Marketing Report for Schools Looking for ex-london Parents

Transcription

1 Marketing Report for Schools Looking for ex-london Parents

2 How Can You Attract Parents Moving From London? No doubt you are well known in your local area with a great reputation, and the chances are you have a steady stream of applications and a nice long list of prospective parents, BUT do you feel like you are not casting your net wide enough? People move house for schools, we all know that to be true, but unless you get your name in front of them, they aren t going to know what you have to offer and what sets you apart from the many other great schools. Your prospectus is lovely, I can say that because I ve never really seen a bad one. It s full of happy children, beautiful surroundings and a few shots of children in wellies to attract prospective parents to your particular rural idyll. Our website helps people who are moving out of London. We are the experts on the subject and we ve drawn up a few keys things for you to consider when trying to attract potential new families to your school who want to look beyond those glossy pages. If you re not working to build a relationship with those people, chances are you re not yet on their radar.

3 Where To Begin (forgive me if you ve done all this but I promise lots of people haven t and it just might help) Identify the key demographic of the parents who attend your school and tailor your approach to attract similar families. You can t be all things to all people, remember what sets your school apart and embrace it. Don t jump into social media and expect instant results. Create a strategy and work with traditional marketing and advertising plans to insure joined-up thinking. It s all about building relationships so spend time talking to people, but make sure you have a plan to follow-up; you need addresses in order to begin marketing, and social media is just the introduction. You might have read about the wonders of Facebook advertising which offers amazing opportunities for focused approaches, but without a plan of action it can take up time and money without results.

4 Identify The Problems And Find The Solutions For Parents Picture the scene: We are the Smith family living in South West London and we know we want to move. Apart from needing to commute to London and being close to good schools, I have no idea where I want to go. Your school needs clearly to show Mrs Smith that you are within commuting distance of London so Mr Smith can keep his job. Create a map which shows them the areas in which they could live around the school, marking clearly where other families live and then mark the train stations showing the train times into London. Providing the information before they have to ask sets you above the rest. Don t put the map at the back of the prospectus where they might miss it. It s a big deal, this commuting thing, so embrace it.

5 Videos are one of your best tools Remember that Mr and Mrs Smith also really want to know the school is full of like minded people, (that s why identifying your key demographic will help). Find parents who have moved from London and interview them, preferably on camera if you can (video speaks volumes). Share the video with your target audience using your website, Facebook advertising or in response to queries directly to the school. Shout about the introductions you will offer, not just after term has started, but tell parents that when they receive their offer and accept the place they will be sent a class list and introduced to other parents who live locally. A real concern for parents is how they meet people. In London most people walk to school; people imagine in the country everyone drives, so when do you have time to chat? Address this fear by explaining what you do to help, but remember any events shouldn t just be half way through the term; parents want to know straight away how they will meet others. Don t forget, lots of people arrive in new areas and really don t know anyone so they are relying on meeting people through school.

6 Showing your strengths Another key worry is of course is whether your school is right for their child. It s no different for your local families except, in London, schools can be competitive and hard to get a place and choices may be slightly limited. Suddenly when moving out, it can feel like there is too much choice so your school needs to show parents what you offer, not just in the classroom. Parents may long for their children to play rugby, but what if Mrs Smith s son isn t really into traditional sports yet? What can you offer to help him or her get outside (and not just kicking a football)? What child have you helped to excel in something they didn t like to begin with? Make it personal, not just a general blurb that anyone could have written. How do you teach children to lose at sport as well as being good winners? Schools love to share when they are the best at something, but parents are really only interested if you ve also managed to teach children how not to be the best but to be gracious in defeat and strive to be better next time. Competitive parenting is rife in London; show Mr and Mrs Smith how children can be children at your school, where there are winners and losers but everyone is taking part.

7 Speaking to Parents Your admissions team have to be guarded, we all know that. They do an amazing job fielding calls for waiting lists, assessments, open days, s from people like us - it s a very hard job with stressed out parents asking endless questions. However, that first call really does matter. The instant feeling a parent gets on the telephone really makes a difference. They think they are calling for you to just send out the prospectus but there is so much more to gain on a telephone call. The person who answers the phone needs to instantly find ways to connect with the parents, asking questions about their situation and addressing the issues straight away. If they are moving from London, hearing about situations where this has been done before can help and offering to send them your map which better explains your catchment areas will really make a difference. Make sure you get their address and send them a video of parents who were new to the area talking about your school and their big move. It might take a bit longer, but have you considered handwriting the covering letter that goes out with the prospectus, mentioning on something they have talked about in the call? Parents really want the personal approach and that just could set you apart. Remember the chances are they are ringing more than one school to get the prospectus and by the time yours lands on their door mat they might have forgotten the helpful conversation they had with your registrar.

8 Use who you know Don t forget your best advertisers are your current parents, make sure they are sharing posts you put on Facebook and interacting with you on social media. Every time they comment on a post or like something you do, it shows up in their news feed, which means all their friends see it. You know better than anyone the power of the recommendation. Remind your current parents of the power of telling others about your school they might well have friends moving from London. Could you organise a bring a friend event at school to introduce new people? In all that you do keep in mind their real concerns and address them, answer the questions before they even know they want the answers. Moving from London might seem easy to those who haven t built their network in the capital, but starting from scratch in a new area is very daunting and you have a real opportunity to make life easier for people right from the start. This article was written exclusively for the use of Schools wanting to attract more potential parents tapping into the London Market. It was written by Belinda Aspinall, the founder of Lifeafterlondon.com, the leading website offering free support and advice for those looking to move out of London. Belinda Aspinall has been featured in The Sunday Times, Saturday Telegraph, Sunday Times, Metro, The Independent, The Guardian and on BBC1, The Sunday Politics Show and local radio.