A - Admin and Admissions (A to Z Tips)
Background rationale - Why A to Z? Each blog begins with a letter of the alphabet allowing you to be able to tell which ones you have read or seen on LinkedIn.
Intro:
Your Admin and Admissions Teams are your secret weapon in a war of competitive marketing. Over the next few weeks and months, they could become one of your most valuable assets so plan their time wisely. Below are some tips to help you make the most of your team and the time they have available.
Work back:
• Write a list of all the things you’d love your team to tackle – then review it to see how much of it can be done remotely. You’ll be surprised!
• Ask them to list the things they have been meaning to get to but not had the time to tackle. It might be that they are not important but, equally, there may never be a better time than now to get them off their ‘to do’ list.
• Ask your team to look at all the actions they would normally undertake during the autumn term. Many of these can be completed, or at the very least started, now. Get as much of the autumn term admin prep work done as you can now, to allow your team the capacity to deal with all the unforeseen emergencies and eventualities when you do finally get to return to school.
• Ask them to reorder online files now, in case there is a backlog or shortage when you return to school and create the structure for future reports, so teachers will find pupil reporting less onerous and time consuming.
Take the soft option:
• Whilst your team are making their actions list, ask them to look at what you have by way of hard copy marketing material.
• How much of this can be converted to soft copy? Do the printers you use have, or could they supply, low res PDF versions of the material so, if they are not already available on your website or social media platforms, they can be added and, best of all, easily supplied to prospective parents.
Embrace digital:
• List your traditional offline processes and amend them to suit online.
• As an example: your prospective parents would normally visit. They would usually go through a process of school tour, being shown the facilities, walking the campus, meeting the heads of department or tutor team and then, finally, a Q&A meeting with the Head.
• Think how you could recreate this virtually? You could take any still images of your facilities or any video footage you have to which you could add relevant narrative, or titles, so it becomes an animated tour of your school. This does not require much in terms of investment, you probably already have the assets, and you certainly know what is usually said on tour, so it would not be too onerous to write a compelling script.
• Alternatively, you could create a tour by recording it on your phone. Your department heads could video their own bios and photos of the facilities can be edited together to make a credible, human introduction to you, your school and your leadership team. This can be done very quickly, cheaply and without any need to leave home (unless you are videoing the school’s facilities which you can do in safe isolation whilst practicing the necessary social distancing).
• We will be happy to guide you and undertake the work at cost, if you don't have your own video editing or animation contact.
Review your website
• When is the last time you read every page of your school’s website? Take your time to look at it through a fresh pair of eyes. This is your shop window.
o View it through the eyes of current parents and prospective parents. Some prospective parents will read your website and won’t take their enquiry any further and you will never know, so you owe it to your school to ensure it is doing the very best job it can.
o Does it really reflect your school’s personality? Is the tone of voice correct?
o Does it offer good quality information or is it just lots of pictures of children doing what they do at school – which could be any school – what do you do differently and does your website reflect your unique selling point?
o Check the dates! I wish I had a pound for every website with out of date blogs or old job posts on it.
o If you don’t care enough about updating your website what other details are you prepared to overlook? Parents are canny and these things matter.
• Ask your team to review other schools’ websites for ideas, especially those of your competition. Do you know what they are telling prospective parents? How does your shop window compare? Look at their downloadable details and compare them with your own.
Be sociable:
• Task your admin team with creating a host of online posts (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn etc). Whilst your doors are closed, you can use your social media platforms to continue to build a relationship with current and prospective parents. Post a record of previous terms activities, shout about your successes and what makes your school standout.
• Create 'meet the team posts', using short bios of your key staff members and teaching team to make it more human, raising the profile of the quality of your core resource – your staff.
o Create a head teacher’s regular video blog for Admin to post.
o There is no better way to stay in touch with parents and prospective parents than to update them with what you are doing or planning; Fear breeds when people do not know what is being planned.
o Be honest, update your parents at every opportunity, it will build trust and pay dividends.
• If you don’t have a proper social marketing strategy this is the perfect time to put that right. Social media advertising is not only very influential but is extremely cost effective, measurable and quite honestly, expected for most successful business if they are to remain competitive.
Build relationships:
• Contact parents AND prospective parents.
• Film a weekly school assembly for children and parents to dial into.
• Send parents and prospective parents age relevant eBooks for their children.
• Send them relevant advice on how to cope with having their children at home. Offer regular updates on best ways to learn at home - a tip a day.
• Email them age relevant workbooks or offer learning packages. Prospective parents may have children at other schools or may be considering other schools that don’t have the same offering.
• Tempt all parents and future parents with your thoughtfulness and academic support. Any opportunity to remind both parents and prospective parents of your value will be time well invested.
I am sure there are many other admin jobs that can be tackled too; now is the time to carry out an audit on making your school virtually accessible despite your doors being firmly closed.
Call or direct message us; we are here to help.