The Enrollment Management Association’s quarterly magazine, The Yield has had a big impact on us here at True since it came out in November 2018. This week is the NAIS Annual Conference, and Sean Williams is going. That made him revisit the issue and share this post.
The Cover story, “The View from 30,000 feet,” featured 12 consultants to the independent school enrollment industry, and the “latest trends” were pretty darn scintillating reading. Some of the many ideas that resonated with us are outside of marketing, but of course, those that DID apply to our IndySchools marketing practice were quite cogent and interesting.
Here’s our take on some of the key trends discussed in the feature:
The idea that the enrollment manager is the “connector in chief” was fascinating. Scott and Tammy Barron run School Growth, and their view is that the siloed organization at most schools has got to go. Collaboration among advancement, business office and enrollment management represents a golden chance to share not only data, but insight and interpretation.
We love this idea, and often recommend creating a communication council that pulls these constituencies together along with representatives from parent communities, faculty, and other staff and leadership functions. The path to collaboration runs through communication and coordination – you can read more about that in our blog series on integrated communications.
Chris Baker’s “Six characteristics of successful leaders “ also resonated. Here are the six with a little of our commentary:
The last highlight we’d share is on marketing – Dr. Americus Reed notes that schools, at last, are learning from other industries and embracing branding not just for its logos, colors and typefaces. He says the hard part “is infusing [your brand] into every single fiber, every aspect of what you’re doing, and using your brand to make decisions every day about HR, enrollment and strategy.” (p. 8)
Rick Newberry notes that most schools still aren’t making the needed investments in marketing, both in terms of budgets, but in terms of people. “They’re sensing the need for knowledge about how to reach their markets. Investment in market research is critical, but enrollment teams need to start the conversation with the board, starting with the data they have on hand and advocating for funds to get the data they need.” (p. 10)
Newberry says schools should spend 1%-3% of their operational budget in marketing. We assume that’s exclusive of salaries, and expresses a range that may correspond to school size. For most industries, including salaries, 5%-9% of revenue should go to marketing depending on whether the organization wishes to grow. Recent research put those numbers higher, but we’ll stick to the 5%-9% range. Of course, if your school is 25% under-enrolled…
There’s more. Want to talk IndySchools marketing? I’ll be at NAIS from Wednesday evening’s reception until conference close on Friday afternoon. Hope to see you there!
Otherwise, find me! SDWilliams@truedigitalcom.com or 216-356-6689. Oh, and @CommAMMO on Twitter.
Want a free eBook on Independent School Marketing and Communication? Download it here.