[These blogs are supposed to be short, punchy thoughts from our experts. Unlike the polished copy that we create for our clients, these thoughts and notes will be more informal and have a chatty and personal style. Enjoy!]
It’s that time of year when you need to start thinking about your school’s prospectus. Actually, scrap that, you should really be almost ready to send it to the printers - just a few finishing touches and then you can send it to be printed. Here are some things to remember to help you get the most bang for your buck, with an up-to-date and engaging prospectus that you can be proud of for the next 23 months!
Here are some things to consider when you’re getting your prospectus together:
In September you’ll have a group of new starters - all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed - perfect for photos (and remember, the biggest audience for your prospectus are the parents of pupils entering year 1 and year 7 - so it’s a good idea to show plenty of similarly aged kids!)
In September your students will have the best uniform - make sure that you get plenty of photos of your students looking their best!
In September, you know what your teaching and support staff will look like for at least the next year - use this time to get photos and information about these people.
In September, you may have new staff. A new head for example. Use this opportunity to present a pen picture, blurb, or introduction to the head. This might be used in the prospectus, but it should also be used on social media and your website.
In September, you will have a good idea of the upcoming events within the year (DOE, a Royal Wedding, etc.) so use this time to put together a social media and marketing strategy that you can stick to. You can refer to these in your prospectus. For example ‘April 2024 - Year 7 trip to Paris’ - if you’re clever, which you probably are, you can write about the past trips in such a way that shows what new students can look forward to.
In September, you’ll know what awards and accreditations you will have achieved and acquired in the previous year - an Ofsted result, for example. Now is the time to include those on your shiny new prospectus.
In September, you might want to consider hand-delivering your new prospectus to your catchment area - it’s great to be on the top of the pile and it’s a really nice way to make the first introduction.
In September, you should already be considering how you’re going to get new students through the door this time next year. This should be at the front of all school and education marketers head’s, and everything you do should help your audience take a step further towards applying to your school next September.
When is the best time to produce your prospectus, do you think? We’ve made it really easy - we’ve said it about 15 times already! It’s September, so start working on your school prospectus now. If you need help, whether that’s a full design, photography, copywriting or printing, then please get in touch and we’ll talk about how we can help!
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Company Ten helps schools all across the United Kingdom do marketing better. From video production and photography to social media management and training, and a lot of things in between - we are specialists in helping schools use ‘digital’ to their advantage. We’re not just flogging our services either, we actually want to help! So that’s why we offer free monthly training in digital marketing - to help you and your school improve and do better. We want you to be able to utilise everything that the world of marketing in education has to offer.
Your school prospectus. (8 minute read)
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