Getting the Word Out
How do you get information about your school out to your community? As a result of what you learned so far in this course, what new strategies could you put in place?
We are working hard to develop contacts in the community by active participation in charity events, hosting open houses at the school and involving our community papers.
We are looking into various promotional items to provide to our students for more visibility while travelling to/from school.
We are also going to be putting window decals in place to make our campus much more visible from the roadway.
Sandra,
We also agree. Testimonials can say it all. We know a school that creates posters of its Alumni. The posters are formatted with a photo of the student at school and then another at work. There is some copy where the student talks about the life changing experiences at the school. These are throughout the halls and in the admissions offices. Prospective students are sold on the benefits of the school before they have their interview! Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
I think one of the most successful and useful strategies are success stories and testimonials. People relate to their peers and when they see someone like them succeeding in a journey they are interested in, this gives them confidence and excites them about the school and its programs.
Antonio ,
Great. Large databases of emails and email blasts always worry us. The first question is who is on the database? Are they qualified leads who might be interested in your training and would they likely have friends, employers, or relatives interested? The other concern is how often do you send out a blast and what does it say? Too much and viewers will ask to be deleted or simply not read your messages. If there is little interesting or valuable information that also reduces viewership. Every strategy has pluses and minuses. Every strategy has to be measured for effectiveness. With every strategy there are opportunities. You just have to look for them. Best wishes, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
We currently use a large database of emails to blast our information about upcoming programs and special events. The admissions director and the seminars director are the two most responsible for this. As a result of this course, we can start to implement some of the ideas presented such as newsletters, feature stories, press releases on upcoming events, special programs here at the school for the community, etc.
calvin,
This is great. We like the oversized business card as it is easier to read and tends to be kept and easy to locate in a pile of other cards. It sounds like your have a great Community Outreach program in place. You are connecting in many many places where people can learn about your school in a variety of ways and tell others. It sounds like your institution is omni present. That often makes people view your school as deeply rooted in the community and therefore credible and a great resource. Newsletters are always interesting and there are a variety of ways to offer them. We think most should be simple and online and available on your website. From time to time paper newsletters can be put in the mail. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
I hand out a school over sized business card to people I come in contact with in the community. This card also has a $10 discount on our student massage therapy services at the school. In addition to the carsd, I have rack card flyers placed in several businesses in the community. There are several charity events that I set up a booth which promotes the school.
As a result of this course i see that there are even more that I can do to promote the school. I like the idea of news letters. i have never thought about seeking corporate sponsors before.
Lucy,
This is great Lucy. It sounds like you have an active Community Outreach program. You know that your prime customers are your employers. If you make them happy with trained students who are work-ready then everyone wins and gets what they want. Imagine having such a great relationship with all employers that they will hire your grads as each student is ready for the workplace. Imagine employers telling you about the training they need for next year or the year after and you creating just the programs they need so they have employees when needed. It sounds like there are no skills gaps in your area thanks for your institution. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
We are consistently working with employers to satisfy their hiring needs and networking to employ our students. We are also affiliated with the local professional associations and keep an open communication platform with our advisory board members. I would like to get more involved with our community by volunteering and creating some news-worthy events and opportunities.
Randy,
Wow. We are really impressed with all your are doing. We think your PR efforts must be reducing your marketing expenses! Hope you say yes. We are now focusing on the skills gaps and how career schools can research these gaps in their communities and add programs to meet them. You can find out by talking to employers as well as the economic development boards in your area, for example. What do employers need now and in the very near future in terms of skilled workers? What business and industry is being wooed to your area? They will need to hire people with specific skills. What are the skills? Can you create training programs to meet these needs? Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Our campus uses all of the usual methods Dr. Schulz, we have open houses, banners, we have a message board on a major boulevard by the campus, we send news articles from other sources to leads and prospects, invite employers and business groups to use our campus for their events etc.
One thing that we might try that I thought of as I was reading this is that when I see an article about a particular career being in "high demand" we may send that to several of our employers and ask them for their local feedback.
Paul,
Great to be active in the area Chambers. Have you checked out other groups like Rotary and also organizations related to the careers you teach to. Your school and each group can be great resources to the other. Reminder to appropriately publicize your success and news stories. Be sure they are current and interesting to get the attention of media editors. Keeping your school name in the front of your community can be a full time job. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
We are active participants in the chamber of commerce and related functions. The updating of our facebook page helps us to keep important events, success stories and school news out to the public. Additionally, we have open house events and participate in community blood drives, food pantry collections, and donations to charities, keeping our name out is a favorable light.
Gracie,
This sounds great. One of the secrets to a good blog is content. Is your content interesting and valuable? How are people responding? What is most of the conversation about? What changes can you make as a result of what you discover on your blogs? How else can you use it? I guess I've asked a lot of questions. Will be interested in your answers! Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
I like to write blogs on different topics concerning the school, success stories, etc. It highlights major events, success stories and even provides advice on our training programs and I reference credible sources to make my blog more powerful. I like to share the link to my blog and drive traffic through various social media outlets.
Marcie,
How is online advertising working for you in terms of quantity and quality of leads. As you mentioned, quality is very important. How are the media kits and in what form are they? We have found that people don't like to read or sort through webpages. That makes marketing a challenge. Often that points to testing out various ways to build a brand. It requires understanding your current and future target market and determining what gets their attention. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Jonathan,
Great to use various media platforms. What are the ways you measure effectiveness? Perhaps one is better than the other to reach your target market. Using the Chambers is also a great idea. What other organizations are there in your community that either have information that is valuable to you or can disseminate information about your school? Press releases are a great idea. Actually sending information about open houses, start dates, and more, to calendar editors, is a great way to get your name in print. Press releases require a great story in order for them to get picked up. Think of great stories like events, graduation, celebrity grads, and more. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
Currently we do a lot of online advertising rather than print. Our school's programs are based on quality management so a lot of our advertising is associated with the American Society of Quality and similar associations regarding this industry. However after reading more on this course we can not simply relay on website ads, we need structured media kids and press releases that all co-inside with our media/marketing campaign.
I use several media platforms to announce info to our community. We use social media and LMS systems to announce info to students and their friends. We use the Chamber of Commerce's newsletter to announce to new/small business in our community. We use newspaper ads and press releases to announce to the general public.
As far as new strategies from the course, I need to do a better at getting press releases out. Does anyone have a recommended platform?
