As has become the tradition, the last Marketing Matter of the year is a compilation of what I’ve learned since Marketing is Education, and we are to be life-long learners.\u00a0 In keeping with my systems thinking theory of the need for 5 elements in any successful system, I limit my sharing to only 5 lessons per year.\u00a0 Some of them are quite profound, while some of them are just not nice.\u00a0 Here we go:<\/p>\n
1) The World is Full of Experiential Learners (a lesson repeated from about 6 years ago).<\/strong><\/p>\n Some people would rather make decisions from a logical perspective, even though it “feels” wrong.\u00a0 As educators, we know the affective domain is quite powerful.\u00a0 In sales, the affective domain is what makes the decision, and it’s then supported by the cognitive domain.\u00a0 If the only the cognitive domain is engaged, then unwise decisions can result.\u00a0 When you add the kinesthetic domain to the mix, one may find that a decision that has been made without all the input one can gather results in frustration, additional work, or sometimes, a situation which cannot be easily corrected.<\/p>\n Think of it this way.\u00a0 When someone is buying a new home, many couples and individuals can attest to looking at place after place, and then, enter a house and, even though they’ve never been there before, “feel” comfortable and “know” this is the place.\u00a0 The same happens when parents of prospective students tour your school.\u00a0 It’s why it’s important that parents investigating educational options for their children tour your school first before talking tuition, financial aid and all those other things that focus on “logical” questions, from “How do we get our kids here and back home everyday?” and “How will be able to afford enrolling our children here?”<\/p>\n 2) People Would Rather Watch a Video Than Read Instructions – Even If Those Instructions Have Pictures<\/strong><\/p>\n SO many parents have said, “Can’t I just watch a video?” when given a list of instructions to follow.\u00a0 As an administrator, you know that the cost of video has come way down, and some pretty great things can be produced on mobile devices.\u00a0 Unfortunately, quality videos take time and expertise, and if you don’t have either of those things, then you must pay someone for those things.<\/p>\n If parents MUST read instructions, then more than likely, they’ll simply skip them, especially if technology is involved since the process is expected to be “intuitive.”\u00a0 It’s a quality of the Millennial generation – they expect excellence from everything they pay for.<\/p>\n 3) The Key To Your School’s Success Is Not “Why,” “How,” “What” nor “Where” – It’s “Who.”<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a “three-in-one” item, so to speak.\u00a0 It deals with “who” comprises your school’s target market, “who” are your school’s paying customers, and “who” is in leadership at your school.\u00a0 It’s also important to know there are two other “who”s you need to be aware of.\u00a0 More about that a little further along.<\/p>\n Your school’s target market deals with your main<\/em> audience, and to set your school up for success, you must choose the audience you wish to serve – those who can pay for your school’s services, or those who can’t.\u00a0 When I mention this to school leaders, the usual response is, “We want to offer our educational environment to everyone!”\u00a0 While that’s noble, it’s not a successful business strategy.\u00a0 Before you say your school is not a business, does your school have a business manager?\u00a0 If so, it’s a business….AND a ministry…AND a school.\u00a0 The interesting thing is that when you choose your primary audience, you have the ability to serve everyone…not the other other way around.<\/p>\n Your school’s paying customers are primarily Millennials.\u00a0 Millennials were born from 1985 through 2004, and are 15 to 34 years old.\u00a0 It’s safe to say that the majority of parents in an elementary school is 34 or under, while most parents of high school students are over 35, and therefore members of Generation X – the ME Generation.\u00a0 These groupings will change moving forward, as Genexers move toward paying for college while also dealing with their own student loan debt, and in a few years, Millennials will be the vast majority of parents with children in the PK-12 experience.\u00a0 This experience will more than likely last longer than the usual 20-year timeframe, since Millennials are waiting to get married and have children, or, to have children and then get married.\u00a0 We missed the insights into Generation X, and are inundated with the qualities, habits and preferences of Millennials since they are different from every generation that has come before them.\u00a0 It’s good to know “who they are” so that you’re able to meet the demands of excellence from these customers since they determine your school’s “brand.”<\/p>\n Leadership is also key, as evidenced by the examples provided all around us regarding those in leadership.\u00a0 The leader of your school becomes synonymous with the school in the marketplace.<\/p>\n The “who” relative to your school’s staff is what makes your school a remarkable place to be.\u00a0 There is no other school that has the staff that your school does, and it’s the interaction of those staff members that create the culture of your school.\u00a0 There’s been signifiant discussion about a “cultural fit” when new employees are being sought, so becoming more aware of your school’s “culture” can help to foster enrollment discussions with parents and donors interested in your school.<\/p>\n The fifth “who” refers to “who” makes up your school’s board.\u00a0 It’s important to note that the board is an entity.\u00a0 It is singular.\u00a0 There have been many examples of a person who seeks a position on the board because they’re upset with the direction the school is taking, and then derails any of the advances the board has made toward the vision that the school’s been working toward.\u00a0 There may also be instances where board members who are parents expect to receive special considerations regarding tuition and financial aid, sometimes to the chagrin of other board members who have a long-standing history of financially supporting the school.<\/p>\n 4) Administrators Need to Realize They Need to Be “Future-Oriented”<\/strong><\/p>\n In too many instances, administrators are the first line of defense for a teacher who calls in sick.\u00a0 Technology has permitted us to be incredibly productive so that we can handle many tasks at once.\u00a0 Unfortunately, leadership isn’t necessarily engaged with what’s going on in the day to day, but must focus on the year to year…and that takes planning time and energy.\u00a0 Planning and visioning is work, as is networking with those outside the school who can help make the vision a reality.<\/p>\n 5) “When” Is Not For Us To Decide – But It’s What Everyone Wants To Know, and Expects Immediacy<\/strong><\/p>\n Advancement, Development and Enrollment professionals know this.\u00a0 The school hires an Enrollment Director, and it’s expected that enrollment will increase – immediately<\/em>!\u00a0 An Advancement Director is hired, and the expectation is that $100,000 in new gifts will come rolling through the door – immediately<\/em>!\u00a0 Unfortunately, that’s not how relationship-building works.\u00a0 The school may be struggling simply because there has been no one to “own” the responsibility of contacting parents of prospective students on a consistent basis, or sharing the success (rather than just the “we need your help” message) of the school with those who are interested in seeing the school succeed to serve students today and into the future.<\/p>\n May you and yours be blessed with a (note the 5 elements here) safe, happy, inspired, prosperous and peace-filled 2020!<\/p>\n \u00a9 Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2019 (Original Publication Date: 20191230)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As has become the tradition, the last Marketing Matter of the year is a compilation of what I’ve learned since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/MM-Purple.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ggCS-1kj","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5103"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5104,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5103\/revisions\/5104"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archangeladvancement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}