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Data And Your School’s Digital Marketing Strategy

Mar 04 2018

Are Your School Marketing Activities Data-Driven, Or Are They Still Guesswork?

I was helping a school the other day with their digital strategy and it came to mind how few marketers are actually using data to guide their marketing efforts. And understandably so. It wasn’t that many years ago that schools weren’t even thought of as a ‘business’, so of course, analytics haven’t been in the forefront of school marketers’ minds. However, with competition and digital platforms growing at a faster rate than the average school marketing department, utilising facts and figures to guide your activities only makes sense both from a business and a personal standpoint.

Let me give you a few real-life examples of how data can benefit both yourself and your school ….

You’re Feeling Pressured to Do More

We’re all guilty of checking out the competition – and of course you should keep an eye on each other to some degree – but is your marketing strategy driven by what other schools are doing? Do you look at a competitor and think ‘we need to do that’? Or perhaps your Head has come to you and pointed out a neighbouring school is doing XYZ and insists, therefore, you do the same.

Just because another school is on a particular social channel or doing some new activity, doesn’t mean the same will be work for you. Or that it’s working for them, for that matter! With so much pressure on school marketers to do it all, you’re not the only one that may be falling victim to this mentally.
How do you know if a new marketing activity is the right tactic for your school? Put some goals in place and track its effectiveness!

For instance, if one of your objectives is to increase your Open Day numbers you can set up a goal in Google Analytics that will track each time someone registers to attend your event. Then by adding simple tracking code to your new marketing activity, you can determine if it’s contributing to that conversion. If not, then perhaps it’s not right for your school. Either way, you’ll have the data to back your decision.

You’re Doing Everything and Still Not Reaching Your Targets

Maybe you’re the school that’s doing it all – blogs, news, podcasts, videos, study guides, advertising, and on every social platform out there. You name it, you’re doing it. Yet you’re still not hitting your marketing targets. Your Open Day numbers are still down and Admission applications just aren’t where they need to be. So, what’s the solution? Again, turn to your analytics. By putting those website goals in place and tracking each of your marketing activities, you can strategically focus on the activities that are making a positive impact on your bottom line. Focus your energies where they matter!

You’re Doing Great, Thank You Very Much

You’re over-subscribed and hitting your Admission numbers so you must be doing exactly what you need to be in terms of your marketing activities, right? Well, yes and no. Although you can’t deny what you’re doing is working, are you being as effective as you can be? Can you accomplish just as much with a lot less blood, sweat and tears? Not to mention funds! If you’re not tracking your marketing activities you’ll never be able to identify which of your efforts is actually making a difference and which you’re ‘wasting time’ on. With resources more often than not limited for school marketers, why not cut back where you can and put that energy into an area of your school business that can use it!

No matter what your situation, make data your new best friend. Adding goals and tracking your marketing activities really isn’t complex – any marketer can do it. And once in place, it’s very easy to identify your successes. Imagine if you were able to determine the mediums and platforms that drove the most prospectus downloads, Open Day registrations and Admission enquiries – wouldn’t you do more of that, rather than spreading your resources in areas that brought you no return? It’s this data that should be driving your future marketing – not guesswork!

Join me Wednesday, 7th of March for my latest #LunchAndLearn webinar, where I’ll walk you through the easy steps to tracking and measuring your marketing activities. It’s all about working smarter in 2018…

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Alta Justus, The Virtual Marketer

Alta Justus, The Virtual Marketer

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A passionate digital marketer with 18 years marketing experience, I’ll work with your school to maximise your online presence. Don’t get left behind — contact me today!


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An equally creative and analytical Digital Marketing Consultant with over 18 years education and commercial marketing experience, I'm passionate about helping schools succeed in the digital arena. Read More…

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#tuesdaytip: Have a Google account? Use it or lose #tuesdaytip: Have a Google account? Use it or lose it! Google's recently announced accounts that haven't been used in a couple of years, or exceeded their storage, will be at risk of deletion. If you're like most school marketers you'll probably have a few Gmail accounts and a Google Drive or two that you haven't looked at for a while. Of course, I'd always recommend using a verified school email over a Gmail account but if are using a random Gmail and Drive to store photos or to access your Google Analytics, etc, make a point to check those accounts. It will be a while before your data is deleted, and you'll receive a couple of warnings, but as we all know tasks like this can be set aside until it's too late. Don't risk losing valuable data or photos - review your Google accounts today. And while you're at it why not switched to a Google verified work email so you don't miss any important messages like this one 😁

How to verify your school email with Google: 
Visit my blog via my bio or go to
👉 https://thevirtualmarketer.co.uk/how-to-use-my-school-email-for-my-google-accounts/

#vmdigitaltips #digitalmarketing #googlenews #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing
I love this quote about being productive vs busy. I love this quote about being productive vs busy. And this article — 11 Differences Between Busy People And Productive People — gives some great examples of the differences as well as tips to become a more productive person. I know I'm bad at saying 'Yes' a little too quickly for my own good so a great reminder for me. Who couldn't use a few tips for improving productivity... 😁

👉https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/11-differences-between-busy-people-and-productive-people.html

#mondaymotivation #timemanagementtips #digitalmarketing #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing  #strategicmarketing
I'm so pleased to see an increase in schools reach I'm so pleased to see an increase in schools reaching out for SEO training and support. Yes, digital advertising is the fastest way to get in front of your parents, but you should still be thinking long-term. That may very well include digital campaigns, but ideally, you'll want to grow your organic traffic to the point that you can reduce your advertising spend. At the very least you'll want to maintain your school website's SEO rankings.

