The business case for school marketing

Seminar brief:  Do you want to work in a full school with engaged Do you want to work in a full school with engaged parents, strong community links and a strong income flow? We will explain the ‘marketing’ process and share examples of schools that have taken a formal, strategic approach and achieved these goals – without spending vast amounts on advertising! 

In this seminar Justin Smith will explore: 

• What ‘marketing’ really is – and why it starts with listening, not spending
• Engaging your whole community behind a consistent purpose and goal
• Using the resources you have – including students and buildings – to save money!

In our work we regularly visit amazing schools – but schools that don’t ‘bottle’ and share what makes them great, and as a result end up feeling in the shadow of other local schools. 

Take home points:

• All schools have amazing stories and people – but they need to be freed from being seen as just job roles to help you share your messages
• There’s no ‘magic bullet’ in communicating your key messages – you need to find what works for your stakeholders (and social media isn’t working like it used to!)
• Schools responded to the challenge of COVID with some amazing innovation in communication – but some of this is already being lost!

This session is for: All school business leaders, senior leaders and governors

Speaker name/title:  Justin Smith, MD Chameleon Consultancy and Training

About the speaker:

Following a career spent in private sector business development and marketing, Justin moved into the education sector over 20 years ago and has worked as a senior leader in three large secondary schools in East Anglian. In 2017 Justin established Chameleon Consultancy and Training, designed to provide specialist marketing and income generation services to the education sector. A vastly experienced bid writer, Justin has secured over £7m in additional income for schools. An assessor with Best Practice Network, Justin supports school leaders with the School Business Professional Apprenticeship. Justin was awarded the Guardian/ISBL Marketing Award in 2015, became an ISBL Fellow in 2017 and is a member of the Institute of Fundraising.