In part two of our guide to a successful open evening we look at the impact of Google pay per click adverts.
When we started our schools were still advertising their open evenings in the local paper or on bus adverts, neither of which were providing value for money.
We have found employing a modern strategies to getting families through the door for open events have proved more cost-effective.
Being near the top of a google search is important for most business, and schools are no different.
Pay per click advertising essentially means paying Google to be at the top of relevant Google searches.
When choosing your search terms, try to think like a potential customer.
A common search term would be “local school” or “primary school near me” or “secondary school open evening”.
To capitalise on the traffic the adverts will drive to your website, we suggest setting up a landing page to capture visitors details.
Respondents are asked to fill in a form which should include their name, perhaps the age of their child and contact details.
These responses can be automatically forwarded to a member of staff who will be responsible for following up any interest in the school.
Once you have that information you can use it in the months and weeks leading up to the deadline to promote different open events.
You could also make con tact again close to the deadline for choosing a school.
For more information or If you would like to book a discovery call please email tom@arthurcomms.co.uk
Over the next few weeks we will be giving our step-by-step guide to a successful open evening; starting this week with the basics.
Prep for open evenings should begin at least two months in advance of your first event.
We encourage our clients to run a mixture of open morning, afternoon and evening events to give all families the opportunity to visit.
We start with a good old-fashioned flyer; professionally designed and delivered to feeder primary schools or nurseries.
We also suggest leaving the flyers at churches, mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras, etc, and for primary schools at libraries, community centres, doctors and dentist surgeries.
If your school is on or near a main road, a vinyl banner on the bars outside the school is often good value for money.
It is all standard marketing for school activity but still absolutely worth doing. If it gets you one extra student to your open evening it has more than paid for itself.
Next week we will be talking about Google ads. Stay tuned!
When creating content for your social media pages it is important to remember to exercise quality control.
Everything you publish, whether it’s on Facebook or a letter home, will have an impact on your perception among current families, prospective parents and the wider community.
Like if a letter goes home with spelling mistakes or poor grammar, a badly taken photo or video will have a reputation impact.
For live events such as sports days or school plays, you may have little control over external factors such as background noise, lighting, etc.
In such cases, it’s advised to get as close to the action as possible and, with videos, keep the content short, 10-15 seconds maximum.
When you can control the environment, it is advised you find a quiet place with strong background visuals. Libraries fit the bill.
With videos, your next consideration is performance. If a child is stumbling over their lines or delivering lines in a monotone voice it is advised you politely encourage them to try again.
The same applies if there is an airplane flying overhead or someone decides to use the nearby photocopy.
The quality of your final product impacts perception of your school, so make sure your pictures and videos are polished.
As a cub reporter on a local paper, I was once tasked with judging a readers’ gardens’ competition.
I mention that not to brag about my illustrious journalism career but to note there was once a time, not so long ago, when such a story was considered newsworthy.
This was a time when an actual newspaper was still being sold for actual money, and read by thousands of actual people.
This formula was adapted, less profitably, for the internet but essentially remained unchanged until around time of the pandemic.
An industry already in financial crisis went into freefall as advertising revenue shuddered to a stop.
Local news had to evolve or die.
When I started Arthur Communications around ten years ago, local papers were more than happy to run any story, regardless of news values.
It was only filling up space online, what was the harm?
In fact, we were so successful other schools started complaining about the amount of coverage our clients were receiving.
Fast forward a decade and the game has changed.
Journalists now tell me that every story they now post online is monitored for hits and the time people spend on the page.
If it is not likely to get hits, it doesn’t go up. Bad news for stories about readers’ gardens’. Good news for stories about poor hygiene ratings at local restaurants
When schools come to me with a story idea, we now must work a lot harder to find a fresh, engaging angle.
The bar for coverage, even in the local press, is higher but so is the engagement.
A really engaging story has a significantly bigger impact on reputation, and not just because it draws a larger audience.
It also acts as marker; communicating your values as a school and leaders in a bold impactful way.
If you would like to make a splash in your community, book a discovery today: tom@arthurcomms.co.uk
Meanwhile, please have a look at the press section of our website for examples of our work.
We work with MATs looking to support new schools.
They have developed a strong educational offer, which is transforming the lives of students at their current school/s. Now they want to take that tested formula out to other schools, to other students.
The question they ask us is where to start.
Organisations of all kinds often make the mistakes of twisting and contorting their visions and values to appeal to a broad audience.
In marketing, like in life, it is better to be a first-class version of yourself than a second-class version of someone else.
The place to start, then, is with you.
