greater participation, individual perception of value of the self also increases. As people become more connected in virtual environments such as social media sites, the new trend is more and more sharing of personal information. As pointed out in a recent New York Times article on information sharing, people are becoming more relaxed about privacy and recognize that publicizing information about themselves can result in serendipitous conversations or ego gratification.  This again speaks to the desire and the perceived increased value of the individual.

The changes in the marketing paradigm due to increased production and value of individuals include decreased reaction time, boundary and control in the marketing process. In the past, with limited information from individuals, marketing professionals had more control and time to carry out marketing research, strategy and execution. As individuals present an unprecedented amount of responsiveness, the boundary of the marketing process is now far wider, with more control resting with individual customers rather than predetermined groups. One might argue that the desires for information perhaps outweigh the desire for actual goods or services. In this new paradigm, goods or services may no longer be the main product themselves – information becomes the new focus. This shift profoundly changes the marketing paradigm from product centered to information centered.

As a result, the new information landscape is more complex and noisy, so the challenge is to decide what types of opinion are most representative of potential customers.  Marketing professionals need to spend a great deal more time listening to individual opinions to accurately speak to specific desires in order to facilitate exchanges.

The collective power of decentralized information production is illustrated by the production model of Wikipedia. This is a type of conscious collaboration. Cooperation can also take place unconsciously. As a person writes a blog, the tags in their entry will automatically lead to groupings through search engines. For example, a search on boarding schools will result in relevant websites that contain these unconscious collective productions.

Through this process, we now see increasing range and diversity of weaker connections. Technology enhances people’s capacity to do more in loose commonality with others, without being constrained to organize their relationship through a price system or in traditional hierarchical models of social and economic organization (Benkler).

Increased cooperative efforts in information production creates new challenges and opportunities for marketing professionals.  Actively creating and fostering user or fan groups becomes important in strategy and execution.  For businesses or schools, this could mean marketing by creating Facebook fan pages or user groups on websites.  In other words, marketing now has a new key component, which is to encourage collective productions of information regarding goods or services.  In other words, marketing professionals need to use technology in order to generate a positive buzz about goods or services.

This trend is manifested in the increased relevance of word-of-mouth marketing.  Tools that aid this shift in marketing paradigm include mobile apps such as Foursaqure, which allows individuals to collectively evaluate an establishment, and Buzzd, which allows groups of people to decide which spots are buzzing with action.  In addition to technology firms, firms such as BzzAgent are examples of successful use of word-of-mouth marketing.  It formally structures and studies positive buzz by harnessing the power of collective information production, thereby providing companies with the ability activate large-scale discussions, uncover hidden values, and drive measurable results (BzzAgent).

With increased production from individuals and collective groups, the web is expanding in sources of information and complexity. According to the Babel objection, when everyone can speak, no one can be heard (Benkler).  To avoid such chaos or cacophony, information aggregators and organizers play key roles in making the web more meaningfully accessible.  These players include search engines such as Google, and popular portals such as MSN or Yahoo.  A popular blogger even argues that Facebook, with its tremendous user participation, is becoming the doorway to the Internet or even the Internet itself.  These players hold tremendous power because they determine how and what information reaches people. They are not just portals to the Internet; in fact, they select the information most people consume. Therefore, in this new age of distributed production, power shifts from major information producers to information aggregators and organizers.

Not ending on the top of search results or not getting listed on popular sites can make information producers irrelevant.  In the business of search engine optimization or Internet ads, one could pay for one’s relevance.  In this case, Benkler correctly predicts that in facing the Babel objection, money reemerges as the distinguishing factor between statements that are heard and those that wallow in obscurity.

In terms of marketing, partnering with and using the services of information aggregators and organizers are key components to successful marketing strategies. Marketing messages not only have to be well crafted, but they also need to be effectively delivered.  Therefore, marketing professionals need to actively devote resources in search engine optimization and online ads that are effectively customized to reach target consumers. Gmail ads present good examples: through personalized ads, users consciously or unconsciously receive information predetermined by Google.  This fundamentally changes how people connect with advertisement because relevant information can now reach people in more detailed and nuanced ways.

The new landscape of distributed information production affects independent schools in very much similar ways as it does to businesses. As information becomes more available, open and free, schools now have less control of their reputation. Nothing can be hidden, and they can no longer put up boundaries and walls.  Reaction time to customer feedback is shorter, and there is greater demand for responsiveness.

