Differentiating your school/trust from the competition
Making sure you stand out from the crowd and putting your school forward in its best light means you need to find ways to differentiate yourselves from the competition. In this post, we look at how Lore Creative can help you to identify key differentiators. During these difficult times we appreciate schools are in a period of challenge and change but we wanted to share our latest blog with everyone as we are conscious this is also a time to look forward. This blog offers help and hopefully some ‘food for thought’ for the coming months. Please take a read and share if appropriate…
Unique Selling Point (USP)
First and foremost, we’d ask you to describe to us why your school is different, what is it that you offer that maybe your competitors don’t and to talk us through your vision and the school’s ethos and values. We’ll also ask what it is (if anything) that you feel maybe you don’t do as well on, because a USP can be created from what seems like a negative quality i.e. Avis (car rental) used the slogan “We’re number two, we try harder.” Their campaign was so successful their market share went from 11% to 35% in just four years.
Using your thoughts and comments our specialised copywriters will then work to create you a piece of narrative text that succinctly highlights your USP’s and emphasises why you are different. This narrative then becomes the backbone to your marketing activity.
Getting outside your ‘bubble’
Whilst working with many of our clients they tell us snippets of success stories their school, staff and/or pupils have had, and each one is a gem! So I say to them, ‘Oh I bet parents loved hearing that!’ or ‘has that member of staff appeared in the local press then?’ often I get the response of ‘erm, no, I don’t think so, I’m not sure we celebrated it outside of school in anyway.’ This is key! Every School has elements to showcase, to talk about and they are often very good at communicating it internally but we hear time and time again from our clients that their school is like a ‘bubble’, they ‘live and breathe’ the spirit within the school, but it can easily be overlooked that sharing the success outside your ‘bubble’ is imperative.
This is where we can help; social media workshops, printed materials that differentiate you by telling your schools personal stories, finding ways to work with you – getting your school’s personality out there and into the community regularly, so they get to know the real ‘you’.
Professional Marketing
The content that differentiates you is derived by you, but we can help with the all-important presentation of your materials and message.
Whether you’re looking to attract new pupils, better your position of ‘employer of choice’, or hoping to simply expand your marketing efforts and improve your reach, supporting your strategy with a professionally designed package is a very popular and proven option. Research shows people still expect “high achieving” credible schools and businesses to have professionally designed literature that re-enforces their brand and offerings. If your school is presented professionally through thoughtful, quality design materials this will put your school in a positive light to your prospective audience and increase your chances of differentiating yourself from your competitors.
“I have been working with the Lore Creative team for many years. I appreciate the personal and professional service they provide and value the advice and expertise they offer. As well as the standard products you expect from such a company, they have always been prepared and successful in sourcing and developing bespoke products for us. When in school all their team have a natural way with students which puts them at ease, ensuring the best shots. On the phone and via email they are incredibly responsive and no number of picky requests for alterations from me is too much trouble!”
Colin Belford, Headteacher, Archway School
We work hard here at Lore Creative to support our clients (new and existing) in developing their brand position.