This presentation was presented at the NYSAIS Conference at Mohonk Mountain House in April 2014. During this presentation, I discuss a primer on word of mouth marketing, eight drivers of word of mouth, 15 strategies to implement at your school, example word of mouth marketing campaigns and a review of the top NYSAIS websites that tell their school's story online.

1. Rick Newberry, Ph.D.
Rick.Newberry@EnrollmentCatalyst.com
www.EnrollmentCatalyst.com
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

2. } During this presentation we will discuss
how you can put the WOW into your
school’s WOM!
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

4. Education
Admissions and Marketing
Family
Blog
Coaching
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

7. } President, Enrollment Catalyst
} Enrollment and Marketing Strategy Coach
} Blog at www.enrollmentcatalyst.com/blog

8. 8

9. Enrollment Catalyst partners with schools to
provide coaching for leaders in their enrollment
management and marketing systems and
strategies needed to reach their goals.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

10. © 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

13. } Introduction
} A primer on word of mouth marketing
} What drives word of mouth?
} 15 strategies to drive word of mouth at your
school
} Examples of word of mouth marketing
campaigns
} NYSAIS review of websites that tell their
school’s story

14. Word of Mouth drives buying
decisions including those of
your prospective parents.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

15. 15

17. } We rely upon word of mouth in our own
buying decisions.

18. “Word-of-mouth recommendations from
friends and family…are still the most
influential, as 84 percent of global
respondents across 58 countries to the
Nielsen online survey said this source was
the most trustworthy. Trust in advertising on
branded websites increased 9 percentage
points to 69 percent in 2013 as the second
most trusted format in 2013.”
• Nielson
84% Trust Word of Mouth

19. “92% of all consumers report that a word of
mouth recommendation is the ‘leading
reason they buy a product or service’.”
• Rand, Highly Recommended

20. Word-of-mouth is the number
one way that parents first find
out about your school.

22. Isn’t it ironic that even though we know that
word of mouth is our leading inquiry source,
we don’t…
◦ Develop and implement a word of mouth marketing
plan
◦ Cut back on our traditional, outbound marketing
strategies
◦ Give our parents tools to share
◦ Tell our school’s story very well
◦ Use our website to tell stories of students, parents,
faculty and alumni
◦ Drive more word of mouth by asking parents to
invite their friends to consider your school

23. A primer on word of mouth
marketing.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

25. WOMbound Marketing

26. “WOMbound is the intentional and proactive
strategy to generate, facilitate and inspire
word of mouth through your advocates. It is
how brand advocacy works by harnessing the
power of word of mouth to reach your
prospective parents and students
most effectively.”
• Rick Newberry, Enrollment Catalyst
WOMbound

27. Ø New media
Ø Web-based
Ø Pull
Ø Listen
Ø Engage
Ø Hub
Ø Authentic
Ø Content
Ø Stories
Ø Old media
Ø Traditional
Ø Push
Ø Interrupt
Ø Broadcast
Ø Megaphone
Ø Slick
Ø Ads
Ø Slogans
Ø People
Ø Mouth
Ø Advocate
Ø Share
Ø Relate
Ø Conversation
Ø Trustworthy
Ø Experience
Ø Credibility

29. “Word of mouth is more effective than
traditional advertising for two reasons:
First, it’s more persuasive.
Second, word of mouth is more targeted.”
• Berger, Contagious
More Effective

31. “So what is word of mouth
marketing? In this book, I
define it as ‘Giving people a
reason to talk about your stuff,
and making it easier for that
conversation to take place’.”
• Sernovitz, Word of
Mouth Marketing
WHAT IS WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING?

35. “The best marketing is the kind you don’t buy.”
“If parents are satisfied, you won’t have to spend a
dime to advertise. We talk continually about the
education of our children.”
“Your best marketing is with current parents and
students being satisfied with their education. “

36. “Stop spending so much money. Word of mouth
from satisfied families is your best marketing. An
ad is not going to influence anyone.”
“When you have a great product, it is much easier
to market and word of mouth will be
much stronger.”

