Beyond Social Media. Creating and Implementing the Effective Catholic School Marketing Plan

Looking at Catholic School Advancement through the lens of our working system, marketing is part of the key components that drives reputation and engagement. In analyzing this, one of the early exercises conducted in our Leadership Coaching process with school leaders is to determine the time invested in key Advancement activities.

Within the context of our Four Pillars of Advancement: 1) People Engagement 2) Image and Marketing 3) Enrollment Growth and 4) Sustaining Revenue, a disproportionate amount of time is often spent on social media. While the hourly, multiple postings of school activities raises awareness, this alone falls short of the most important Advancement metric of building and sustaining quality relationships. Advancement is a contact sport.

Let’s Talk Effective Marketing

Because time and resources are finite, assigning key performance indicators or success metrics to every Advancement activity can revolutionize how we manage and allocate our energy and set priorities. For me, the school marketing message must be clear, consistent and compelling. Effective marketing is strategic, deliberate and intentional, with an understanding of our target audiences, consisting of a bold vision, with a variety of strategies and call to action. Here are some discovery questions:

A)What is your mission and unique difference?

B)What is your value proposition and competitive advantage?

C)How can you tell this story with appealing images, words and content?

D)What is your compelling call to action?

E)How can we create raving fans in the community and beyond.

F)How can we create an effective school marketing system with key metrics?

Yes, You Need a Plan

One of the best ways to approach this is contained in one of our school vitality processes called the Four Seasons of Catholic School Marketing.

As an organizational tool, all marketing activities are created and implemented according to the seasons of the school year: summer, fall, winter and spring. Each season has a theme, list of related strategies, school events, timeline and person responsible. Another tool we utilize for the creation of the effective marketing plan is called the Design Framework.

The marketing plan comes together with four strategic elements: A) Goals & Outcomes B) Strategies & Activities C) Outputs & Measures and D) Required Resources. When the marketing plan is completed, it is broken down into the annual vision, the four seasons, the monthly plan and the weekly duties and responsibilities.

Key Considerations

As you think about the key components of your marketing effort and creating this vision, here are some considerations

Consideration #1: School Administration makes a Full Commitment to the Implementation of the School Marketing Plan.

Consideration #2: There is a Clear Understanding of the School’s Mission and Vision.

Consideration #3: There is an Awareness of the Current and Future Landscape of the Educational Marketplace.

Consideration #4: Branding Statements are Created that Feature our Value Proposition and Competitive Advantage.

Consideration #5: A Marketing Committee is Formed to Create and Implement the School Marketing Plan, based on the Four Seasons of the School Year.

Consideration #6: The School Marketing Plan is Executed Weekly with a Variety of Strategies that Engage your Targeted Audiences.

Consideration #7: The School Marketing Plan is Flexible with Established Metrics and Evaluation Tools for each Marketing Strategy.

Consideration #8: There is an Approved Set of Brand Protocols and Logo Standards that are Shared with School Personnel.

Consideration #9: Take Advantage of Word-of-Mouth Marketing is creating the Raving Fan group to Tell Your Story.

Consideration #10: Get Feedback from Your Parents, Faculty and Stakeholders on the Impact of Your Marketing Strategy.

We Can Help

At Catholic Vitality 360, it is our ministry to serve your needs. Our mission is your vitality. All of the processes we share in our writings, videos and Zoomcast, THE CIRCLE are available to you. You are not alone in this work and we are happy to help. We consider you and your school a vitality partner with us as we navigate building the Kingdom of God. Let’s get moving today on creating the effective marketing plan. Engage others, share this dynamic vision and build school vitality.

This will take time, patience, persistence, perseverance and PRAYER.

Do not fear, we walk in Faith and this is God’s work.

_______________________________________________

Thanks, BERNARD

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