6 Marketing Strategies for Schools

The education industry is increasingly becoming more competitive. More people are investing in staffing, facilities and operations making it increasingly difficult to stand out among other schools. Here are 6  ideas for preschool and schools adapted from a post by world-leading education strategist – Tausif Mulla 

If you are planning to start your own preschool or looking for a franchise you need to keep in mind the below points before starting your own venture.

• Pricing
• Quality of teaching
• Brand recognition
• Activity calendar
• Communication skills of teachers
• Location & transportation
• Facilities
• Hygiene standards
• School policies
• Support Staff

Tausif Mulla while interacting with parents conducted a study with a sample size of 50 and these results validated a similar parent survey conducted by SchoolsCompass late last year.  From these results, it is evident that parents consider the quality of teaching, school brand, pricing and activities as the key parameters before selecting a preschool or high school. Now that we know the key parameters while selecting a school so let’s learn about influencing factors that result in conversions i.e admissions.

It was discovered that the most influencing factor while selecting a preschool and school are relatives. Most parents discuss their child’s performance with their relatives and friends which result in the selection of an XYZ school. Now that we have learned the parameters and influencing factors that help parents to make their decision let’s discuss the strategy that you as the preschooler or high school can consider in your marketing plan. 

 6 Strategies for a preschool & higher school

 

 

1. Don’t SELL, Educate Parents

If you are thinking that you can sell to parents you are wrong. Gone are the days when the school used to be the dictator today the customer (parents) are dictators. Today’s parents are well informed and educated, so if you think you can sell the admission you will burn your hands. Parent’s need to be educated about education and its importance. As a school, you need to have a concern about the child’s education more than the parents only then parents will make the decision in your favour.

2.  Don’t fall into PRICING traps

 One of the most common mistakes schools do is, falling into pricing traps. If you are providing the high-quality education you can demand higher fees. In Nigeria, most schools do the opposite. We provide average quality and ask for higher fees.  Focus on providing quality, streamline your process, improve your delivery, hire highly qualified teachers and interact with your parents very often. If you do all these and your customers (parents) are part of this, your school will never have a struggle in its profitability.

3. Awareness Program Initiatives

 As part of your marketing strategy, your school should always be in the limelight for supporting some cause. For example, start a breast cancer awareness initiative and run campaigns around it. This initiative should be a part of all your communications (online & offline).

  “If you don’t Stand up for something then you will fall for anything” – Malcolm X

The above saying perfectly goes in marketing as well. As a brand, you have to stand with a cause and concentrate your marketing activities around it.

4.  Position your school as One Stop Solution in Education

 If you are an established player in education you should definitely use this strategy. In my study, I realized that once parents take admission in preschool their concern is about admission to the higher school for grade 1.
If you are a chain of schools, make sure you are positioning your school as one stop for parents. Parents are concerned about donations, admissions procedures, interviews and so on. As a preschool, you can have a strategy wherein if the child takes an admission in playgroup or nursery and continues with the preschool for Lower Kindergarten (LKG) and Upper Kindergarten (UKG) the child will get direct admission into the high school i.e the parent school.

 If you are a startup preschool then you need to have tied up with an external school/schools. This will increase your conversions as parents will rest assured about the admissions for the higher grade.

5. Use a REFERRAL service

 

You can increase your enrolment leads beyond your brand popularity by being referred by other trusted brands. This could be feeder schools, religious associations, community network or education agents. Beyond this, more parents are depending on online referral services given the ease and reach it provides. SchooslCompass.com.ng currently records over 15,000 monthly visits and provides referral services to parents daily. To enjoy priority listing in referral services, upgrade sign-up and upgrade your membership today.

6. Engage with Parents

If Digital Marketing is not part of your current strategy you might lose your customers (parents) over a period of time. As per Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the third level of the pyramid is the need of Love and Belonging. Your customers’ i.e parents have the need to be social and connect with one another. In today’s scenario where social media has become a part of our daily life; as a school, you cannot ignore the opportunity to connect with parents on these mediums.

 Have a social media marketing strategy where your school is engaging with your customers on daily basis, answering their queries and communicating with them. You can make your weekly post calendar and update it on all your channels starting from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, and blogs. For example, every Monday your social media will talk about Do’s and Don’ts

 

Conclusion

As Seth Godin says “Make your product/service REMARKABLE”. In education, your customer is the parent and your consumer is the child so plan your strategy accordingly.
These are some of the strategies which you can include in your current strategy. If you have some more creative ideas please comment below.