You will already know your vision for the trust: it will be informed by what drives you as education leaders.
It will have been developed through the years of experience gained inside the classroom, working with educators, teachers and families.
All we do, all we can do, is clarify, energise and align your vision so you can communicate with the right audience.
You want to make the right connections. If your brand is not reflective of your vision for education it will likely attract the wrong type of partners.
But when you communicate with honest and clarity you will find the connections you make will be stronger and effective.
If you would like to book a discovery call please email me directly on tom@arthurcomms.co.uk
Growing up in the 80s and 90s you had very little choice where you sent your child to secondary school. In those days you attended the nearest school to where you lived. Though in a relatively suburban part of the capital, my secondary school had a fearsome reputation.
My parents didn’t want me to go, neither did I, but it didn’t feel like there was a choice.
There were a few who sent their children to schools on the other side of town. Most just accepted their lot.
Education, education, education
Fast forward 10 years there was a new Labour government with a desire to shake up the education system.
As they pushed for a second term the campaigning centred around greater choice and improved standards in education.
There were now also Ofsted ratings and later exam league tables. Schools considered successful by those two measurements became very popular, while those that fell short struggled to fill their places.
Then, under the Tories, came Free Schools, which increased competition further, not least because many were set up based on desire rather than need.
This led to an even greater challenge in recruiting students for some schools.
Marketing for schools
Every school receives a per-year government grant for each pupil. This is different for primary and secondary schools, and in different parts of the country.
Let’s say, on average, a child is worth £5000 to a secondary school (it’s often much more). Over the course of their five-year education, that is £25,000.
If a school has a PAN of 180 but is short ten children in each year, or 50 students in total, that is an annual shortfall in the budget of £250,000.
Now, if you consider many schools are 50 down in each year, you are now talking over a million pounds per year.
This has a huge impact on what schools can do for their students. With budgets tight, arts and sports programs get scrapped, specialist teachers are laid off. Schools sometimes cannot even afford teachers or leaders in key positions.
In short, the quality of education is impacted, making it even harder to measure up.
How we can help
We help schools employ corporate-level marketing strategies in what is still a relatively unsophisticated market.
When we started ten years ago, schools were still advertising in the local paper, which nobody was buying, or on bus adverts, which reached only a very tiny percentage of their market.
Our schools/MATS are streets ahead of the competition because we help them deliver a coherent marketing message to a highly targeted audience.
When you look at the numbers involved for a school struggling to fill their places, it becomes a really easy decision.
Our service costs less than recruiting one extra student. On average, we help our clients to recruit an extra 20 students per year.
You don’t need to be a business studies teacher to work out that makes very good economic sense.
Arthur Communications are marketing for schools experts.
To book a discover call please email contact@arthurcomms.co.uk or call 0208 396 4204
No matter the result of your OFSTED inspection, the entire process is one thwart with stress and uncertainty. Marketing for schools and Multi Academy Trusts is what we do, and the team at Arthur Communications are here to help.
In an age of misinformation and click-bait, communicating the results of an OFSTED inspection can prove to be a difficult task. Many schools are not equipped to deal with the ‘once in a blue moon’ media frenzy that ensues post-OFSTED, and that is why at Arthur Communications, we’re here to help your school through every step of the way; no matter the result.
Is your school pleased with the results?
If your school is pleased with the results of your OFSTED inspection then it is absolutely crucial that your school acts as fast as possible to ensure students, parents, staff and the community are aware of your success.
The team at Arthur Communications are well versed in ensuring schools are equipped to capitalise upon their success. That’s why the team will work tirelessly to ensure that a plethora of engaging content is created to seize the opportunity and reward your hard-working team with content that stands above the rest, elevating your status amongst the local community.
As well as this, we’ll make sure that the content we produce reaches your desired audience through our expert knowledge of social media algorithms and bespoke content creation. Furthermore, we’ll work with you every step of the way to ensure the content is reflective of your school’s values and culture.
Is your school looking to improve upon the results?
Whilst disappointing OFSTED results can signal a challenging time in your school, it doesn’t have to.
The Arthur Communications team are experts in schools’ public relations. We will endeavour to produce content which is open and transparent, content which admits the failings of your school, and your school’s plan to begin improvement, and most importantly; content which will inspire hope amongst students, parents, staff and the community.
When media outlets and parents come looking for answers from the school, Arthur Communications will provide you with the tools, the messaging and the skills to answer such questions in a way which provides hope for everyone.
Our organisation’s defining characteristic is the capacity to tell engaging and interesting stories on behalf of our clients; your school’s OFSTED results are no exception.