Engage Teaching Staff in your School’s Marketing

The easy part of having a school is constructing the buildings and getting the necessary facilities, but can you call it a school if you do not have students to enroll? Every product and service must be marketed before people can even get to know about them. The same goes for school. You can’t just build your school and assume students will come in by themselves – not in this saturated and competitive education sector.

The academic session is going to end soon, and most parents will be looking to enroll their children or change school. When it comes to the part where you have to market your school, you don’t leave it to the marketing team alone – EVERYONE should be involved.

Here are ways to engage your staff in the marketing process.

1.   Ask the staff what is great about your school – and what might be hindering greatness. Staff meetings and the distribution of questionnaires are ways that information concerning your school can be gathered. Teachers are aware of everything about your school – the good part, and the needed support. You also need to listen to them when you are informed about something you are doing wrong.

This is because they are the ones relating to the students and at times with the parents, there are some information they have access to and you don’t. If need be, you need to work on changing the message your school is passing across to prospective parents and students.

2.   Involve your staff in school events and open day. When parents visit schools, they are expected to check the facilities and classrooms. Leaving the marketing team alone in this plan is you gambling with the enrollment in your school. The best open days or visitation days are the ones when group efforts are put together through the working together of the staff and marketing team.

Ensure that your staff is aware of what is going on in other parts of the school – it would be bad for your school when a parent during visitation sees your students fighting.

3.   Encourage your staff to share their stories. Storytelling is an important part of marketing a school and a form of communication to your audience. You should know the school events that pass your message and exceptional students and teachers that you can use to tell your story.

To get this, ensure you engage your teachers in meetings and focus groups that can help you put your stories into your marketing strategy. Make sure you use the stories and let your teachers be aware you are using them.

4.   Let your staff share your content. Your staff has access to the students and parents more than you do, so the public will trust your teachers more to say the truth. Your marketing strategies should make use of their network – you can give them materials like a newsletter to share with their communities, or encourage them to their stories through social media.

5.   Give an update on progress. Your staff has the right to be informed on the progress of the marketing strategy since they contributed to it. Regular updates relating to their input should be provided.