We encourage our emplyees at the school when they are going about their daily life when not working to talk about the programs that we offer . Most of them go to gyms, or laundy mats, or grocery shop , standig in line at banks, waiting for a table at a restaurant...... just at least make one contact. Then on monday we meet to discuss who they spoke to and where. This is some thing that works for us, plus we give spifs if the student enrolls and mentions our eemployee's name
Josefina,
This is good Josefina. Publicity is about getting consistent and effective press where your qualified students are likely to see it. With any events you might hold you can send out promotions to local newspapers before, during, and after. Many news publications have calendar sections where you can post announcements of class starts dates, open houses, and more. You can even send graduation notices for each student to the local publication where they live. All this gets the Saber name out in the community. Then when you do paid advertising, Saber is already a familiar word. And let's not forget about social networking. Set up a Saber facebook and linkedin accounts. And use your website effectively. As to chambers of commerce and similar, it is always good to have someone on staff attend these meetings and volunteer to give presentations about your training, and invite them to tour the school. It's all about getting the Saber name out there on a consistent basis. And not have to pay a lot!! Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
We already have a committee with persons identified as being the voices of the school. We have good relations with the One Stop Centers (Workforce Florida), with some high schools and we attend Career Day, we have good relations with government agencies such as Voc Rehab. This training has made us aware that we should go to libraries, hospitals, clinics, and use our Chamber of Commerce more actively.
Connie,
We also believe that public relations is the best form of marketing. It is certainly cost effective and helps target the exact people you want to reach. Many of the projects and events you hold are probably newsworthy. Bring in a few news people for a massage. They will remember you when you tell them about an event, an accomplishment, a service to the community, a great student success story, and more.
Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Hi Susan
I am the owner and instructor of the school and I am a great believer in community service. I have gotten phone calls from women's shelters, chiropractors and other health and wellness organizations for massage students to provide chair massage to the public. This builds the schools' reputation and credibility while also giving students the chance to meet and network with the public and potential employers.
I have tried print advertising in the past and I feel as though it was throwing dollar bills out the window. Publicity is creative advertising where the public can actually interact with the individuals representing the school. Definitely a win-win situation!
Relying on word of mouth and your website is the best marketing, in our opinion. It says your school has established its brand as THE place for training. And that is a great position to be in. Of course it is important to monitor results and put in other marketing strategies as needed. Joining assocations is a great way for people to learn about your school. Student success stories bring amazing results. That's why many schools develop alumni associations with a focus on successful students. It is sooo motivating. New locations are reasons for press releases. It's a good idea to look for all the newsworthy events and announcements are your school. You never know when a publication is looking for an article. Thanks, Susan
Hello and thank you to everyone for all of the great ideas!
Our school has been in operation for the last 6 years. We have always relied on word of mouth and on our website as our source of new students. We are listed in the Yellow pages and with Yellow pages online as well.
However recently that has not been sufficient. We would like to expand to another location and eventually go right across the province and are going to immediately work on the plan as suggested and use some of the ideas gained from Susan and you other folks!
Right away, I have joined an association of the employers. We will also be joining the local chamber of commerce and some employee associations. I am starting today on the idea for a newsletter and creating an alumni to poll for special interest stories.
We will email out the newsletter and write some of the student success stories. As well we will start to make contact with all of the local High Schools to volunteer for career fairs/days and to guest speak in classes.
Because we have recently opened a new location we are also going to put out a News Release (as soon as I learn how to do so) and host a Grand Opening. Another idea that came to me was in getting the local TV morning show to come and do a remote at our location as a special interest story because of the current issues to do with our training area.
Well that's it for now! But thanks for the ideas! And all the best to everyone!
Yes Alba - can you imagine if all your students enrolled because of word of mouth? You would have an amazing school where students are satisfied, successful and get great jobs. And your school has a great community outreach program where you are in ongoing dialogue with employers and potential employers. And students find out about your school because you have a great reputation in the community. It can be a reality. Susan
Work of mouth is great,and works
Community outreach initiatives are really important and have a lot of different looks. All good. The goal is to develop and maintain relationships with employers, potential employers, and go to places where you can meet potential students and hiring decision makers. Your programs sound great. It is really important to have volunteer aspects to your program, and events that are publicize-able both before, during, and after. Radio and TV often offer schools public service time re your training and class starts. Lots of opportunities. Get your entire school to participate and you'll have lots of ideas. Thanks for sharing. Susan
We have implemented community outreach through and with Friendship Game Foundation doing diabetic and blood pressure testing, we also have permission to display our information package at certain business location and will be seeking to do more. We also have campaigns handing out flyers. Currently we are negotiating prominent business and church for more outreach events. We are always pursuing other means such as radio, email and text messaging in relation to our financial resource.
Hi Avery
We also believe that a school can fill its classes with referral and word of mouth. This assumes serveral things. One is that your programs are great and meet the needs of the workplace, that your career services department is great and prepares grads for the job search process, and that you have a strong community outreach program staying in contact with employers, prospective employers, grads, alumni, and more. And you'll need a great and user friendly website. So yes - word of mouth. Takes a lot to get it going and keep it going. But the price is right! Thanks, Susan
Honestly, Word of mouth. That is minimal from the lead results. This is the reason I believe this course will be benefical to our campus.
Sounds like you are trying a lot of different marketing strategies to see which are best. As long as you keep measuring results you'll be able to decide what to do. Reaching out to the community including high schools is important, and like other techniques, needs to be done on a consistent basis. Get your alumni to help you develop and sustain relationships in the community. Thanks, Susan
Yes truly word of mouth works. That is how we get most of our student interst.
The publicity we are using are flyers, emails, newspaper ads, and in person contacts in the surrounding area. All of these generate contacts. We need to add more frequent contacts into the community and high school resources.
Very interesting and creative. How are you using craigslist? Susan
I agree Susan, we are also looking to put an ad in the local Flyer and the Miami Herald. We are also posting on Craigslist.com and Having magnetic signs made for the vehicles.
HI Robert, Advertising is good and there are many many ways to spend your marketing dollars. We suggest that whenever you pay for an ad you look carefully at the results and keep track. Some ads will bring quantity. Others quality. It is important to know what you are getting for your dollars. Advertising in high schools is limited to the number of students and possibly their parents. You might look to other markets amoung your adult population and figure out what they look at and read. Thanks, Susan
HI Brickell, Great that you are building a database of high school grads. You can build a huge email and text list one name at a time. Reminder to add employers, community leaders, and other people who can benefit from knowing about your school. Sounds like you are doing so many things effectively. The fact that you have school people as members of local organizations means that they can each reach hundreds of other people easily. Posters and brochures are also a great way to get the word out. Do you have a special display for your brochures. Great that you get good press. It is important to keep your stories interesting and bona fide. Also suggest that you create success posters about each student and grad and blow them up and hang them all over school and the community. Nothing like a case study to tell your story. Your problem of having a small staff is a problem for all small schools. As you know, the better your systems then the easier it is to implement your public relations strategies. Also you might want to hire an admin helper to do some of the jobs that are more clerical and routine. All sounds great. Thanks, Susan
