smj: school marketing journal

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe Is it possible for your school to stand out in a sea of sameness? This episode, Brad and Scully discuss the idea that to be effective with any content marketing strategy, you have to develop a distinctive – as opposed to distinct – point of view for the story you’re telling or the value you are delivering at your school. We investigate how being only distinct limits our ability to stand out and how by being distinctive, your school can be the ‘purple duck in a room of brown mallards’. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe This episode Brad and Scully discuss the case for school magazines and why it is important not to dismiss the idea of print publications. We discuss how the long form content of Prospectus’ and other school publications work differently from the ‘bite-sized’ content that is so often associated with digital communications, and how school Heads can use these hand-in-hand to get the best communications results for their schools. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe In the final part of this four-part series with Maria Kadison, President and CEO of EdwardsCo, we discuss how to execute and align all the brand initiatives to form your school's public presence and form one strong, cohesive brand strategy. We investigate how to streamline your messaging and narrow down your marketing to your key messages to reduce confusion amongst your potential customers. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe In this episode we pick up where we left off from Episode 164, as we discuss navigating issue management. We walk you through a flowchart about issue management and the types of decisions you will be faced with. As we explore a number of fictitious case studies, we assess the four key questions that every school Head needs to ask themselves before communicating with the community when an issue arises, and then follow our flow chart to give you practical advice on how to respond respectfully, efficiently and effectively. Episode links: Navigating Issue Management - A Guide for School Heads School Issue Management Response Flowchart Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe In the third part of this four-part series with Maria Kadison, President and CEO of EdwardsCo, we discuss the idea of EDGE; Expressing Differentiation and Generating Engagement. Discover how EDGE can distinguish your message and intrigue prospective families about your offering. We'll cover how you can use message architecture tactics, including key messaging, brand stories, archetypes, and personality, to set your school apart from competitors. Finally we delve into practical ways to discover themes that can define your differentiation and subsequently generate interest from prospective parents. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe The way that a school Head responds to issues can have a significant impact on the school’s reputation, trust and most importantly, the wellbeing of their students and staff. This episode, Brad and Scully discuss how the key lies not just in appropriately reacting to issues, but proactively managing situations with a strategic approach to communication. We share our framework which details on how to assess the impact, develop a clear response plan and how to decide what to say, when to say it and to whom. Navigating Issue Management - A Guide for School Heads School Issue Management Response Flowchart Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe In the second part of this four-part series with Maria Kadison, President and CEO of EdwardsCo, we discuss some of the things successful schools are doing to uncover valuable data and how to identify the sources of this data. We analyse the different groups relevant to schools and dive into how each demographic can be useful in gaining information to improve the enrolments process and retention. Maria then gives us seven questions that schools can ask prospective families in order to gain a clearer picture about their school. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe Deepfakes are where Artificial Intelligence is used to create or alter video and audio recordings with remarkable realism. In this episode, Brad and Scully discuss the rise of deepfakes and how, for schools, the advent of deepfake technology brings a host of communication, reputation and safety concerns with a range of opportunities for misuse. We present a multifaceted approach for schools to mitigate the risks associated with deepfakes, including key actions for school Heads to prepare for deepfake challenges. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe This episode, Brad is joined by Maria Kadison, President and CEO of EdwardsCo, a branding, marketing, strategy and design agency for independent schools across the United States. In the first episode of a special four-part series, they discuss how school marketers can deeply understand their school’s mission and how to turn that into the school’s brand. They explore how creating a meaningful brand creates trust for the community and prospective parents and eventually leads to school growth. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe Looking into the future, Brad and Scully discuss the ‘Martec Revolution’ and the implications and challenges that schools will face adapting to rapid technological changes. They provide an action plan for school Heads to implement to ensure their schools are embracing change, aligning technology with their overall strategies and adapting to the dynamic marketing environment. To conclude, they discuss the role of the school Head in all of this and how to balance expectations and practices within your team. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe This episode we talk to multi-award-winning speaker, change strategist and bestselling author of ten books, Michael McQueen. Michael discusses how to master the art of changing people’s minds and persuading stubborn people, and how to apply this in the context of a school Head. We investigate a number of education industry examples, including how faith-based schools can effectively target a wider audience, strategies Michael finds particularly effective for schools, and the common mistakes people make when trying to persuade others. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe This episode we talk to Anthony McCausland from Feesable, who has been analysing nearly 31,000 fee estimates from July 2022 to June 2023. Anthony shares his insights on all things school fees, from how schools are fine-tuning levies and early payment discounts to meet their financial objectives, to what strategies schools can use to ensure they are meeting market demand, and importantly, how school Heads can communicate fee changes effectively to maintain trust and retention. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe As Heads start to think strategically about their 2024 marketing and communication plans, we take this opportunity to share what we see as some of the key pitfalls and challenges likely to affect school Heads in the next 12 months. We have an in depth discussion on how a lack of differentiation, ineffective communication, neglect of storytelling and oversight across the digital landscape are some of the major challenges facing your School in 2024. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe Today we chat with Bart Caylor, President of Caylor Solutions, about the incredibly rapid rise of AI, what it means and some of the incredible things it allows us to do. Fresh off recently hosting the HigherEd Marketing AI Summit, Bart shares his knowledge with us on how to leverage AI in school marketing, emerging AI trends and everything Heads need to know to navigate this fast-evolving landscape. Check out the resources that Bart, Brad and Andrew discussed this episode by clicking the links below: chat.openai.comclaude.ai perplexity.ai Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe This episode we are joined by Stuart Meade. Reflecting on his career – which included 21 years as a school Head at Hale School, Perth and Mathew Flinders Anglican College, Sunshine Coast – we discuss how marketing and communications in schools has evolved over the years. He shares priceless advice for school Heads, as well as what he wishes he had known when he started his career. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe At the very essence of every decision you make as a school Head is your school community. As a Head, your ability to listen to the community’s voice goes a long way to contributing to the success of a project. This episode, we discuss why it is important to listen, relate to and understand your community so that you can speak on their behalf and make decisions in their best interests. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe To understand what your school brand is, you need to first understand what a ‘brand’ is. In this episode we discuss some of the misconceptions on what a brand is, and how these misunderstandings can affect the way school Heads manage their brand. We also discuss how your school’s success is influenced by the level of trust customers have in your brand, and how to create trust with your brand design. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe Having recently returned from the AHISA Biannual Convention, we recap some of the conversations we had with school Heads while there. We go through the some of the recurring themes we encountered, from the difficulty of hiring and professional development of staff, to mental health, community engagement, how to differentiate in the competitive landscape of education, and how schools can effectively communicate fee increases. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe How can you improve (or start) the alumni program at your school? We talk to Alastair Lee, Managing Director of AlumGrow Consultancy, to find out the benefits of building strong alumni relations and how to acquire the most value out of your school’s alumni program to achieve your long-term strategic goals. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au

School Marketing Journal with Brad Entwistle and Andrew Sculthorpe Is print relevant anymore? Is digital really the ruler of the communication world? We debate the positives and negatives of both print, digital publications and a combination of both, to help you decide how you should best produce your school’s publications. Get in touch at smj@imageseven.com.au