Transcript Communications

Communications 101:
Telling Your Story
NYASIS
April 2006
Outline
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Purpose
Audience
Message
Leverage Points
Various Approaches:
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Publicity
Advertising
Direct Mail
Email
Print Material
Video/DVD
Web
Process of effective communications:
 Establish your school’s identity
and position;
 Know your audience;
 Influence behavior of your
constituents
Compulsory Floor Exercise…
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Pair up
One person faces this screen
Other person faces away from screen
Person facing screen describes word until
other person names it
Chair
Salsa
Loyalty
Nurturing
Our cultures are:
 Difficult to articulate, especially with
limited time.
 Key to selling, distinguishing and
differentiating our schools.
Know your audience
 Who: students,
parents, local
community, other
educators, alumni, key
influencer
 How: by listening,
both formal and
informal
Example:
“A man walks into
your shirt shop…”
What’s the first
question you
should ask him?
Example of Formal Listening: Average Parent Satisfaction
Ratings @ re. Communication & Involvement
Written Advisor Letters and Grade Reports
6.36
The Parents' Post
6.17
Family Weekends
6.13
The Thacher Notes
6.08
Administrator Responsiveness to Your Concerns
6.08
Promptness of Faculty Replies to Calls or Emails
6.03
Faculty Responsiveness to Your Concerns
5.89
Overall Communication and Involvement
5.78
Off-Campus Gatherings in Your Area
5.44
Amount of Contact Initiated by School
5.12
1
2
Very Poor
Pacific Consulting Group, Inc.
3
4
5
6
7
Excellent
11
Know your message
“A weekday edition of
the NewYorkTimes
contains more
information than the
average person came
across in a lifetime in
17th century England”
-- Richard Wurman, Information Anxiety
 Increased competition
for people’s attention
 Know what
differentiates you
 Use consistent talking
points/identity symbols
 Support your points
with stories
Choose your leverage points
 Evaluate your admissions
funnel
 Decide where you want to
affect behavior
 Determine where your
materials no longer represent
your identity or support your
desired positioning --- adjust
or get rid of them!
Advertising/Direct Mail
Print
Video
Personal
Correspondence
Personal
Testimonial
Web?
Publicity
 Positive (press releases and community service events)
and Negative (damage control).
 Publicity harder to control, but more effective than
advertising (media relations person).
 Advertorials and “paid influence” can be effective
(Hoosac School ads in New Yorker).
 Circulate news articles – copy and send with
permission, put up for all to view, use web.
 Spend time with the editors of local papers, if possible.
 Like advertising, publicity can be lots of work for little
gain.
 Promote those stories which support your message
statement.
Advertising
 The medium and location are essential for effective advertising.
 What is the purpose of the ad? Announcement or pure
marketing? (Open House date/time vs. self promotional piece)
 Repetition, Repetition, Repetition….approximately 6 exposures
necessary for awareness...12 exposures necessary to reach
comprehension.
 Other than announcements, “go big or don’t go at all.”
 As much as possible, track the responses to ads.
 Specialty publications are often more effective and less
expensive (education sections, camp/schools sections, key
directories)
 Radio is not as expensive as you might think.
 T.V. ads are expensive & tricky but perhaps the most effective.
If you can’t go big here…think cable access channels.
 Billboards work for some schools.
Direct Mail
 Direct mail is only as good as the accurate targeting of the
mailing list (region, socio-economic, other demographic).
 Mailing to students is more effective…but much trickier.
 Mailing lists are available in a frighteningly wide array of
variety, with significant specific detail.
 Direct mail can be effective due to sheer volume...but be sure
you can manage the volume.
 Keep direct mail inquiries separate from other existing
inquires…they are very soft.
 Using a mailing house is generally more cost effective than
trying to do this in house.
 Dupe check.
E-mail – Proactive or Reactive?
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Get permission first
Write descriptive subject in header
Personalize content
Send during off hours
Dupe check
Not too frequent
Short without attachments
Option to opt out
Be prepared to respond in a timely manner
Viewbooks and Brochures
 Use market research to inform your viewbook
production.
 Ensure that level of “slick” matches culture of your
school.
 Do we produce it in house…or hire a firm?
 Viewbooks are, and will remain for some time, one of
the most important communications for admission. The
web will not kill the viewbook for a long while.
 Balance the data with the pulling of heart strings.
 Avoid things that will date the piece in order to
maximize the investment return.
Video/DVD
 The advantage of video…EMOTIONAL content and
showing is always better then telling.
 Put your video on the web…bandwidth is coming and
streaming video is already here.
 Market test with current students.
 Try to avoid too much slang and current culture
references..it will date the video too soon.
 Generally…don’t try to do this in house. However,
some student-made videos can be effective when used
correctly.
 Think carefully about the timing of sending the video.
Websites
 Websites make information available rather than
present information.
 Good websites require intimate knowledge of user
preference…their attention span is limited. Average
stay…less than six minutes.
 Websites are non-linear...unlike advertising, brochures,
videos, etc.
 Inquiries down due to pre-screening schools on web.
Who’s Surfing the Web?
65 or older
2 to 11 yr. Olds
4%
55 to 64 yr. Olds
8%
7%
12 to 17 yr. Olds
50 to 54 yr. Olds
13%
9%
18 to 24 yr olds
17%
35 to 49 yr olds
21%
25 to 34 yr. Olds
21%
Websites
 1st Generation: Static, no dynamic content, little
interactivity, often outdated information.
 2nd Generation: Some interactive features, can
download information, some audio and video features,
content more current (less than a month old on average)
and more detailed.
 3rd Generation: The content of the site is personalized
based on the interests and profile of each individual
user…Portal/Calendar model. Site is not only a
promotional tool, but is being used as a daily operational
tool for students, faculty, staff, parents and alumni.
Chat groups and site broadcasting. Content changes
hourly as large community of users constantly changes
and builds content.
Websites
 Make sure your site is properly submitted to search
engines.
 Put URL on all printed materials.
 User-ability…surfers have no tolerance for frustration.
Avoid broken links or dead-ends (“site under
construction”).
 Track the traffic and statistics of your site and change
accordingly.
 Read Marketing Independent Schools in the 21st Century,
NAIS, “The Web and Beyond: Marketing Tools and
Tactics.”
Our challenge:
Communicating the Intangible
 Can’t be pre-tested or experienced by the
senses.
 Everything becomes a metaphor for reality.
 Avoid dissonance.
 Relationships and testimonials.
 Stories: our most powerful tool.
Final advice:
Coordinate and Align Your
Efforts….
 Your communications efforts are most powerful if they
come out of a school-wide comprehensive marketing plan.
 Apply Measurement.
 Practice Accountability.
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Originated by Monique DeVane; adapted by Pam Safford 2004, 2005, 2006