All this change creates new challenges for independent schools, many of which are accustomed to insularity in isolation and prestige.  No matter how they meet this challenge, over time, the new communications environment will inevitably lead to more porous and transparent schools. In the process, some schools will succeed and some will fail.  In the following sections I will analyze these changes in more detail and provide three concrete recommendations in how schools can respond as well as capitalize on new opportunities.

Culture is largely formed by shared traditions, beliefs and assumptions. Schools are places of culture.  As the communications environment changes, school culture will change as well. Benkler sees the networked information environment as a more attractive cultural production system, which makes culture more transparent and malleable.  School culture can change in those ways as well.  In response, school leaders use technology to actively promote, shape, or preserve a culture that is positive and in concert with the school’s mission.

Actively shaping a school’s culture in the new communications environment means relinquishing some control.  School websites and school managed social media groups must encourage constituents to produce and contribute information. But while distributing control, schools should actively manage and create a uniform cultural message.  For example, if the school’s culture is one of innovative teaching, then its online communication should be directed to focus on the activities that support such a notion. The groups that are created should have this focus as well – conversations, testimonials, and dialogues should be directed to promote or maintain the culture.  By structuring what people think and talk about, schools can actively shape their culture.

In addition to taking charge of fostering an appropriate culture, these practices make their practitioners better “readers” of their own culture and more self-reflective and critical of the culture they occupy, thereby enabling them to become more self-reflective participants in conversations within that culture (Benkler).  Eventually everyone is a participant, so the challenge is to get the participants to think in similar ways.  This concept is further discussed in the next recommendation.

The new communications environment creates both challenges and opportunities for schools.  One challenge that comes with decreased control is the spread of negative information or rumors online.  For example, websites such as DC Urban Moms and Dads provide a forum where parents or potential customers can discuss schools anonymously.  This becomes a place where complaints and rumors can run wild.  In response to this challenge, schools should assign personnel or committees to monitor information online.  They should then analyze the information and come up with appropriate responses.  Schools can actively manage its communications environment by creating positive spins that drowns out negative voices.  Alignment and cohesion are keys to success in creating such positive spins.  Online communications plans need to be formed to accomplish this objective.  It is very important to educate constituents and stick to the plan in maintaining the discipline of creating cohesive messages.  If the school has an active and involved online community of users who enjoy supporting the school, then enough positive spin can drown out the negative ones.  In addition, the community will self-police inaccurate or extreme statements.  Similar to word-of-mouth marketing, the school community is its best promoter.

This new communications environment requires new leadership skills, especially skills in crafting messages that attract readers and followers.  I believe that school leaders should blog, especially the head of school, who often possess a great deal of credibility.  This is another way to proactively build a positive spin and become a “trust agent.”  Not many leaders do this today or do it well.  For a successful example, one can learn from the blog of The Think Global School, where administrators promote interesting and engaging ideas about global education and technology. This blog also demonstrates the opportunity where marketing advances the mission.

While this proactive approach creates opportunities, it also comes with some risks.  For example, a head of school’s blog post can be “flamed” by an outspoken naysayer.  However, this situation can be still be seen as an opportunity – being “flamed” could be the best thing that ever happens – it can promote awareness and spark interesting dialogues (Neustadt).

Network technology should be used to enhance the learning experience of students in independent schools.  Even though current students are all digital natives, they still need to be taught the skills, attitude and knowledge to use technology effectively and appropriately.  What they need is beyond digital literacy – they need to perform their own information production.  Examples of this type of production are student blogs and online portfolio.  In creating blogs, they will learn communications skills that are required in this new environment.  In other words, schools need to teach the writing of clear and concise messages rather than essays that few will ever read.  Another key benefit of this technology use is the promotion of sharing and positive peer effect.  Some work should be accessible to peers for evaluation and feedback.  Comments can be made online in response to work in progress – this not only provides formative advice, but it also teaches students constructive feedback and critical thinking.

Collaboration is another key area in which network technology improve student learning.  Tools such as Wikispaces or Google Doc should be used for students to work collaboratively.  And with video conferencing technologies, they can learn with students outside of the school community.  Remote collaborations and teamwork are skills needed in today’s market place, and independent schools should teach these skills.  No matter what fields students choose, they need to possess the critical skills mentioned.  Ultimately school need to empower students to be leaders and “trust agents” of the future.