When it comes to optimising a website for search engines there are a few things that have remained consistent throughout the years - like these 5 SEO tips. Still relevant after all these years and yet many schools have failed to do them. Why not grab a cuppa, have a read then make a plan to optimise your school website in 2021. Every little helps...

👉 Visit my blog via my bio or copy the link below

https://thevirtualmarketer.co.uk/5-seo-tips-every-school-marketer-can-implement/

#thursdaythoughts #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #seotips #seostrategy #studentrecruitment #2021goals
Do the computers in your ICT classroom default to Do the computers in your ICT classroom default to your school website? If they do you'll want to filter out your internal traffic from Google Analytics to get a true sense of your data. It's not difficult to do but you'll first want to have a chat with IT to get a list of your IP addresses.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀:

👉 Start by creating a new view. Once you filter traffic out of GA you can't get it back so create an additional view such as 'Filtered Traffic'
👉 Next, create a filter on your new view. Go to Admin > Filters and click +Add Filter
👉 Name = Exclude Internal IPs (or whatever you choose to call it)
👉 Filter Type = Predefined
👉 Select filter type = Exclude
👉 Source = Traffic from the IP addresses
👉 That are equal to = your IP address or range

For more details on how to create your new view or filter visit https://support.google.com/ or ping me a message 😊

That's it! Now you'll be able to see both your filtered and all data dependent on the view you select! 👍📊

#tuesdaytip #vmdigitaltips #googleanalytics #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #strategicmarketing
I'm not sure about you but I certainly don't belie I'm not sure about you but I certainly don't believe marketing can be learned in a day! And as marketing is continuously evolving, are any of us ever 'Masters'? But I agree with the intent behind the message—marketing is a profession where your training never ends. Or shouldn't! When was the last time you did any training—digital or otherwise? Why not make CPD a priority in 2021! 👍

#digitalmarketingtraining
#socialmediamarketing
#digitaladvertising
#seo
#googleanalytics
#schoolmarketing
#educationmarketing 
#studentrecruitment 
#mondaymotivation
Does your school brand reflect what parents are lo Does your school brand reflect what parents are looking for and engaging with online? The internet has evolved over the years and so have our audiences. They're savvy to sales pitches and blatant self-promotion. What they want is to connect with businesses and people they can trust—especially with their child. For brand authenticity, you need to be perceived as reliable, respectful, and 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡. Does that sound like your school...?

#morningcoffeethoughts 
#brandidentity 
#schoolmarketing 
#educationmarketing 
#contentmarketing 
#socialmediamarketing 
#schoolwebsite
You've probably heard me mention many times the im You've probably heard me mention many times the importance of gaining control and optimising your Google My Business account to improve your search engine rankings.
 
One of the fields that has a direct impact on your SEO is your Business Category. You may currently have one or two added, but did you know you can have up to 10 categories? Google is updating their categories all the time so it's worth looking at this field when you're adding new photos or sharing your latest blog within the platform. 
 
I came across this fab website the other day that can quickly show the different categories available outside of GMB. Select your country and add your term (i.e. 'school') and see all the options available. Of course, you can also do the same in GMB but this may be the prompt you need to add those additional categories and improve your school's SEO!
 
👉https://pleper.com/index.php?do=tools&sdo=gmb_categories
 
Just a note, I'm having difficulties accessing this site this morning (not sure if it's me or them??) but hopefully, you'll have no problem getting in 🤞
 
Not sure what Google My Business is? Have a peek here: https://www.google.com/intl/en_gb/business/
 
#tuesdaytip #vmdigitaltips #digitalmarketing #seotools #seotips #seostrategy #seoservices #schoolmarketing
Since how you think dictates how your week goes, w Since how you think dictates how your week goes, why not start on a positive note?! It's not always easy but there are ways to help you develop a more positive mindset. 

If you have 5 minutes, grab a cuppa and have a read of this article by @womenontopp, 𝟱 𝗪𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹:

👉https://www.womenontopp.com/5-ways-to-develop-a-positive-mindset-to-help-you-become-more-successful/

(you can also search 'improve your mindset' in Google to find it) 

There's some great advice in there to help shift your mindset, so definitely worth the read. 

Here's to a fantastic week, everyone! 😊

#digitalmarketing #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #digitalmarketingtraining #wellbeing #mondaymotivation
I know Monday is the last thing on your mind on a I know Monday is the last thing on your mind on a Friday afternoon but if you can do these few tasks today I guarantee you'll feel so much more positive and in control of your week:

👉 Plan for the week ahead. Tuesdays are apparently the most productive day of the week so schedule any of your big projects for that day and see if that's the case for you.

👉 Keep Monday as your flexible day. Monday is the day that sets the tone for the week and if you pack too much into the day you'll start the week off feeling behind. Schedule smaller tasks and keep as much time open as you can.

👉 Do a little digital housekeeping today. With energy usually low on a Friday afternoon it's a great time to tidy up your computer files. It's easy work, but also immensely rewarding. While you're at it, maybe give your desk a little dusting off as well. A clutter-free desk and mind are the best way to start your week!

I'm off to clear my own desktop files. I'm terrible at 'I'll file that away later'... 😁

Have a fabulous weekend everyone. See you Monday!

#fridayfeeling #organisedchaos #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #digitalmarketing #digitalmarketingtraining
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