The competition is hot, and an open day event is your main opporunity to sell your school says Katie Cardona

 

Affordability of school fees has long been a factor in pupil recruitment to independent schools. With VAT on school fees about to become a reality, attracting pupils to your independent school is likely to be more challenging than ever before.

An open day is a key marketing event and therefore plays a critical role in recruitment because it:

• Allows families to get a first-hand look at your school, to experience the culture and the facilities which are crucial to their decision-making process as to whether this is the right school for them.
• Serves as a valuable information gathering exercise in terms of the curriculum, teaching methods, extracurricular activities and pupil support.
• Allows prospective families to meet and interact with the staff and pupils which leads to a better understanding of the school community, and
• Above all, provides your main chance to demonstrate how your school meets parents’ needs and differentiates itself from your competitors.

Now is the time to take a close look at your open events to make sure they maximise the opportunity to showcase your school and demonstrate to prospective families why yours is the right school for them.

A successful school open day involves careful planning and preparation, so what do you need to consider?

Timing

Is there a day and time that will suit everyone? Or do you need to offer alternatives? Research that we carried out with ISBI last year into earlier years showed that morning events were the most popular for families with young children. This is a very good example of how important it is to know your audience and have a deep understanding of their priorities and expectations. That way you will be able to tailor your open event to suit the families you wish to attract.

Data gathering

Are you going to ask families to register for the event or is it going to be an open house? We always recommend asking them to register as you then have the date you need for follow-up target marketing in the future, subject to data protection legislation.

Promoting your event

You will need to create a detailed timeline for your marketing activity in the run-up to the event. In the current climate it’s likely that the objective of your open event will be to improve recruitment. Digital advertising is very effective in raising awareness of your open event and driving attendance. Targeted advertising campaigns on your social media platforms allow you to reach prospective parents based on their location, demographic and online behaviours, and analyse the results.

Prospective families will go to your website to find information about the event and about your school so make sure everything there and on all your social media platforms reflects your main marketing messages and are up to date.

Don’t forget more traditional media such as your local newspaper or radio station. There are plenty of free local event websites where you can share details of your open event. Banners, posters and flyers can also be put to good use in locations where you know prospective families will see them, such as cafes and venues where children’s events are held.

Styling your event

What your open event looks and feels like will depend entirely on your school, but it is important to make it an interactive event for the whole family.

If you are a prep school, and have a nursery, you will want to appeal to very young children and their families. In this instance, a themed open event can work well as it becomes a family day out and provides opportunity for meaningful and memorable interactions. Until recently, I was chair of governors at Rydes Hill Preparatory School and Nursery in Guildford. For the past few years our main open day in October, normally held on a Saturday morning, has been a themed event such as a teddy bear hunt. Visitors are given a map of the school and asked to find hidden bears in certain locations as well as engage in bear-related activities in the classrooms. On completion of their tasks all of the children are given a prize (a chocolate teddy bear, of course). Our experience is that parents and their children enjoy their morning at the school, levels of engagement are excellent resulting in high levels of interest in joining the school.

Marketing a prep and nursery school to millennials will need to feature how you can fit into their busy lifestyles and provide the education and care they will expect, and that applies to the parents as much as their children.

The idea of theming an open event can also apply to senior schools. We worked with a senior school on its sixth form open event a few years ago, which was themed as a mini festival with bunting, hay bales and TEDx-style talks. Of course, this was when such festivals were emerging and current – it’s all about capturing the mood of the moment.

Whatever style of event you decide on, there are some key elements you should consider:

• Parents will expect a warm and informative welcome speech by the head of the whole school or the section you are focusing on. This should set a positive tone for the event because they represent the ethos and values of the school. The content of the head’s talk should include material pertinent to the parents, as well as the potential future pupils in the audience.

• Ensure that there is ample information provided on all aspects of school life and showcase outstanding achievements in academics, sports and the arts. Parents will be looking for information on your pastoral care too, so be sure to have the head of pastoral available to talk to the parents and maybe the school counsellor, or nurse, to provide information regarding mental health support.

• It’s crucial to demonstrate to prospective families that you offer value for money. Your open event is the perfect opportunity to communicate your provision and set out how this differs from your competitors. Some prospective parents may also ask about the strategies you have in place to ensure the sustainability of your school and indeed its green credentials.

• Many schools offer guided tours led by pupils or staff. If the pupils are the tour guides, it’s important to have a mixture of high achievers and those who find learning more difficult. The key is that all of the pupil tour guides need to be confident and able to talk positively and enthusiastically about the school.

• Demonstrations and performances in the fields of sport, music and drama are an excellent way to display the talent of your pupils. On a recent open day mystery shopping visit, we were delighted to enter the music department and hear sublime piano playing. The school had rightly chosen a very talented pupil pianist to be present and the result was impressive. So often we have visited silent music departments, which sends out such a negative message and is very disappointing.

Housekeeping points 

• Review your signage and directions throughout the site so that visitors can find their way easily. If you need to create some temporary signage make sure it follows your brand guidelines and looks polished. Photocopies will not send out the right message.
• Ensure the comfort of your visiting families by providing top-quality refreshments. Enlisting a local cafe to provide great coffee and croissants goes down well with parents (especially on a Saturday morning) and shows that you support your local community and independent traders.
• A small point but nonetheless very important – make sure the lavatories are clean and tidy. Parents often view the condition of these as a representation of how well you look after the whole school and many parents now expect hotel-level quality in your reception area.
• Consider offering a creche for younger siblings so that parents can fully enjoy their visit and little ones have a lovely time too.

 After the event

The main thing is to thank all of your team involved for the hard work they have put into promoting the school. Remember to include those who may not have been there on the day. And thank the families who attended. If you have their contact details via the registration form you can follow up with a short digital survey to ask for their impressions and any suggestions for improvement. You can also talk about the next steps for them and any additional information they might need.

Remember that parents will use an open day as one of a number of decision-making factors taken into account when choosing a school. They will also look at inspection reports, internet chat platforms and talk to current parents and staff at your school. Therefore, you need to make sure that all of these channels represent your school in a positive light.

Open events have always been important for recruitment, effective communication, relationship building, decision-making and raising awareness of your school for prospective families and the wider community. Now, as families face additional financial pressure when deciding whether they can afford an independent education for their child, open events will become even more significant to your marketing and admissions functions. We appreciate there’s a lot to think about, but hopefully this advice will help your school to offer a welcoming, informative and engaging open event that leaves a positive and lasting impression for prospective families.

Katie Cardona is a consultant with Reed Brand Communication