Branding for private schools? That’s something only business owners need to worry about, right? Not quite. If you want to see your school achieve now and, in the future, you should quickly mobilize a team to create momentum in this area. And don’t wait until next year. No matter what kind of institution you manage, success or failure can be determined in a very short while.
Why Branding for Schools?
You’re busy with the honorable task of molding young minds. But excellent grades aren’t the only ways your success will be measured:
– The only way you can teach children to always aim to better themselves is if the school itself never accepts the status quo: Always improving marketing.
– You also want children to teach each other by partnering those who struggle with those who have the know-how. For that you need students with high potential. For that you need to draw talented young people to join your classes and sports teams.
– When your students compete somewhere you want your colors to be recognized immediately.
– Children should experience being part of a community so the events you host should be marketed all over town. Community visibility will also draw parents’ attention and you can prove community involvement—a high value for parents who need to decide where to send their children.
– Your students should be able to feel proud of the school they represent. Your branding tactics plays a role in building your public reputation.
– To improve the school and gather funding for projects you have to engage with sponsors, businesses or parents. If you can’t present an impressive brand chances are they may not want to be associated with you.
– Creating a certain culture is important to parents who scout schools for their kids. Your marketing will also influence what people think of you, and what students experience once they walk through the gates. If you want them to represent that culture everywhere they go you need to communicate it clearly.
– With home schooling becoming more prominent in some areas you may need to prove the advantages of joining a more traditional schooling system.
Remember: Branding isn’t only your marketing but how anyone experiences the school at any given time.
Enough reason to invest more time in your private school’s brand building in 2022? Then let’s help you get it right.
Tips for Private School Branding
While you need branding campaigns in the same way businesses do you don’t necessarily have an entire marketing department to help you get it right. These tips are easy enough to apply so any school can taste success.
What Do Others Do?
Start off by researching the schools you’re competing against. You all want to draw the students that can improve your school’s performance. Your general communication as well as focused marketing should prove you’re THE school in the area.
What in your competitor’s website, flyer or public communication attract your attention? Make sure you use the same—or better—tactics in your campaigns.
Are You Sending One Message?
This tip connects closely to the one above. An important feature of expert marketing is ensuring you communicate the same style, message, values and goals on all platforms.
Where schools have been around for a while it’s even common to have different variations of:
– Logos
– School emblems
– Mascots
Of course, aspects change over time but you need to audit your marketing resources and ensure only the latest designs are used.
Is it Time to Update?
The reason the wrong images are used could be because your current logo is simply not practical for modern branding.
Logos can be put on almost anything: Pens, clothing, plastic bottles and more. Whether it’s for your sports teams to use or as gifts for your sponsors you want those items to look impressive. When you have a simple design, it presents well on any surface—much clearer than an overly detailed school emblem. You can explore some of these ideas using an education logo maker online or refer to a graphic designer to help you out.
Having your logo updated or entirely redesigned is another way you can prove you’re relevant to the 21st century.
Do You Control the Narrative?
As mentioned, you may not have a marketing team to handle it all. With so many new channels and mediums to manage you’re bound to ask volunteers to help:
– Students
– Teachers
– Parents
There’s no problem with asking for help, but monitoring the brand narrative is essential. Imagine what it says about the school if someone posts an advertisement with grammar errors, another school’s colors or a racist image. Therefore, you can’t give an enthusiastic parent free reign to market the Spring Fundraiser. Someone needs to check every piece of information that’s sent out.
Are You Digital-Age Friendly?
If you manage a school that’s been around for decades or centuries you may think you can carry one as usual—your success guaranteed by an exemplary history and reputation. Yes, this matter. But you need so much more to stay on top these days.
What is the first thing today’s consumers do when they’re looking for answers? You know most people Google. If you haven’t launched a digital branding campaign yet you’ve missed out on many opportunities of drawing top learners.
Apart from being visible a digital approach also proves you move with the times. Because parents want their children prepared for life in modern society you need to show you’re up to date with all modern trends:
– A quality website that’s easy to navigate
– Social media accounts to regularly showcase school news, events and students’ achievements
– The use of apps to communicate with parents
What Resources are You Using?
Once again: Without a Fortune 500 bank account to help you, you need to think about every dollar you spend. That shouldn’t make you deliver below average marketing though.
Firstly, you need to invest in quality photography. Asking the students or parents to simply send the out of focus images they snapped at a school event is not showcasing your institution at its best.
Also, investing in professionals—instead of a parent who volunteers his or her service—to handle your website, designs and marketing may be how you reach the goals you’ve been hoping for. At last.
