We have all heard this question before. “Does anyone have a marketing plan?” When the question hits the forums and listservs, there is mostly silence. A marketing plan is not an easy document to create. It is a professional document that takes time and understanding of your scope and goals to complete it well. It has caused many of my fellow private school admission comrades a bit of grief. It’s often an unfair request because it tends to be a knee jerk reaction to an enrollment problem and the support to make it valuable is often missing. However, the admission director, the associate or the director of communication is expected to come up with a magical formula to fix the problem. Below, I offer a couple of recommendations for creating a basic plan to attract full-pay families that may be able to solve your immediate problem.
Step I
Ask the head about the expectations for the marketing plan. What does he or she mean by a marketing plan? Don’t make an assumption that you are both on the same page. Ask the head if there is a budget to support the plan? This will engage the head in the process and perhaps, prevent you from hanging out there alone.
Step II
You want to determine the styles of communications that you will be using to complete this marketing effort. Three are three categories – monologue, digitalogue, and dialogue. These styles of communication will make up your actionable items. Here are examples of each:
Monologue – viewbook, letters, newspaper ads, post cards
Digitalogue – email, blogs, twitter, facebook
Dialogue – campus tour, open house, class visit day
Brainstorm with the head or your marketing team about tactics that you feel will be the most effective. For each item, you will want to answer these questions as part of your written plan.
- Who is the target audience?
- What is your message? Why should the customer be interested?
- Why does the customer want to engage with this particular communication medium?
- What action do you expect them to take?
- How will you measure success?
Place these programs and activities in some type of chronology for the year. In other words, plan what you will do each month. I believe the marketing program cycle should run for about 16 months – starting in May and continue through August of the next year. (Choose the months and time frame that work best within your cycle.)
Step III
Add the following elements to your plan.
- Philosophy Statement –explain your approach to marketing based on what you have chosen to do with the three styles of communication.
- Goal Statement – Determine goals for the overall plan.
- Determination of Success – Indicate what would determine success for the overall plan.
This plan doesn’t represent the full level of sophistication that will eventually be needed, but it will be a start. If you are interested in something more sophisticated, turn to a structured framework such as the methodology behind The Five Pillars strategy or something similar.