We rarely do or say something intentionally that surprises us. That’s because we are in intimate contact with the noise in our heads – we spend our days looking in the mirror, listening to our inner voice and defining our point of view. “That’s not the sort of thing I would say or do … ”

To do great school communication and marketing — work that truly moves the needle for your school — some of the most impactful levers you can pull do not depend on the size of your budget.

Marketing strategies are vital for schools to effectively promote their unique offerings, connect with their target families and achieve their goals. With the ever-evolving landscape of marketing, it is crucial to understand the different approaches available.

I have a client who sends me an email every time they chat with someone else about the project. They introduce new thoughts, new changes, new perspectives. As you’d expect, some of the ideas are interesting food for thought and some are terrible. That’s okay – separating the signal from the noise is what we do. But no feedback is helpful if it comes in dribs and drabs over the course of a week.

Attention has become one of the most valuable resources of the digital age. Parents are presented with an avalanche of information — not just from your school, but from every corner of their lives.

Australian school Heads are increasingly forced to address contentious, complex and dynamic issues with their communities. Increasingly, staff, students and parents now turn to school leaders for trusted information and guidance on issues. Thus, school Heads are expected to provide communications that are both accurate and appropriate.
So, how do you decide when to say what to whom?

In the world of independent schools, clear communication isn’t just beneficial — it’s pivotal. The pitfalls of misinterpretations, ambiguous roles and inconsistent messages can profoundly inhibit a school’s growth on all fronts.
Schools, like all organisations, face challenges in achieving effective communication. And it’s holding them back.

You are not alone. Adapting to the changes to the school communication and marketing landscape is challenging for all schools. If you are not finding it challenging, then it’s likely that you are not trying hard enough, and are at risk being left behind.

Some folks think of marketing as something that is done to people. A hustle, a hype, a stealing of attention.
We need a name for that, but I don’t think that’s marketing.
On the other hand, calling dinner, “cold dead fish on rice,” while accurate, doesn’t really help people enjoy their sushi.
Human beings aren’t information processing machines. We’re not hyper-rational or predictable. Instead, we find joy and possibility in stories, in connection and yes, in tension and status roles as well.

When we think of ‘content’ in the modern marketing and communications environment, many minds will immediately go to digital, often bite-sized, content – websites and blogs, social media, video, emails, etc. These are designed to quickly grab an audience’s attention and drive them to action.

To be effective with any content marketing strategy, you’ve got to develop a distinctive — as opposed to distinct — point of view for the story you’re telling or the value you’re delivering at your school.

Good schools will often be good at communicating their vision. They will tell a good story when it comes to delivering on their promises. But I can’t help but wonder what would happen if we started to express our institutional vulnerability a little more. Or as Brené Brown suggests in her book, Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, maybe we should start, “ … pay[ing] attention to the space between where we’re actually standing and where we want to be,”