How to create authentic school marketing?

Authenticity in the marketing world is a hot topic. In today’s tech savvy digital environment led by influencers, content creators and brand ambassadors, what’s the best strategy for traditional schools to come across as modern, engaging and authentic? How can schools appeal to both: the last analogue generation (parents) and the tech savvy #GenZ (students) simultaneously? 

Gone are the days where open days or being part of career fairs was enough to gain enrolment and meet your KPIs. As educators and marketeers with over 12 years of experience in the education industry, here are our recommendations on how to create authentic school marketing in order to drive enrolment and recruit the most talented teachers.

1. Lead with impactful student experiences, not just USPs:

First things first, if as a school, you haven’t defined your key messages or Unique Selling Points (USPs), you are one step behind major leading school organisations. Your key messages should be the backbone of your marketing communications. That’s a given, but what makes the content authentic and trustworthy is when schools support their USPs with authentic student experiences. For instance, for any prestigious school, the top-notch facilities would be the first thing they’d want to highlight in their communication. Showcasing a state-of-the-art technology lab, the latest 3D printer or an Olympic size swimming pool might sound like a great idea. However, showcasing student experiences and the skills developed using those facilities makes the story inspirational and authentic. Tapping into real student experiences and supporting your USPs through them is extremely powerful. Students and parents resonate with real, lived experiences, not commercial messages. 

2. Engaging Touchpoints:

The interaction between parents and schools start the instant they first become familiar with the school’s name. Our recommended approach to schools is to replace age-old flyers with modern media to make every touchpoint engaging, for instance:

2A. Story-driven videos: Nothing elicits emotions more than powerful video stories. For the education sector, not all videos need to be story-driven, however, having a good portfolio of functional and story-driven videos is key. Whilst existing students would want to hold on to functional videos like a coverage of inter-school competitions or live stream of their graduation ceremony, prospective students and parents find story-driven videography, school excursion stories, summer or winter camp videos and alumni testimonials more enticing. Those are the videos that allow students and staff to form an emotional connection with the viewer and narrate a real-life story. The key however is always to ensure the USPs of the school shine through student experiences showcased in the videos. For example, if a school's advanced tech lab is one of its main selling points, interview questions tapping into real tech innovations, experiments and experiences of the students would generate more impactful content than any claim or statement made by the school. 

2B.Virtual tours and 360° videos: Virtual tours are no longer a luxury, it’s almost as important as having a digital presence. A fully immersive virtual tour allows prospective students and parents to explore your school campus and facilities without even having set foot on your school grounds. Virtual tours allow schools to have Virtual Open Days & digital in-person admissions meetings with a single family. 360° videos offer immersive and authentic storytelling experiences with little investment and a huge ROI. You can also make 360° videos more engaging by making students the hosts in the video and engaging with the viewer. Seeing the school grounds through the eyes of students is an authentic and engaging experience in itself. You can take it one step further and send cardboard smartphone VR headsets as part of an admissions pack to families so that they can have an immersive VR experience.

2C. News Stories and Vlogs: Your school website should not just host information, it should tell a story. Encourage your staff to embody the USPs of the school and invite them to share the thought process behind the school events, fundraisers, volunteering activities and trips. It’s important to showcase how each school event or activity mirrors the selling points of the institution. For instance, if learning outside the classrooms is one of your strengths and selling point, the news stories and vlogs should highlight specific events and activities that reflect that , from the perspective of students and teachers. Letting students and teachers be the voice of the school generates authentic and engaging content.

2D. Photography:  The authenticity of your school’s photography style matters. Parents are looking for a glimpse of life inside the school walls and won’t buy into posed photos. Authenticity in photography can be achieved by capturing candid shots of students during school events, activities, playtime and day-to-day classes. In addition, capturing emotional and insightful images of student engagement on school campuses will generate a better ROI than beautiful photos of empty school facilities. We recommend a photography style that invites the onlookers in: make them wonder what’s being taught in the technology lab, capture the emotions during a video call between students and their favourite teacher, showcase students creating, enjoying and living school moments.

3. Integrate student produced content into your marketing collaterals: 

There is nothing more authentic than organic content produced by the students of their everyday campus or boarding school life. It’s the best way to showcase the spirit of your school. If the content created by students backs up your USPs, then it will add value to your professionally created videos. Whilst most schools would want to focus on academics or culturally engaging events and latest equipment, students would focus on their school lifestyle, sense of community, cultural diversity and the true reasons why they feel they ‘belong’ to the school. Their loyalty and love for the school will attract prospective students and parents, as well as dedicated and enthusiastic teachers and staff. The content created by students might not be the best quality, but there are easy ways of incorporating glimpses of their content in your professionally produced videos.

In conclusion, in order to have engaging and authentic content in the marketing mix, it’s important to craft USPs that shine through all student and staff experiences shown in your communication. It is also advisable to work with partners who are knowledgeable about education marketing and the cultural nuances of the market. However, it’s not merely an act of creativity or imagination, but rather strategic messages, pushed out in the most authentic way to the right audience.

If you’d like to talk more about how to achieve this, our school marketing experts are always available, so you can contact us anytime using our website contact form, or calling us on +44 20 34 55 22 41.