Marketing is a comprehensive plan that targets the right demo and caries them all the way through the process. Advertising is the first part of marketing – Advertising alone is not marketing. I make that distinction because too often, a school’s marketing plan basically stops at the point they book some ads and hope for…
Let’s assume you’ve implemented a great, highly-targeted advertising plan and you have lots of high-quality leads keeping your admissions team busy. As you know, having a lot of leads does’t mean you’ll have a full class, so… now what? Well, now you have to nurture those prospective students with a good admissions plan: The admissions…
The intent of PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing campaigns for vocational schools is to capture the lead so your admissions team can then get them into the school for an appointment. That’s it. Pay Per Click can be your highest unit cost referral source, so you don’t want to waste it on email lists. If at first…
There are plenty of large (and very expensive) CRM systems (Customer Relationship Management) available that are “designed” for private, post-secondary and vocational schools. Why? Because they are THE tool for your admissions team to help usher potential students through the admissions process. Having some form of CRM is a need for virtually any business, honestly, whether…
We’ve covered “the HOW” of marketing communication, but why is that important when it comes to marketing to a student’s culture? Why does culture at a school matter? Because for “kids these days” – and virtually all ages given how much time even adults spend online – a school needs to feel like it’s operates…
In the introduction about marketing culture we covered the importance of campus appearance and how that can self-perpetuate a good looking environment. Your school needs to dress well just as much as you would hope your staff would. Here, we have to look into how a student’s personal culture can become a part of your…
Marketing to and about culture is an enormous topic that can fill volumes. In this post, the bottom line is that to have a successful private, post-secondary school, you need to demonstrate authority AND be the coolest school in town. Students wanting to attend your school isn’t enough – you want them to brag to…
Career / Education Counselors. Find them all, and make contact. Get them on the phone. Know their names. Send brochures, have separate open house days exclusively for guidance counselors so they can see the school, faculty, and facilities. Make sure they really know what your school is all about. Meet with them one on one –whatever required to…
Career / Education Counselors. All types and kinds. Send brochures, have special open house days just for guidance counselors, meet with them one on one –whatever you have to do to help career counselors understand your vocational / trade school as much as possible. The more they understand your programs, courses, and classes, the more likely they’ll refer…
Prospective Employers. I’ve built a few school locations at this point, and we thrived the most early on when we were extremely aggressive in getting to the people working in the trade first (before launching the school or enrolling students). Locate the potential employers in your area. You have to do it anyway to get approved…