[Welcome back to our Word of Mouth Marketing Lessons newsletter. This is text from the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using this handy form.]
Schools and word of mouth marketing go hand-in-hand. Small budgets, plenty of talkers, a buzzworthy topic — everything you need for a great word of mouth campaign.
Here’s how to harness it and get people talking about your school:
1. Use what you’ve got
2. Give better swag
3. Make friends with local businesses
1. Use what you’ve got
Gullett Elementary in Austin uses the sign outside of their school, Marquee Mark, to share jokes, quotes, and general “Marquee-Mark-isms” every week. It’s an easy, inexpensive way to get people’s attention and start conversations about the school. Almost every school has a marquee, and while it’s generally used to share school announcements, why not catch people off guard and make them laugh sometimes instead?
2. Give better swag
At Christ Chapel Academy in Virginia, they decided to give parents reusable bags instead of the usual folder full of stuff on “Back-to-School Night.” Why? Because, while a folder and a reusable bag are equally useful, the bag is a more portable word of mouth tool parents will use over and over again. Swag is a great word of mouth tool, but too often organizations forget to think of how their talkers will actually use it.
3. Make friends with local businesses
Local businesses are usually thrilled to partner with schools because the shared word of mouth is a win-win. For example, one mechanic shop in Mercer, New Jersey gave apprenticeships to students at the local technical schools. Students get hands-on job training, they tell their parents about the shop, and when it’s time to get the oil changed, where do you think parents think of first?
