How To Communicate Your
Charter School's Excellence:
MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS OVERVIEW
2013 Florida Charter School Conference, Orlando, FL
Today’s presenters
 Henry A. Rose, President




Unicol, Inc.
Nick Driver, Vice President Strategic and Client Services
Charter School Management Corporation
Will Ford, Vice President of School Affairs
Global Village Concerns
Robert Bellafiore, Founder/President
Stanhope Partners
Lynn Norman-Teck, Director of Communications
Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools
Marketing & Public Relations topics
 Marketing for Excellence – Henry A. Rose, Unicol, Inc.
 Why Invest in Marketing? - Nick Driver, Charter School
Management Corporation
 The Power of Branding & Marketing in Today’s World Will Ford, Global Village Concerns
 Crisis Communications – Robert Bellafiore, Stanhope
Partners
 Spread the word: Generating positive news coverage Lynn Norman-Teck, Florida Consortium of Public
Charter Schools
Marketing
YOUR
Charter School
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Many charter schools underestimate the
importance and strength of marketing. There is
a lot of confusion about charter schools. It is
good business sense to inform and educate your
community about YOUR charter school and the
charter school movement in general.
This presentation will help you to start thinking
strategically about getting your message out in a
way that both increases student enrollment and
turns more of your community into advocates.
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Pre-K – 12 Enrollment
District
Broward
Palm Beach
St. Lucie
Martin
Indian River
Okeechobee
Miami-Dade
Florida
2006
262,726
171,429
38,786
18,239
17,611
7,289
353,783
2,662,701
2010
256,474
174,659
39,259
18,170
17,740
6,789
347,406
2,643,396
2006-2010
-2.38%
1.88%
1.22%
-0.38%
0.73%
-6.86%
-1.80%
-0.73%
Marketing YOUR Charter School
2013-2014 Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP)
Survey Week: October 14 – October 18, 2013
A student must meet the following two criteria
in order to generate FTE for a school during a survey:
1.
2.
Be enrolled during the survey week
Must attend at least one day of school during the attendance window
_____________________________________________________________________
2nd Marketing Opportunity:
February 10 – February 14, 2014
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Today, people communicate very differently. Parents and
guardians talk to their children digitally. Students submit
homework and projects via e-mail, on websites, and even through
social media. Everything is different.
Your charter school can no longer just rely on having a phone book
listing and ad, or a static website.
Charter schools, just like all successful businesses, need a
marketing plan…to maintain and increase student enrollment, and
tell the community what sets your charter school apart.
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Marketing Plan
Paid vs. Non-Paid
1. Identify YOUR Target Audience
2. Develop a Campaign & USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
3. Create & Execute Specific Tactics
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Identify
YOUR
Target
Audience
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Develop a
Campaign & USP
(Unique Selling
Proposition)
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Create
&
Execute
Specific
Tactics
1. Traditional Media
2. Digital Media
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Traditional Media
 Print
oMagazines
oCommunity Newspaper
 Direct Mail
 Outdoor/Transit
 Cable TV
 Events
 Other
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Digital Media
 Website
o
o
o
o
Static vs. Non-Static
RSS Feed
Search Engine Optimization/Organic Search/Keywords
Search Engine Marketing/Paid Search/Pay Per Click
 Google Maps/Local/Places
 Social Media
o Facebook Page
o Facebook Ads
 YouTube
 Twitter
 Other
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Track
&
Integrate
Marketing YOUR Charter School
Unicol, Inc.
Henry A. Rose
President
P.O. Box 260550
Pembroke Pines, FL 33026
954-430-7271
HRose@Unicolinc.com
Why Invest in Marketing?
Communication leads to understanding. Understanding
leads to broader public support. Broader public support
leads to progress in education.
The attraction of a “brand”
• Funders & parents alike are attracted to a brand or
known entity.
Marketing helps your bottom line
•How much is a filling a single desk worth to your school?
Filling 5 desks?
•How much would you invest to fill those desks?
Your School in Printed Materials
Common Charter School Printed Material Errors
•Difficult to find most important information
•Too wordy
•Failure to be “end reader focused”
•Not reflective of the target market
•Does not convey a sense of value
Your School in Printed Materials
• Invest in professional work: Get a
photographer to take pics, use a graphic artist
to create you image. Use a real printer.
• Print for the year: Printing costs go down as
the volume goes up. Don’t print for a single
campaign if you can avoid it.
• Don’t be a afraid to go big: Flyers should be
no smaller than 5”x7”. Rather than doing a trifold (8.5”x11”), do a four-fold (8.5”x17”)
Your School in Printed Materials
The most important information on the flyer is:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Your school name/logo
Your grades served
Your phone number
Your school address (cross streets help if you are
in a large city)
Your web address
That it is a FREE and PUBLIC school
A single unique character or achievement of your
school
Your School Online
Web
• Your website is your 24/7 commercial
• Many schools have difficult to maneuver websites
Most important aspects to feature on your Homepage:
• Grades served
• Address & phone numbers
• Process to apply
• Key characteristics of your school (call to action)
• Contact form (not an email link)
• Short video testimonials
Your School Online
Social Media
Regardless of the site, you have to “feed the beast” to make it
useful and appealing
Facebook:
•Initially you will only have parents – goal is to grow:
•At least 2-3 posts per week with both targets in mind
•Regulate what posts are made by parents
Youtube:
•Use, use, use YouTube! Videos can be formal or informal, done
with a phone, and uploaded immediately.
