Using the WEB to inspire WOM for your school

Rick Newberry, Ph.D.

Rick.Newberry@EnrollmentCatalyst.com
www.EnrollmentCatalyst.com
© 2012 Enrollment Catalyst

 During this webinar, we will focus our
discussion on using the WEB to inspire
WOM for your school.


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Enrollment Catalyst partners with schools to
provide coaching for school leaders in their
school’s enrollment management and marketing
strategies needed to reach their goals.


Word of Mouth is the number
one way that prospective
families discover your school.


 Do you remember the old Faberge Organic
Shampoo TV commercial?
 Complete with 80’s hair, a young model
appears on the screen and begins by saying:
“I told two friends about Faberge Organic
Shampoo with pure wheat germ oil and
honey. “
 She concludes by saying: “You will tell two
friends, and they’ll tell two friends, and so on
and so on and so on.”

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


 The Web is the first place a parent looks when
they hear about your school from a word-of-
mouth referral.
◦ Google search
◦ Website
◦ Facebook page
◦ Reviews

What is Word-of-Mouth Marketing?

“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


 New media  Old media
 Web-based  Traditional
 Pull  Push
 Listen  Interrupt
 Engage  Broadcast
 Hub  Megaphone
 Authentic  Slick
 Content  Ads
 Stories  Slogans

Inbound Marketing Outbound Marketing

 Word of Mouth and the Web
 The desire for authenticity
 The power of in-person and online referrals
 The need to be in a conversation
 The importance of creating remarkable content
 The power of telling a story


 The WEB is a tool to tell the story of your
school so that it can be shared through WOM.

We live in a story.
We relate to stories.
We listen to stories.
We can see ourselves in a story.


“Stories are real. Slogans are made up.
Stories pull you in. Slogans try to push out a message.
Stories are deep. Slogans are shallow.
Stories are personal. Slogans are impersonal.
Stories are passed on by word of mouth. Slogans are
forced on us by ads.

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


 Stories about your people and your school
◦ Faculty, students, parents and alumni
◦ Your brand in story form
◦ Real stats connected to real people
◦ Vision for the future
◦ How your school is remarkable
◦ How your school makes a life-changing difference
in students
 Educational topics
 Parenting topics

We will take a look at some
WEB strategies you can use at
your school to inspire WOM.


Each “Dot” Represents a Story

Four “unbound” short books that
tell the Dana Hall story in four
different ways

Homepage features several
quotes from students, faculty
and alumni. The user can click
on the image to read and view
more of the story.

Homepage features a
rotating student story
that can be clicked on to
find out what CA means
to the student.

In the Spotlight
highlights key
stories on the
homepage

Student bloggers tell the Crystal Springs story

Cushing Students
and faculty write
blog posts to share
their trip to Bhutan

 Pictures with captions and stories
 Blog posts
 Video vignettes
 Ask for likes
 Ask questions
 Summer vacation pictures

Photos tell the
story at Miami
Country Day

 When a parent enrolls in your school send
them an email and ask them to share a post
online:
◦ “I just enrolled my child at Country Day School for
the 2012-13 year. Check out their website at
(school web address) to discover why more families
like ours are choosing this school!”
◦ “Selecting a school is one of the most important
decisions you will ever make. Ask me why I enrolled
my children at Country Day School for the 2012-13
year!”

 Produce short video vignettes to provide
real-life testimonials and stories about your
school.
 Post videos to YouTube, Vimeo or another
service.
 Feed them back into your website or send
them out through an email.


 Ask Current Parents – “What do you like best
about your school?”
 Ask New Parents – “Why did you select this
school for your child?”
 Ask Alumni – “How did your school prepare
you for success in college and in life?”
 Ask Faculty – “What do you like best about
teaching at your school?”
 Ask Seniors – “What college do you plan to
attend next year?”

Assumption “Firework” Lip Dub now has over
45,000 views on YouTube!

Video tells the story from a student’s perspective
of the 10 things they love about Deerfield

Video vignettes showcase why students and
parents chose DVFS

Brookwood’s BTube
page contains a variety
of videos showcasing
the life of the school.

Brookwood’s BPod page
contains a picture and
caption of the day.

Actually, this is the beginning
for you to go and implement
WEB strategies to inspire
WOM.

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


Using the WEB to inspire WOM for your school

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