Do you know your school’s market position?
According to Heather Hoerle, CEO of The Enrollment Management Association, “If you’re involved with your school’s recruitment effort you should understand your school’s market position – specifically with whom your school competes for students and your particular market strengths.”
Knowing your school’s market position informs how you promote your school and to whom you are promoting.
Can you define the:
Rather than ‘spray and pray’, knowing the answers to these questions will make you more strategic in your marketing. The answers will show you where to put your best effort and where you can let go.
To answer these questions, use surveys and personal conversations. For instance, make it a habit to meet with all new families before they start at your school. Ask why they chose your school. Dig deeply, using open ended questions. For instance, if a family shares they chose your school because of its caring community, ask them to define what they mean by “caring community.”
When a family doesn’t choose your school, find out why. Many families will let you know via phone or email that they chose a different school. This is your opportunity to find out why. Again, go deeper with the why, but don’t be pushy. Remember, “no” may only mean “not now.”
When a family doesn’t choose your school, find out where they chose instead. This will help you discover your top competitors. Get to know your competitors. Find out their unique offerings and value-adds. Gather their marketing materials and get on their email list, if possible.
Understanding your competitors will help you better understand your school’s uniqueness and value-adds. It’s important to note that being a Christian school may make you unique in your area but dig deeper and define what being a Christian school means to your school. Don’t assume someone already knows what ‘Christian school’ means for your school.
A key area of marketing is to know your school’s average family. Can you describe your school’s average or traditional family type? Who are they? Is it a two parent, two income, two child family? What is the education level of your average family? Where or how do they vacation—flights to hot sandy beaches or drives in a camper to National Parks? Knowing who your average family is lets you know who your prospective audience is and what resonates with them.
Equally important is to know your outliers. Get to know who your non-traditional families are—those not from your traditional feeder schools who have little connection to your community. Discover how they heard about your school and what intrigued them. What was it that made them say “yes”? The answer to these questions can help you expand your school’s market share.
And remember, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” (Simon Sinek)
Gillian Doucet Campbell, MA, CFRE is Director of Admissions and Advancement at Hamilton District Christian High School in Ancaster, ON