Twitter:
•Most parents don’t tweet, it may find you outsiders though.
Your School & the News Media
While the media coverage is a very powerful
outreach medium, it can be difficult to attain.
• Identify and establish relationships with every possible
Ed beat writer or local TV station.
• Don’t assume your event press release is newsworthy
• ASK THEM! What types of stories are they focusing on,
what directions have they be given, “is this news”?
• Write your press/media release like an article. Include
pictures, quotes, contact information, etc.
• Don’t get discouraged just because your release isn’t
picked up.
Passive “Guerilla” Marketing
Guerrilla Marketing is an advertising strategy that
focuses on low-cost unconventional marketing tactics
that yield maximum results
Many charter schools create branded materials and
have them for sale at their schools.
Do you have them?
What what the intent or goal in creating those items?
Passive “Guerilla” Marketing
• Create an annual marketing budget in the amount of
about $20 per student.
• Before purchasing any collateral items, think about:
–
–
–
–
Who do we want to see with them?
Who will use them?
What is its life span?
What kind of impact do we want to make?
• Create items with intent to GIVE them away to your
families – not sell them
• Your goal should be exposure, all the time, all around
your city.
Passive “Guerilla” Marketing
Families as Walking Billboards
Providing your families and supporters with branded items
can generate awareness, dialogue, and interest.
• T-shirts
• Bumper stickers
• Vinyl cling decals
• Lanyards
• License plate frames
Bad items: Water bottles, pens, chapstick, candy,
mints, stress balls, or any easily disposable item.
“The Power of Branding & Marketing in Today’s World”
1
energize your brand
brandempowerment.com
Phone: (888) 501-1577
energize your brand
brandempowerment.com
Phone: (888) 501-1577
energize your brand
brandempowerment.com
Phone: (888) 501-1577
energize your brand
brandempowerment.com
Phone: (888) 501-1577
2
manage your brand
“THE ABILITY TO CONTROL HOW
OUR COACHES,
ADMINISTRATORS AND VENDORS
USE OUR LOGO IS PRICELESS.”
Alex Mclean
Rancho Christian Schools
Temecula, California
brandempowerment.com
Phone: (888) 501-1577
3
monetize your brand
“HANDS FREE SYSTEM”
Award-Winning Online School Store
•
•
•
•
•
•
Raise money 24x7
20% back on all sales
Zero Inventory
Zero Monthly Maintenance Fees
Professionally Managed
World Class Support
brandempowerment.com
Phone: (888) 501-1577
monetize globally
Moscow
London
Brazil
Sydney
South Africa
brandempowerment.com
Phone: (888) 501-1577
1
2
Step 1 – Recognition
Any event that disrupts normal operations can be a
crisis
Usually bad … but not always
• Could be a blessed event
Often externally driven
But most are self-inflicted
It does not have to be true.
3
Risk Areas
• Bad Acts by people under your watch
Can be legal or ethical
Faculty, staff, hangers on
Students
• Failure to act
Did you let it slide?
• Environmental/Safety
Crime, civil rights, sex, drugs, fair treatment
4
Step 2: Your response…
5
What do to … once event occurs
1. GATHER THE FACTS
• Without bias or desire to align facts w/hopes.
• Don’t lie, shade or speculate.
• Say what you know, not what you think you know.
2. Address the issue that created the crisis
3. Be first! Silence gets filled by rumor and speculation
 No comment = admission of guilt
4. Perception rules
5. Damage is a function of time, not intensity.
6
Steps you can take in advance
1. Decide who your crisis management team will be.
 Ops, legal, parents, authorizer, communications
2. Create internal communications tree.
3. Build infrastructure – contact info for key people
inside and outside – and put it in a folder!
4. Have a set of principles from which you will not
lightly deviate.
5. Use your head – if something doesn’t look right at
the start, it probably isn’t.
7
Rules to Remember….
1. The easiest crises to manage are the ones you manage
before they happen
2. If you don’t manage your reputation, someone else will
3. Silence can be fatal
4. How you respond often means more than the crisis
itself
5. You are the best messenger of your own bad news
6. Speed matters – be proactive, not reactive
7. Don’t try this at home – get professional help
And this may be the most important rule to remember …
8
THIS
NEVER
WORKS!
Spread the word!
Generating positive news
coverage about your school
2013 Florida Charter Schools Conference
Orlando, FL Why Spread the Word?
Positive publicity…
• Tells your story
• Builds credibility and strengthens your brand
• Educates your target market
• Influences public opinion and drives legislators,
school board members and community groups -all of whom can positively or negatively impact the
success of your school
• Builds your savings account of goodwill
Start by creating a PR Plan
•
•
•
•
•
Identify your key messages
Evaluate current perceptions
Select a spokesperson
Develop a media contact list
Identify opportunities - capitalize on scheduled
events…determine what is newsworthy
State Representative Doug Holder visits Student Leadership Academy
Capitalize on a growing trend.
Media loves a great visual!
Lynn Norman‐Teck
Director of Communications
l.norman‐teck@floridacharterschools.org
305‐216‐6208
www.floridacharterschools.org