37. Eight factors that drive Word
of Mouth at your school.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

38. Word
of
Mouth
Satisfaction
Quality
Passion
Loyalty Trust
Service
Stories
YOU/People

39. Satisfaction

41. Pleased.
Happy.
Expectations match Experience.

42. Quality

44. “Word of mouth marketing isn’t about marketing
at all. It’s about great customer service that
makes people want to tell their friends about
you. It about fantastic products that people
can’t resist showing to everyone.”
• Sernovitz, Word of Mouth Marketing
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

46. “The best word of mouth is how a company
does business every single day.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation

47. Passion

48. “You must have have community before you
can ever even begin to dream of a
movement. And you know what moves
conversation within a community to
advocacy, the fuel for movements?
Passion.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation

49. “People will only talk about you if they are
inspired by their own passion.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation

50. Your parents will talk about their children
(their passion) and about their education
when they see the difference that your school
makes in their child.

51. Loyalty

52. Faithfulness or devotion to
your school.
Continued enrollment.
Advocate and supporter for
your school.

53. Trust

54. “Word of mouth marketing only works if you
have good products and services. It only
works if people like you and trust you.”
• Sernovitz, Word of Mouth Marketing

56. “Every brand and every recommendation, no
matter how big or how small, no matter how
reserved or vocal, online or offline, begins
with a relationship.”
• Rand, Highly Recommeneded

57. Word of mouth is shared and
believed in trusted relationships.
Enrollment rises and falls on
leadership and relationships.

58. Service

60. © 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

61. } When you serve your parents or students in
an exceptional way or do something that is
memorable, this creates a moment that will
be shared by word of mouth.

62. Stories

63. “Stories are part of who we are.
After all, you don’t tell slogans
about your grandfather, or how
your parents met, or even how
you were treated in a
restaurant.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church: Brains on Fire
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

64. We live in a story.
We relate to stories.
We listen to stories.
We can see ourselves in a story.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

66. “Like authors Chip and Dan Heath informed
us, stories stick. And here’s why: We
internalize stories. They become personal to
us, because we can imagine experiencing
them ourselves.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation

67. “No matter who you are or
what kind of company or
organization you work for,
your number-one job is to
tell your story to the
consumer wherever they are,
and preferably at the moment
they are deciding
to make a purchase.”
• Vaynerchuk, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How
to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World

68. “People don’t just share information,
they tell stories.”
• Berger, Contagious

69. } Stories about real people
◦ Faculty
◦ Staff
◦ Coaches
◦ Students
◦ Parents
◦ Alumni

70. YOU!
People

71. “Marketers do not decide what gets talked
about—People do.”
• Phillips, Cordell, Church, Moore, The
Passion Conversation

72. “Word of mouth is natural conversation between
real people. Word of mouth marketing is
working within this conversation so people
are talking about you.”
• Sernovitz, Word of Mouth Marketing
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

73. You need to implement a
WOMbound marketing strategy
at your school to drive word of
mouth!

74. The following are 15
strategies that you can use to
drive word of mouth at your
school.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

75. #1
You Need a Plan
75

77. 1. Talkers—who will tell their friends about
you?
2. Topics—what will they talk about?
3. Tools—how can you help the message travel?
4. Taking Part—how should you join the
conversation?
5. Tracking—what are people saying about you?
Ø Sernovitz, Word of Mouth Marketing

78. #2
Marketing Director
=
Storyteller
78

79. } A school doesn’t need a marketing director to
place ads or design fliers; A marketing
director should drive the storytelling and
word of mouth marketing effort at the school.

80. #3
90%+ of WOM is
Face-to-Face
80

81. “More than 90 percent of the
conversations about products,
services, and brands that take
place every day in America
happen offline.”
• Keller and Fay, The
Face-to-Face Book
Talkers Talk Face-to-Face

82. } Personal Meetings
} Coffee and Conversation Meetings
} In Home Vision Meetings
} Large Group Meetings
} State of the School Address
} Car Line Greeting

83. #4
Parent Advocates
and Ambassadors
83

84. Word
of
Mouth
Advocates Ambassadors

85. 1. Encourage all of your parents to be talkers
for your school.
2. Launch a parent ambassador’s program.

