Marketing
Do you believe that schools should take the risk and only use word of mouth as advertisement?
Schools should really take their time and spend their money building a reputable, trusting and lasting relationship with each and every individual student that attends their school because it pays off in the long run.At the facility where I am employed believe it or not their only form of advertisement is "word of mouth" which allows them to use the money that would be spent on marketing on something else.
Shanley,
Word of mouth references can make you or break you! Candy is a great communication starter.
Patty Aronoff
I believe great marketing stems from great customer service. Our institution focuses greatly on the students and knows they are the #1 priority. Even simple things like giving out candy in the hall makes them have a great experience and hopes to leave an impression on them. Word of mouth references have been and continue to be a strong source for marketing!
Hiram,
Very true! We need to know the demographics well so that we can understand our students.
Patty Aronoff
It is very important to know your demeographic.
Scott,
Every school, every area is diffent. The key to success in marketing is finding your target market and focusing on activities that bring you the results.
Patty Aronoff
I believe it should be by a case by case basis.
Natalie,
Leads come from many sources and a marketing department will research your target market. No sense in wasting marketing dollars if you've missed the people you want to capture.
Patty Aronoff
Liusmila,
marketing is about keeping your brand in a consumer's mind and to influence their decision when making a decision about enrolling in your school.
Patty Aronoff
I agree that advertisement is essential to promoting and marketing to the target audience as a selling tool,therefore a marketing team is an efficient way to bring in leads to the institution.
I think that is not advertised does not sell, which means that to have good input of students is good to have a good marketing team, anunciarce in newspapers and why not also on TV and media that are so which individuals may have information and know where to go to study.
Thatcher,
I agree. Most of our new students are friends of other students and that is where they heard about our school from. Word of mouth is one of our best resources. Over 70% of our students heard about our school from other students or from our Graduates out in the field who are now working.
I agree with you Patty, customer service is number one. We should be able to provide any students with proper ettiquette and attitude over the phone.
Benjamin,
This is exactly what we do at my institution, and along with a few small scale advertising outlets like classified ads of upcoming class schedules, I think it has been extremely effective. For almost 20 years we have had a large portion of our enrollments from those who have heard great things about our school from graduates in the community. Customer service is the key!
Benjamin,
I would agree that customer service is number one. When you provide top notch customer service, you sell yourself.
Marketing can be very expensive, where it shouldn't cost an organization significantly more to provide every potential student world class customer service. By serving each person you encounter like they were a friend or family member, regardless of their ability to enroll and affect the bottom line, ensures that people will be happy to do "free marketing" on your behalf.
Organizational strategy aside, shouldn't that be all of our goals?
Thatcher,
Every school and every location is different. Only your school can make that call.
