Marketing
Our school does not advertise. We have a very specific curriculum and students search us out on the internet. We participate in industry fairs and conventions, and part of our 5 year plan is to have some open houses demonstrating one of our courses. Any other ideas?
Hi Susan
Sounds like a really interesting situation. What is the curriculum and what is your website? Your website must be great to drive people to it. Sounds like your admissions staff is great and get back to the leads so they sign up. If you can let us know about your programs we may have some ideas for you. Best wishes, Susan
Hi,
The web is definately good advertising in this day and age. I would also check into newspapers, a lot of them have career sections that you can advertise in. Word of mouth is also a very powerful form of advertisement, so keep your students happy, besure your student services department is up to par and dend them off with a bang and have a fantastic graduation for them.
Do you uhave any competitors? Do you do web marketing through key word purchases? If the only way your students find you in on the web you may want to invest in optimizing your web site and your ranking with different search engines.
Interesting. If you don't advertise and you're having success with not advertising, I would say that the saying hold true, "Word of mouth is your best advertising." I'm woundering however, what is your student count and retention is?
MARk
Hi Mark
Word of mouth advertising is usually the best because there's little or no cost and students tend to be qualified. It takes a long time, a great plan, and a lot of work to depend on referrals. So constantly looking at enrollment figures, retention, graduation, and placement is essential. Thanks, Susan
capitalize on the great situition your in. ARE THERE OTHER MEDIUMS YOU USE THAT ARE NOT BEING CONSIDER/ counted/ word of mouth? other types of branding? news and press releases?
Hi Harry, Good points. You are focusing on all the ways to get the word out about a school that costs little to no money. Press and news releases are great as well as sending announcements of events for the calendar of your local newspaper. Many publications welcome information about your school and grads. Knowing you have a good chance to get press often encourages schools to think about special events that will get good publicity, before, during, and after. Thanks for the reminder. Susan
Marketing is important and the way a school works with leads and PDLS you cannot just rely on PDLS and internet, other resources could play a big role in admissions sucess.
Maryolaine,
Good points. We think the best enrollments come from referrals. In fact, that's the way many schools fill their classes. If your grads are happy they will want their friends and family to attend. If employers are happy they might send their staff for special training at your school. Good news travels fast. Make the experience at your school the best. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
We find that word of mouth is definitely the best, and then interestinly enough billboards.
Nancy,
Sounds like you are focused on measuring results. That's great. We find word of mouth is the best publicity too. And it is certainly the most affordable! Interesting that you get results from billboards. Are you measuring number of leads plus how many enroll? Do you have multiple programs and therefore have a wide market? We would be interested in more detail. Also the copy and design of the billboard. Thanks, Susan
Dr. Susan Schulz