87. #5
New Parents =
New Love
87

88. } New parents can be the best resources for
your school to reach out to their previous
school, church, club, neighborhood or other
group.

89. 1. New love is powerful
2. Love and money don’t mix
3. Nobody talks more than a lover’s scorn

90. #6
Give Your Parents
Tools to Share
90

92. Postcard and car
magnet sent to
parents

93. 93

94. • Brochure
• Fact Sheet / Infographic
• Talking Points
• Business card
• Video
• Email to share
• Giveaways
• Spirit wear

95. #7
Ask Your Parents
95

96. } Tell the story of your school by communicating
experiences in their own words.
} Invite a friend to experience your school by
visiting campus.
} Write an online review of their experiences
} “Like” your school’s Facebook page and
participate in the conversation.
} Direct friends to your website to check out your
school.
} Refer a friend to the admissions office by having
a designated form on your website.

97. #8
Soft-Sell
Introduction
Events
97

98. } Library story time
} Play dates
} A day at the zoo
} Botanical Gardens
} Mommy and Me

99. #9
Tell Stories
99

100. } Website
} Blog
} Facebook
} Social Media Sites
} Online Reviews
10
0

103. #10
Involve Your
Students
10
3

104. } Student Ambassador Tour Guides
} Student Blog
} Marketing Group
} Testimonials and Stories
} Videos
} Events
10
4

105. } Host a special “friend” day for current
students to invite their friends to spend the
day with them at your school.
} The goal is to encourage and motivate
current students to focus on inviting their
friends they want to encourage enrolling in
your school, especially when students are key
to the decision!

106. #11
Capture the
Moment
10
6

108. 10
8

109. #12
Use Video and
Be Creative
10
9

110. Assumption “Firework” Lip Dub now has over
55,000 views on YouTube!

112. #13
Do Something
Memorable
11
2

113. } First day of school
} Birthdays
} Middle school hoodies
} Give something away
} Send a personal note
} School closing announcement
11
3

115. #14
Wow Visitors
11
5

116. High Point University provides
“WOW” moments for prospective
and campus students

117. #15
Measure your
NPS

119. } On a scale from 0 to 10, with 10 being very
likely, how likely are you to recommend a
friend to your school?

120. } Score of 9 or 10
} Loyal enthusiasts who keep returning and
refer others, fueling growth.

121. } Scores of 7 or 8
} Satisfied or unenthusiastic parents who are
vulnerable to other options; may have some
concerns but continue to stay the course

122. } Scores from 0 to 6
} Unhappy parents who can damage your
school’s brand and impede growth through
negative word of mouth.

123. %Promoters - %Detractors
=
NPS

124. We will look at several schools
and their word of mouth
marketing campaigns.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

136. 13
6

138. 520
540
560
580
600
620
640
660
680
700
Enrollment
Re-enrollment for the 2014-15 school year
is the highest ever!

141. Sent to Parents by division and all Faculty

157. Based on my review of all of
the NYSAIS websites…
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

158. } Some bright spots but many schools
need a website overhaul
} Similar look and feel
} Some poor first impressions
} Limited storytelling focus
} Homepage doesn’t tell the prospective
parent about the school
} Static copy and not engaging
} Out-of-date blogs

159. Bottom 10
NYSAIS Websites

160. You really didn’t think I would
show the bad ones, did you?

161. Top 10
NYSAIS Websites

162. #10

172. #9

176. #8

184. #7

190. #6

198. #5

205. #4

214. #3

222. #2

236. #1

250. Your website should primarily
be a marketing tool to tell the
story and stories about
your school.

251. What will you take away and
implement as a result of this
presentation?

252. What will you take away and
implement at your school as a
result of this presentation?

253. Actually, this is the beginning
for you to put the WOW into
your school’s WOM.

254. For More Information:
Enrollment Catalyst
Rick Newberry, Ph.D.
9770 Indian Key Trail
Seminole, FL 33776
727.647.0378
Rick.Newberry@enrollmentcatalyst.com
www.EnrollmentCatalyst.com
www.Facebook.com/EnrollmentCatalyst
@RickNewberry
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst