Marketing Therapy
French American International School (OR)
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Moorestown Friends School (NJ)
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Montessori School of Denver (CO)
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Holton-Arms School (MD)
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Bennett Day School (IL)
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The Park School of Baltimore (MD)
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The Harvey School (NY)
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The Philadelphia School (PA)
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New Canaan School (CT)
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Havern School (CO)
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St. Anne’s Episcopal School (DE)
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Hackley School (NY)
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Bixby School (CO)
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Summit Montessori (MA)
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Wilmington Friends School (DE)
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‘Iolani School (HI)
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Aspen Academy (CO)
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The Madeira School (VA)
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Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart (MD)
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Villa Academy (WA)
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Greensboro Montessori School (NC)
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Idyllwild Arts Academy (CA)
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Escuela Bilingue Internacional (CA)
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Carolina Friends School (NC)
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Foothill Country Day School (CA)
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French American International School (OR) • Moorestown Friends School (NJ) • Montessori School of Denver (CO) • Holton-Arms School (MD) • Bennett Day School (IL) • The Park School of Baltimore (MD) • The Harvey School (NY) • The Philadelphia School (PA) • New Canaan School (CT) • Havern School (CO) • St. Anne’s Episcopal School (DE) • Hackley School (NY) • Bixby School (CO) • Summit Montessori (MA) • Wilmington Friends School (DE) • ‘Iolani School (HI) • Aspen Academy (CO) • The Madeira School (VA) • Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart (MD) • Villa Academy (WA) • Greensboro Montessori School (NC) • Idyllwild Arts Academy (CA) • Escuela Bilingue Internacional (CA) • Carolina Friends School (NC) • Foothill Country Day School (CA) •
Featured Marketing Therapy Posts
Searching for a new Head of School? Mike Connor and Thom Greenlaw recommend hitting the “Strategic Pause” first.
Internal strengths and weaknesses of your school are important to identify. Those tell you who YOU think you are. But when you compare yourselves to how others outside the school see you, THAT is where great marketing plans are born. Without knowing external perceptions, you’re just navel-gazing.
When a Head of School leaves or is let go, the board often defaults to the decision that it must find a new leader as soon as possible so that the school doesn’t appear weak or its reputation damaged by the departure. We think there’s a better way.
In the daily uphill scramble over wet boulders that describes school marketing and communication these days, you can count on there being more challenges ahead. In marketing and communication, our success depends not so much on the means we use to communicate, but on the ends, the outcomes, and the proven deliverables. Can we prove that what we are 'selling' has overwhelming value to the lives of the families investing in it—as THEY define value?
Congratulations to all of you who this year are entering the two best jobs a school can offer. I’ve been there! Here is some hard-won advice for your journey.
It seems so simple, yet when I search most school websites for evidence of value, I’m astonished by the number of schools who don’t highlight value through the testimony of their alumni and former families. Can your school objectively claim it is worth the cost? Prove it! Promote it!
Your school’s identity is meaningless if your school isn’t sustainable. Your product is useless if it is not what people really desire or if you can’t prove its value. If you can’t identify and place your ideal customers by looking at present data and future trends, you’re handicapping your school. But it all goes south if you can’t align the marketing mix, demonstrably grounded in an objective determination of value, with your school’s long-term financial policy or pricing, grounded in data.
I recently learned via my subscription to InspirED's School Marketers Daily Jolt newsletter that InspirED's podcasts, hosted by co-founder Rob Norman, announced that his interview with me about Private School Faculty As Marketers was one of his top two episodes "of all time."
More Marketing Therapy!
Searching for a new Head of School? Mike Connor and Thom Greenlaw recommend hitting the “Strategic Pause” first.
Internal strengths and weaknesses of your school are important to identify. Those tell you who YOU think you are. But when you compare yourselves to how others outside the school see you, THAT is where great marketing plans are born. Without knowing external perceptions, you’re just navel-gazing.
When a Head of School leaves or is let go, the board often defaults to the decision that it must find a new leader as soon as possible so that the school doesn’t appear weak or its reputation damaged by the departure. We think there’s a better way.
In the daily uphill scramble over wet boulders that describes school marketing and communication these days, you can count on there being more challenges ahead. In marketing and communication, our success depends not so much on the means we use to communicate, but on the ends, the outcomes, and the proven deliverables. Can we prove that what we are 'selling' has overwhelming value to the lives of the families investing in it—as THEY define value?
Congratulations to all of you who this year are entering the two best jobs a school can offer. I’ve been there! Here is some hard-won advice for your journey.
It seems so simple, yet when I search most school websites for evidence of value, I’m astonished by the number of schools who don’t highlight value through the testimony of their alumni and former families. Can your school objectively claim it is worth the cost? Prove it! Promote it!
SparkCast host Rob Norman shared with Connor Associates that InspirED’s most downloaded podcast of 2021 was Finance and Marketing: Overlooked Alliance for Success, which features Mike Connor and Thom Greenlaw discussing the critical intersection of marketing and finance at independent schools.
Mike Connor, President of Connor Associates, and Thom Greenlaw, Connor Associates Strategic Partner for Executive Searches, Finance, and Operations, expand on Mike’s blog about Finance and Marketing Joined at the Hip and talk with Rob Norman of InspirED School Marketers about…
All told, the national decline in public school enrollment last year was the largest since the turn of the 21st Century. As enrollment challenges continue, public schools and their districts will need to listen attentively and market themselves authentically to compete for families. Adequate funding is essential to a quality educational experience for your students. That funding depends on your district’s fundraising ability and your ability to maintain or increase your market share among an increasing array of alternatives. Are you ready?
Your school’s identity is meaningless if your school isn’t sustainable. Your product is useless if it is not what people really desire or if you can’t prove its value. If you can’t identify and place your ideal customers by looking at present data and future trends, you’re handicapping your school. But it all goes south if you can’t align the marketing mix, demonstrably grounded in an objective determination of value, with your school’s long-term financial policy or pricing, grounded in data.
The research associate team is growing at Connor Associates and we are looking for exceptional talent to help us meet client demand! Come join our winning team that specializes in exploring the deeper reasons behind school choice around the country.
Please join Connor Associates in congratulating Christopher Hui on his new role as Director of Finance and Operations at Summit Montessori School in Framingham, Massachusetts. The candidate search was conducted by Connor Associates Strategic Partner, Thom Greenlaw, who helps schools around the country discover and place talent in leadership and administration roles.
We are delighted to announce Connor Associates impressive success with a recent candidate search and placement. Thom Greenlaw, Strategic Partner for Search Services, was asked to find a new CFO for a Boston Area School with a very short three-month turnaround.
Connor Associates President Mike Connor will provide the Opening Keynote address for the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools Enrollment Retreat on May 5, 2021. The topic will encompass Where Are Your Ideal Students Now? Where Will They Be In 2025?
I will be hosting a serious Big Data session on enrollment and communication lightheartedly titled “The ‘Burger Approach’ to Seriously Increasing Inquiries, Conversions, and Yield!“ on April 15 -16 for a new event hosted by Mia Johnstone, The School Marketing Summit. I will be joined by many other private school marketing leaders who will cover the top-of-mind concerns for those tilling the fields of admission and Marcom.
Mike Connor and Thom Greenlaw, two internationally known private school consultants, are teaming up to deliver a new approach to private school search and placement services. “Connor Associates Leadership Search,” explains Mike, “bases fees upon services rendered, not the industry standard of a percentage of salary.”
“A successful brand piques the interest of those you wish to serve and reinforces what is special to the existing community. We’ve done our job if in the end, the community says, “You absolutely got us.””
Connor Associates’ Founder and President Mike Connor is announcing a new service line, which includes search and placement functions for Business and Operations, Advancement, Development, Marketing, Communication, and Enrollment Management.
Connor Associates’ Strategic Partner Angie Ward and Co-Founder of digital marketing firm Enroll Media Group: “Market research can avoid the “spray and pray” method wherein marketers spend money ineffectively, hitting almost everyone in a few markets and instead being very targeted about whom and where they target, and with what messages. Market research and digital marketing really do go hand-in-glove, when done well.”
If your brand is "what people say about you after you've left the room," you need an objective listener to hear what they are saying! It's all about reputational asset and risk management. These Image Audits are among Connor Associates' most valued services and are at the foundation of effective marketing plans.
Join this discussion with your biggest challenges and pain points in mind and leave with practical strategies and solutions to move forward.
Our new eBook describes the roles all school administrators, trustees, and faculty must take to attract and retain mission-appropriate families.
When I was a Development Director, knowing the 80/20 rule—that I'd get 80% of our fundraising revenue from 20% of our donor base—left me with an obvious question…
Private school heads I have spoken with over the summer are not only trying to plan for uncertainty, but their marketing and enrollment administrators are adapting to this fast-changing and challenging environment by deploying more social media and a virtual shotgun of marketing tactics. Is that the best place to start? Not necessarily!
The one thing I am most concerned about is the tendency for private schools to react to declining enrollment by reducing their investment in marketing and market research, while putting increasing pressure on marketers, communicators, and enrollment managers to pull them out of the slump.
It's an inconvenient truth: Our current and future families don't care about how great we think we are! They might be attracted to our vision and believe in our mission. But our brand communications are most effective when they reflect the reason we do what we do. The why. The so what?
I recently learned via my subscription to InspirED's School Marketers Daily Jolt newsletter that InspirED's podcasts, hosted by co-founder Rob Norman, announced that his interview with me about Private School Faculty As Marketers was one of his top two episodes "of all time."
To make schools more responsive and resilient, I’ve been a fan of qualitative and quantitative data-driven research. How do prospective families experience the admission process? Why do some enroll and others don’t? Why do families choose to leave a school? How did the school make a difference in the lives of its alumni? Making assumptions or projecting is dangerous.
Without faculty support, most external promotional initiatives will fail. When a teacher talks about how good your school is, that matters. Teachers hold the credibility cards. Evidence of great teaching and learning is the primary motivator for enrollment and retention.