Marketing Advice By Business Type
Marketing a School
You're heavily invested in the success of your school and failure isn't an option. That means you'll also need to invest yourself in the strategies and techniques it takes to effectively market your brand in the marketplace.
We recognize that the best school owners tend to possess solid marketing skills. However, capable marketing is elusive for many leaders in this industry.
In some businesses, marketing takes a back seat to sales and operations. That's a mistake because without marketing, your brand messages aren't being heard. On the upside, great marketing is a real possibility for a school willing to adapt its strategy to the demands of the marketplace.
Managing Negative Publicity
A certain amount of negative publicity is a given for most schools. The worst way to handle negative buzz is to put off developing a response until reporters are pounding on your door, demanding a comment from a company spokesperson. PR savvy schools work with consultants to develop a crisis response plan that can be executed on a moment's notice. Mailing list providers can also provide quick access to accurate mailing lists, an important consideration if your crisis response plan contains a direct mail component.
Geolocational Marketing
Smartphones have added a new wrinkle to small business marketing. With little or no effort, users can transform their mobile device into a highly functional tool for location and navigation. Since you're a school marketer, geolocational features can be a powerful weapon in your marketing arsenal. Talk to a professional marketing firm about how you can tap into geolocational resources as a way to draw mobile consumers to your products. Although cutting edge marketers are tailoring promotional messaging based on the viewer's current location, it may be enough to explore ways for consumers to be made aware of the presence of a school in their immediate area.
Marketing Consultants
As a small business owner, it's tempting to think that you have what it takes to market your brand effectively. Maybe you do. But in our experience, there is no substitute for enlisting the services of a qualified marketing consultant. The best consultants possess a range of skills, including the ability to accurately communicate your school' core competencies, value and product points. Without the presence of an experienced professional, it's easy to miss opportunities in the marketplace and focus your efforts on outdated tactics. Since there is no reason to believe that marketing will become any less important in the school arena, exposing your strategy to the influence of capable marketing professional should be a top priority.
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