A unique selling proposition or USP is almost certainly a phrase most of us are familiar with but usually associate with a commercial service or product. However, the harsh reality
is that most schools are in competition with one another, vying to attract the very best staff and ensuring they have a full pupil roll for the next academic year. Justin Smith, Managing Director of Chameleon Consultancy and Training Ltd, outlines how to develop a USP for your school.
When we talk about branding your school, we're really looking at building an identity – an experience that parents, pupils and staff can relate to. This session looked at what this means in practice and how you can develop values and messages as the foundation to your marketing strategy, to develop core values and fine tune those key messages. Justin emphasised the most crucial aspect of building a brand – to set you apart from others.
Over the past few years, I have helped many schools develop fundraising and marketing strategies. Some issues come up again and again. School staff are overwhelmed with existing workloads and struggle to find time to dedicate to income generation. Often, schools don’t know where to start, or what to focus their limited resources on. On many occasions, there appears to be a disconnect between the work of the PTA (or Friends Association) and that of the main school. This can then impede the collective ability of the school to focus on income generation. Some schools haven’t got to grips with understanding their fundraising priorities, resulting in a stop-start approach that loses its way at the first sign of trouble.
The COVID-19 pandemic stopped us in our tracks, literally. As we grappled a new way of thinking and adopted working-from-home strategies, it began to slowly dawn on us that this was unlikely to be a short-term bump in the road. Justin Smith, Managing Director of Chameleon Training and Consultancy, looks at how an effective digital communication strategy can help schools keep in touch with students, parents and stakeholders.
Justin Smith, of Chameleon Training and Consultancy, explains what to do in the event of the kind of crisis which creates unwanted media attention for your school.
Are you using social media to its full potential? What platforms work best for schools? How often should you be posting? What should you post? Justin Smith provides a quick guide to social media for schools.