While taking advantage of technology, schools also need to be keenly aware of the risks presented in the use of network technology.  Plagiarism, privacy, and cyber bullying are key issues to address.  Positive and generative use of technology should be a part of the curriculum across subjects.  Responsible digital citizenship needs to be a major objective in what schools teach.

Schools and school leaders need to think of the impacts from the new communications environment as opportunities rather than threats – opportunities to shape culture, to create positive messages, to lead and influence society for the better, and to educate students and prepare them for the future.  By embracing these changes in thoughtful and responsive ways, schools can ensure their future sustainability and relevance in servicing their students and missions.

As I read the study, I couldn’t help but reflect upon why it hadn’t been more helpful to the school that commissioned it. I know what Carnegie would say, This happens all the time – institutions commission major expensive research reports and then the reports sit on the shelf gathering dust. It’s the nature of the business. But there are some lessons to be learned.

The survey report is long and thorough, divided into sections that examine the responses of several admissions cohorts. At the end of each section, the author provides recommendations based on the data presented. For example, if students who inquired to the school said they thought the school wasn’t strong in, say, psychology, then the report recommends that the school invest in and market its psychology program.

If you total up all these recommendations and bullet points, you get a really long list. Now here’s the basic point – there is not a great marketing campaign that was ever launched that entailed a three-page-long set of recommendations. A quantitative research report atomizes reality into discrete data points because that is fundamental to the way it gathers information. But such data points will never get you to where you want to be if your goal is a game-changing marketing strategy.

Institutions need to understand that after the research comes a separate essential step, which is strategy. And strategy is never just an automatic response to data. Marketing strategy involves a creative leap. It involves taking all your data and figuring out where you’re going to take your stand. You could liken it to what a talented general does when he receives data from the front and then in a creative leap settles on a brilliant tactic that will win the battle.

A great marketing strategy never rests simply on improving or promoting a set of features. Rather, it needs to have at its core a lifestyle component that distinguishes the service or product from competitors. Our world is too saturated with stimuli and we are too overloaded to be able to distinguish features. We need marketers to create the shortest possible path to affiliation. They do this by portraying a lifestyle that we can buy into.

Institutions need to understand this before they commission their expensive research reports. Or, actually, they don’t. If their goal is nothing more than incremental improvement, then commissioning a research report that examines audience response and generates a mechanical set of plug-and-play recommendations is sufficient. But if an institution wants to transform itself, fundamentally improve its position and alter audience perceptions, then it needs to understand that any research report, no matter how competently executed, will not be sufficient. Before commissioning the research report it needs to plan for the essential next step – taking the quantitative data and out of it constructing an effective lifestyle based strategy that cuts through the static and achieves the institution’s marketing goals.

Proponents of the Great Books approach have an aversion to sociology and they aren’t too strong at history either so they generally resist efforts to ground their own movement in broader historical trends. But it isn’t difficult to locate the movement.  The specific issue that founders of the Great Books approach were addressing was the professionalization and specialization of knowledge in the American research university that was well-advanced by the dawn of the 20th century.  In the view of the founders, compartmentalization of knowledge inhibited the possibility of engaged public discourse and so threatened participation in a democratic society.

(For a recent conventional reiteration of this trope see Liz Coleman’s TED talk.)

When you read the pronouncements from the founders of the Great Books movement is seems clear that there was also a broader target, which was the subordination of intellectual life to industrial processes. Great Books champions constantly referred to educating students for freedom. Implicit is a critique of the extent to which intellectual life in mainstream advanced societies grew in the 20th century to be a tool for the production of value.

When asked to describe their reasons for selecting a Great Books program rather than a more typical college education, students say they chose it because they didn’t want their life to feel like an assembly line. They didn’t want to feel like their education was simply jumping through one hoop after another. They wanted a chance to step off their assigned path and have a chance for genuinely free and reflective thought.

Today there is a whole new intellectual movement movement having nothing to do with the Great Books that talks a great deal about freedom. Look at the titles of these recent manifestoes:

Lawrence Lessig. FREE CULTURE: HOW BIG MEDIA USES TECHNOLOGY AND THE LAW TO LOCK DOWN CULTURE AND CONTROL CREATIVITY

Yochai Benkler, THE WEALTH OF NETWORKS: HOW SOCIAL PRODUCTION TRANSFORMS MARKETS AND FREEDOM

This is an entirely different kind of freedom than that discussed by champions of the Great Books. Lessig and Benkler are talking about freedom that arises with the breakdown of the industrial production model of intellectual culture. With the world-wide diffusion of personal computers connected via the Internet, centralized control of the production of information is undermined. Today billions of people across the globe have the ability to engage socially, intellectually and politically without mediating authorities. According to Lessig, Benkler and many others, the 20th century industrial production model of intellectual life is dying, replaced by a less centralized, more participatory form.

