I’ve recently begun helping my daughter’s private elementary school update some of their marketing practices. Through this process I’ve run into a lot of “that’s what we do” or “well that’s very similar to what we do” comments from the people that have managed the PR efforts for the school for the last 15 years.  To add another layer of context to the management of their PR, the PR managers are the Principal and the Secretary of the school. No one that contributes to the PR strategy has any experience in marketing, sales, pr, or advertising.  This decision has left the school’s PR strategy looking much more like shooting darts in the dark without any accountability when they don’t hit the target, then an actual strategy.

                The reality is, they do not currently do many of the things that I’m suggesting and what they are doing isn’t tied to any direct strategy or measurable outcome.  I am a Lead Admissions Representative for a Career School and I have worked in the field for over 8 years.  I live in a world of metrics and behavioral goals with measurable outcomes. It has been a valuable learning experience for me to work with a smaller group of self managed PR individuals. Through this experience it has become blatantly clear why there would need to be a separation of duties between those that develop marketing and advertising and those that manage performance. The person developing the strategies and the person responsible for measuring the performance of those strategies need to be separate, otherwise the integrity of both are compromised due to personal involvement and a lack of objectivity.

                Through building relationships, I’ve had some success with updating their media kit and addressing enrollment processes. I volunteered to help the school through lending my experience and talents, but in the end I was surprised to find that this experience has taught me how much really goes into revamping an organization’s PR strategy.