headmaster

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

Is the perception of your school’s brand far too important to be left solely to school marketers? How exactly has our digital world shifted the role of school staff in marketing? In this episode, we discuss who really is responsible and how your school, as a whole, can become best equipped to operate like a media company.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

The following key aspects should be considered when your school operates like a media company:

1. Develop a content strategy: Just like media companies, your school needs to have a clear and well-defined content strategy. This includes setting marketing objectives, identifying the target audience, determining the type of content to create (blogs, videos, podcasts, etc.), and establishing a content distribution plan.
2. Create compelling content: Your school should create engaging and valuable content that resonates with your target audience, whether it's prospective students, parents, or alumni. This content should showcase the school's unique offerings, culture, and successes, and also provide insights into the educational experience and outcomes.
3. Utilise multiple platforms: Schools, like media companies, should use a variety of platforms to distribute their content, such as websites, social media, email campaigns, and print materials. This will help to increase the reach and effectiveness of your school’s marketing efforts.
4. Measure success and adjust strategy: Media companies monitor the success of their content through various metrics, such as views, shares, comments, and conversions. Your school should also track the performance of your marketing efforts and adjust your strategies accordingly to optimise results.
5. Build a strong brand identity: Like media companies, your school needs to develop a cohesive and recognisable brand identity that reflects your core values and mission. This involves creating a consistent visual identity and tone of voice across all content and marketing materials.

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

“The greatest delivery system for any idea is a story.” Seems simple, right? Yet, before you can craft an effective narrative you must ask yourself three questions: Who is your story for? What is it for? How will you know if it’s working? We cover the six types of stories – from personal anecdotes to the sceptics’ story – that will clearly articulate your school’s brand. 

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

What is the best way to think of strategy for non-strategists? Is it possible to clearly distinguish strategy from tactical execution? In this episode, we’re joined by CEO of Strategic Factors and Harvard Business Review author, Dr Graham Kenny, who knows what yields results and what doesn’t when it comes to executing a strategy.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe 

As you’re aware – as a school Head – switching hats from managing teachers to managing your marketing team can be quite the juggling act. So how can you adjust your management style to reflect this? In this episode, we go over our seven-step guide so you can effectively communicate with (and inspire) your team to achieve your school’s objectives.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

McCrindle’s Director of Advisory Ashley Fell summarises some surprising (and unsurprising) trends school Heads must be aware of leading into the year ahead, spanning from the virtuous needs of consumers (in this case, parents) to a shift in intergenerational connections in the workplace.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

How do prospective parents determine value? And most importantly, how do you increase your school’s perceived value? In this episode, we discuss what the perceived value theory is and how you can apply this theory to prospective parents as a Chief Value Proposition Officer. 

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

Dr Christopher Duncan has 20 years’ experience leading independent schools across Australia and is now the CEO of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA). He spoke with SMJ about the observed parallels between leadership, decisions made by the Board and marketing strategies – leading to his mission to improve school governance.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

How do you create enticing content to get your prospective parent to know, like, and then, ultimately, trust you? And most importantly, how do you leverage that trust into an opportunity? In this episode, we discuss how you can reach the seven key stages of the life cycle of your prospective parent’s journey, resulting in the prospective parent becoming an advocate for your school.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

Despite staggering inflation costs, many schools have increased their fees well below the current inflation rate in recognition of the cost-of-living pressures on families. In this interview, Edstart founder and CEO, Jack Stevens dives into Edstart’s School Fees Report 2023 to summarise the surprising tuition trends across the country and the financial implications this has had on schools. 

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

The future of artificial intelligence (AI) is here and with it comes the need for an answer to the big question: What does this mean for the future of school marketing? In this episode, we take a look at ChatGPT, the AI software stirring controversy, and reveal how you can utilise this powerful technology to augment and enhance your marketing and communication strategy.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

As a leader of school marketing, there are two simple questions you should be answering: Who are you as a school and why do you matter? In this second half of two parts, we continue analysing the complexities of your positioning and reveal how you can unravel what your school does at its core.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

When thinking about your school experience strategy, you must consider all the moments families will have as they journey through the lifecycle of your school experience – from the first time they ever connect with the school – all the way through to becoming members of the alumni community. In this episode, we speak with David Willows and Suzette Parlevliet from [YELLOW CAR] who have been on a whirlwind trip the last few months bringing their signature expertise in Customer Experience for Schools to Heads and marketers across the world.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

As a leader of school marketing, there are two simple questions you should be answering: Who are you as a school and why do you matter? In this episode, we analyse the complexities of your positioning and reveal how you can unravel what your school does at its core.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

Subtitle: School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

From the ongoing repercussions of COVID-19 to extended waitlists, prospective parents face uncertainty in many areas of their child’s education. In this interview, CEO of Knuckleball Consulting, Mike Vachow joins us to discuss what he’s learnt after serving in five independent schools, sharing his eight tips for eliminating this uncertainty in parents.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

It’s easy to lose focus of your external audience – prospective and current parents – when internally marketing your school. We explore where you should place your focus in a world of endless distractions and growing demands as the end of Term 4 approaches. 

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

Often, school Heads find it difficult to prioritise the workload of their development team to maximize the dollars raised with the number of staff they have. In this interview, Jill Goodman shares the seven-step framework you can follow to meet your development and fundraising targets regardless of the size of your team.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

Everything your customers know about your brand comes from what they see, hear, watch, and read … so all of your content advertising needs to adequately represent your brand. In this episode, we continue discussing why consistency is the key factor in building customer trust and how this consistency can be translated through a writing style guide. 

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

When it comes to fundraising for schools, it seems everyone has an opinion, a favourite campaign format, or rules that should always be followed. These opinions are usually based on past success, but what works in one school won’t necessarily work as well in another. We interview Dr Wendy Scaife, the Associate Professor and the Director of the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies at Queensland University of Technology to get a helicopter view of philanthropy in Australia and help you to navigate your way to success in this space.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

Your brand can only remain consistent if every team member is following the same decision-making process when creating content. We talk you through everything you need to know about writing and style guides, what a comprehensive branding guide looks like and how to avoid inconsistent messaging creeping into your content.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe

Every school has a brand. However, perceptions and expectations of your school brand are constantly evolving. We interview the Director of Solutions at McCrindle, Geoff Brailey, to learn a thing or two about brand tracking and discover the brand-related questions school Heads should be asking.

Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au