Obvious or Interesting? To Market Your School Effectively, Say Something Interesting
Thirty seconds. That’s your window.
My husband loves to announce the obvious with the confidence of someone delivering breaking news. “It’s raining,” he’ll say with a smile, as we’re both getting soaked. It does make us laugh, as do the many times he says, “I have a keen sense of the obvious.”
Does your school state the obvious?
Schools do this constantly. Small, warm, welcoming. All boys. All girls. Jewish. Catholic. When I hear these descriptors, I think, “That is the least interesting thing about you.” You’ve just spent valuable time with information I could glean from your website, your name, your signage, a quick Google search. What I really want to know is: How does your school actually benefit its students? What makes the experience unforgettable?
When you lead with the obvious, you’re preaching to the choir—connecting with families who already know what they want, or at least understand, or misunderstand, what you offer. But what about the parents on the fence? Or parents who don’t get it and think they do? The ones who might be perfect for your community but don’t yet know it? The students you’re missing and are missing you?
Students who might be perfect for your community but don’t yet know it need something more than a checklist of the obvious. They need to feel like they want to be a part of your school, to understand what makes you different, memorable, worth it, interesting, not just facts that make you definable.
Your thirty seconds matter. Make them count. Say something interesting.