Wally Young Young Communications20 Lower Baggot Street

Dublin2youngcom@eircom.net

14th October 2011

Is your School on Message?‘Good communicators think audience first’

Audience

Message

Means of delivery

Me!

Is your school on message?

“There is no magic wand in marketing”

“For big organisations its about ideas and money for small organisations its about ideas, graft and no budget”

Is your school on message?

Marketing is a scary subject for educators

You have a responsibility to inform potential users/students; more especially if the service is unique in an area.

Hard working staff can be demotivated by lack of recognition

Focused marketing does work – be positive

Marketing a school means:Showing what happens to students inside the

premises/grounds

What parents can expect their children to gain

This is relatively simple; it must also be credible

Marketing your school!

What are you doing?

Audiences

Who are you trying to/should you be

marketing to?

Audiences• Parents, potential parents• Students, potential students• Past pupils• Community, leaders in the community• Partners, potential partners• Funders• ‘Those who can recommend’• Media, local, national• Staff!

Key Messages• What are we about?• How are we different/unique?• What do we do well?• What is our ethos our philosophy?• What can we do for each pupil - the individual?• What about our staff? – their attitude and

expertise• Describe the physical structure….grounds etc• Is it a safe place?• Will parents be involved and kept informed?

Message drafting and placingWhere do your key messages emerge from?Are they lived within the school?Who drafts the ‘key message’ material?

N.B. What, When, Where, How - is the means of delivery of ‘key messages’ to ‘key audience’?

‘PR and Marketing is a Living Thing’

A Living Thing….Are we on message internally?Do those working with us, and attending

understand what we try to do?Do we engage with parents; not lecture them,

just engage and let them see and experience?Are we welcoming?, Are we transparent?Are we honest? Do we practice what we preach?

A Living Thing…Do we listen, good PR is as much about

listening as it is about informingWhen we listen and respond we build

relationshipsPeople who have a good relationship are

more likely to be happy with the service/product

Good relationships lead to satisfaction and positive sentiment

The Marketing DevicesWebsiteLetters / correspondenceInterviews / meetings with parents, pupilsPast pupil involvementParent eventsParent involvementOpen days/sports daysPhone manner and efficiencyNewsletter / BrochureNational/Local Media

Local and Specialist MediaLocal media do follow good news stories

about local schools

Specialist media, e.g. Education Correspondents, do follow new angles and developments, positive and negative

Watch out for parental permission on all media interaction with pupils

When it works its seamless…“Its more about the day to day activity and effort

being witnessed, experienced and communicated than the development of slick marketing material and gimmicks, that don’t add up”

“For most parents its one of their biggest decisions – they will dig deeper than the website to establish the facts”

Then is goes wrong…

React in difficult situationMedia are interested in negative so are the

readers…it’s a storyGet the facts; if you have a problemInform internallyInform parents, trustees, board etcPartners should not be informed through the

mediaPrepare a media response

Your rights….Media have a right to ask questionsThey have no right to enter your premises,

take pictures there or talk to you studentsThey can film from outside the premises and

take picturesThey can talk to pupils outside the groundsYou do not have to respond to queries, ignore

or indicate, ‘no comment’

Your response….Generally better to respondDraft statement which deals with the issueShow action and responsivnessDon’t try to achieve too muchRemember the main audiences – if you were

one of them what would you want to hearYou may need to do an interview, be selective

and be prepared

Your responseAlways have a second person look over the

statementIt can always be issued tomorrow, it can

never be taken backDon’t be pressurised, work at a pace that you

can manageRemember that all difficult situations passThe aim is not to win but to deal with it as

best you can - and to communicate this

Finally..You are what you are…Do you know and value what you are?Do you communicate this to the wider

audience?

If you had a problem at the school, have you considered how you would respond internally and externally?

What is success for your school?