Name: Megan Brown
Job title: Marketing & Publicity Leader
Current place of employment: Northfleet School for Girls, Kent UK
Years’ experience in education marketing: Probably around 4 years
How did you get into school marketing?
Totally by accident! I first joined the school in 2010 as a Learning Resource Assistant, providing graphic design and photography/videography. I am a designer and photographer originally, but my role has slowly developed over the years. Over time, I took sole charge of our social channels in the hope of developing our digital communications. This allowed my role to expand and lead me to becoming the Marketing & Publicity Leader.
In terms of marketing, I am totally self-taught. I love to learn new things and widen my skillset so over the past 4 years or so, I have learnt a lot regarding school marketing. I’ve attended quite a few networking events (where I met the lovely Sally from Ambleglow!) which helped further my knowledge along the way.
What does a typical day look like for you?
No day is typical really; I love that my job is diverse, and no day feels the same.
Pre-pandemic times would see me running around with a camera and documenting lessons/events and managing our socials channels: new posts, answering parent queries. I also design all of our school’s printed and digital resources, from prospectus’ to banners and advertisements.
What do you feel has been the most significant change in your profession since you first started working as a school marketer?
It’s got to be how much social media plays a part in the marketing of any school. Looking at surveys or analytics, the vast majority of our existing and prospective parents are engaging with our school mostly on social media. When I embarked on this role, we were looking at the usual print advertisements such as newspaper ads or bus stop campaigns but as we move into the 2021/22 academic year, we will be putting a heavy weighting on digital advertisements through Facebook and Instagram.
How do you measure the success of your marketing campaigns?
It differs. Sometimes I will really delve into the analytics of a campaign and look at it that way but sometimes just having a quick look at engagement (likes, shares) on social posts is enough. I think you learn to know what works and what doesn’t very quickly on social media. Our parents tend to like a lot of photographs and video, so I know these elements are key when planning campaigns. Surveys are really valuable too – at Open Evening, ask where and how prospective parents found your school details; was it in the newspaper or was it on Facebook? We spent a lot of time and money on local bus stop campaigns for one recruitment year and it transpired that these advertisements were actually not what got people through the door!
How do you ensure you’re keeping up to date with different methods of marketing?
There are some great communities on Facebook and LinkedIn; they are great soundboards for seeing what works in other schools. I think it’s good to look at how other sectors market too; sometimes they can be transferable to schools. Just keep your finger on the pulse!
Which social media platform do you get the most from?
Facebook is where our parents are at and Instagram is where we reach our students. I would say the biggest engagement comes from parents, however.
What’s your favourite tool you use? Such as Asana, Hootsuite etc.
I’ve recently (I know! Late to the party!) started using Hootsuite for scheduling – so far so good! I’ve also discovered Canva too which is great for templates when I haven’t got time to design something from scratch; I love their animated designs.
What’s your favourite date in the school calendar for marketing?
There are many: Sports Day, World Book Day, Results Days; we also do a yearly colour run! However, Open Evening is the biggest event for me. It’s stressful and I want to tear my hair out during the prep, but it’s a great feeling to see it all come together and know you’ve had a direct impact in introducing many people to the school. I’m bias, but it’s a great school and to be able to positively show it off is a real privilege.
Moment(s) you have been most proud of in your current role?
My Headteacher said to me once that my work and efforts had played a big part in the intake numbers of our school in recent years. It doesn’t get better than that really; it’s why I am in this role and to be able to play a part in growing our school community is a great feeling.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
To take pride in everything you do.
What do you see as being the most significant change school marketers will face in the next 10 years?
I think the digital world will continue to impact schools and how they operate. After Covid19, I think many schools will have learnt how valuable digital platforms are in connecting with students and parents. I can only imagine this will evolve as the years go by – what will happen? I’m not sure but I’m excited!
What’s been the biggest challenge in your role?
I’m a team of one so sometimes it’s tough to juggle everything during busy periods. Budgets are sometimes tough too, for all schools.
How did your school deal with marketing throughout the lockdown/COVID-19?
What a strange time! Tackling our Open Events in October 2020 was a real learning curve for all of us involved. We chose to create a secondary website dedicated to prospective parents. We packed it full of everything they would have experienced in the flesh; school tour, videos, student advice, meet the teachers, photos and so much more. The feedback was great and from feedback, parents seemed to really value it. As hard it was for us, I can’t imagine how hard it was for parents and students to choose a school they had never seen “in real life”. This is why it was so important for us to provide an accurate representation of our school community and everything it has to offer.
For our existing parents and students, we ramped up our social communications; ensuring they felt connected to the school and staff despite the separation. I think they really did appreciate this.
Northfleet School for Girls’ social media channels:
School website: www.nsfg.org.uk
School Facebook: www.facebook.com/NorthfleetGirls
School Twitter: @nsfgoffical
School Instagram: www.instagram.com/northfleetschoolforgirls
School YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCylPYuYvOfCRFtGYfl_ruIA/