Does an education that was founded to address one kind of restraint remain relevant in this new era with its potentially huge expansion in intellectual freedom? I do not know the answer. But one thing I know for sure: It is not sufficient for proponents of the Great Book program to pretend nothing has changed and claim to be as relevant as they ever were. The ground is shifting at a remarkable pace. Do we really need the Great Books Program today or do we need a new education that more fully takes into account the profound changes in our intellectual culture? I would love the hear this question seriously addressed by proponents of the Great Books program.

Independent schools cater to a narrow social segment where attitudes are deeply engrained and hard to change. Day school markets are constrained geographically, so schools do not have the option of expanding into new markets where their image might be easier to change.

I don’t give up hope. I think it’s possible for independent school to move the dial dramatically. Most, you see, are at a pretty rudimentary stage when it comes to marketing. With a little effort and a willingness to topple some sacred cows, a school could make significant inroads in their local market. Here are the steps I would suggest:

• Chuck the viewbook.

Admissions communications efforts at most independent school still center on the production of a viewbook. But viewbooks have a major shortcoming as marketing tools in the independent school communications stream: their impact is largely confined to the moment when they are distributed. A parent contacts a school and is either mailed a viewbook or handed one upon visiting. In a best-case scenario, the parent and/or student spends a good amount of time with the viewbook exploring the programs and attitudes of the school. However, even in this best-case scenario, parents and prospective students rarely if ever refer back to the viewbook later in the process. At the point when they winnowing down a list of schools or when they are selecting a school from a set of options, they do not return to the viewbook. They have moved on to first hand impressions as the basis for their actions. So the ability of the viewbook to influence actions at critical junctures is limited. As such, it does not merit the volume of time and resources directed toward it. (Please note: these comments apply  to independent day schools and not to boarding schools where viewbooks play an important role.)

There are some really impressive viewbooks out there. That of the Chicago Lab School is perfect in tone and style. Everyone should call  Friends Select in Philadelphia and get a copy of the viewbook they produced last year. But I would like to hear from those schools whether in the time since they introduced their new viewbook they have singificantly moved the dial in terms of perceptions or competitive position. I’m thinking that the answer will be no.

• Invest in a high quality brand strategy and a fresh and comprehensive identity system

Because we’re going to be doing without a viewbook and instead employing a serious of less expensive and shorter brochures and cards for mailing, it is critically important that we have a fine-tuned message and that all our materials convey a consistent set of fonts, colors, design, tone and photographic style. Many independent schools are fairly good at using their logo consistently on all their materials but they need to go beyond that. They need to develop a comprehensive family of  colors, themes and tone – in other words, a “look” – for all their materials. It is critically important that this  look be carried through consistently in web and print. In most cases, schools need to freshen up  their logos so that they are optimized for on-line environments.

• Upgrade your website

All aspects of the website need to be improved. The writing needs to be professional and produced with an eye to readability in an on-line environment. The photography needs to be carefully selected and consistent through. The information architecture needs to be simplified with a clear priority given to first time visitors and those in the course of the admissions process. The design needs to be fresh and engaging. The message developed in the brand strategy needs to ring loud and clear on the homepage and every other page of the site.

• Develop two social media marketing strategies – one directed at upper school prospects and one directed at parents of kindergarten and lower school prospects.

Independent schools are in the exciting situation of having two major audiences for social media marketing. The first are upper school prospects. Today, virtually all middle- and upper-school students are involved with social media platforms such as Facebook. These platforms are probably the best way to reach out directly to students considering one’s upper school.

The second audience is just as, if not more, interesting – the parents of today’s lower school students. These are Gen Xers, the people who pioneered the use of interactive media in their professional lives. This is an audience that will be highly receptive to social-media based strategies. As independent schools evolve, creating dialogue via on-line media will become a more and more important part of the admissions process.

If an independent school got behind a strategy such as this, dispensing with the things that don’t work and focussing on excellent delivery of those that do, they could move the dial. I can’t stress enough the importance of a comprehensive approach. All the messages, look, feel and tone need to be consistent and carried through in all media. That is the way to change perceptions and leapfrog the competition in an entrenched independent school market.