Information in the modern age is like a man-made island. It may be the most beautiful island in existence, but it is distant and unreachable except for those who know where to look. This is where the work of a school brand comes in: it creates the bridges and networks that lead people to the school, rather than having the school rely on the false hope that their target audience will find them if they try hard enough.
Finding the Right Students
Nowadays, schools operate like a business, and a business needs clients to survive. It is necessary, otherwise they will be left behind and lose their competitive edge with other schools who fully embrace the information age. Word of mouth only goes so far anymore, especially when in the United States alone, there are millions of students spread between the public school systems and higher education institutions. Those are poor odds upon first glance, but they don’t have to be, not with an effective school brand. The scope of an effective campaign can reach an audience larger than ever before.
A brand does the work of a marketing, copywriting, social media specialist combined and works after hours. It reaches students in the corners of the country that would never have been found organically; it finds those students who would flourish academically, socially, and intellectually in their school’s environment, who would be challenged to succeed, and who would be inspired to create.
The process functions like a cycle: the brand draws in the students, who go on to graduate from their institution with all their merits and achievements in hand. They go on as a living representation of the school’s brand, which in turn positively bolsters the overall reach and impact. The process repeats ad infinitum.
Finding the right teachers
Students only grow to their full potential when surrounded by the teachers who challenge and inspire. Per the National Center for Education Statistics, there are over three million teachers in the public schools alone, with thousands retiring each year and new teachers entering the workforce; that’s a staggering number for any company recruiter to deal with.
Just as a school can’t dream of reaching the target audience of students without a school brand, neither can they reasonably expect to recruit the best teachers. The school may face the following situations: teachers who may not be the best fit but apply only because they need a job. Or: a shortage of good applicants because all the best teachers have already been hired by other schools – other schools with a better brand, likely.
An effective school brand delivers the school’s mission statements, tenets of teaching, and values before the teacher even steps foot in the door. It ensures that the candidates who apply are more likely to be aligned with what is best for the students and the school’s continued success.
In sum, it is no longer a viable option for schools to rely on their merits alone. Casting aside a school brand is effectively closing themselves off from the methods that would ensure the best students and the best teachers. In turn, this would lead to more negative impacts down the road – loss of funding and a poor reputation to name a few. Schools succeed when they adapt to the modern age and employ winning strategies, and adopting a school brand is at the very top of that list.
