According to
Hubspot,
"lead generation is the science of converting site visitors into leads. In inbound marketing, visitors become leads once they fill out a form in return for some sort of offer on a targeted landing page. These leads can then be qualified and distributed to the sales team who will work to convert them into customers."
We work a lot with school districts in various ways to assist them in their marketing and communications efforts. We're also a Certified Hubspot Partner. So, it just became a natural progression to question whether lead generation can work in school districts. Let's start answering this question by looking at the first 2 parts of Hubspot's definition and apply them to school districts.
Lead generation is the science of converting site visitors into leads.
School district websites, the good ones, typically have a high volume of traffic. Especially if the district is constantly creating compelling, search optimized content. Many districts don't capitalize on their high traffic volume for one simple reason. They're not focused on generating leads. Why? Because a school district believes it isn't selling a product or service, which isn't entirely true. School districts are in the business of educating young people and equipping them with the knowledge or skills required to graduate, maybe go to college, or in some cases, enter the workplace. So, a district is selling a service; education. Career technical centers kind of understand this idea because they have to actively recruit students into their programs to survive. However, traditional k12 schools are missing a huge opportunity because they don't see the education they're providing as a service to their students or the students' parents. Traditional k-12 schools should focus on lead generation for no other reason than to increase the reach of their e-newsletters and social media efforts.
In inbound marketing, visitors become leads once they fill out a form in return for some sort of offer on a targeted landing page.
The whole idea behind inbound marketing is to pull your best customers and prospects to your website by creating great content, promoting that content through social media, and then converting site visitors to leads. I talked about it earlier. School districts that are creating great content are already pulling their "customers" (students, parents, alumni & community members) to their website. They need to take the next step and create calls-to-action that link to landing pages. These landing pages need to offer the visitor something they don't typically get by visiting the website on a regular basis. So, if a school district is utilizing e-newsletters, they need to create a call-to-action (CTA) and place it on the web pages that are getting the highest amount of traffic. Place the CTA above the fold of the web page, and link it to a landing page where visitors can sign up to receive the district's e-newsletter. Tell the visitor exactly what they're going to get from receiving the e-newsletter, how often they'll receive it, and reiterate your privacy policy that you're not going to share their personal information with anyone, and that it will be used for the sole purpose of keeping them informed about the district and its activities.
Can school districts use inbound marketing? Absolutely! While districts aren't trying to sell a product or service like a business, they are selling themselves to a specific group of customers who have a strong emotional connection. The idea of using inbound marketing techniques to grow a district's e-newsletter database is just one example.
What other ways can school districts use inbound marketing in their marketing & communication efforts? We'd love to hear your feedback!
Change is difficult, especially when dealing with creatures of habit. And those of us with experience in education know there are no greater creatures of habit than school administration and personnel. That being said, not all change is for the worse. Making the decision to bring new technology into your district or not, should be just like making any other decision, well researched and thought out. The big problem many school districts face is they are not sure how or why they should use social media and other interactive marketing outlets.
1) Identify Your Needs - School districts are as unique as the communities and students they serve. What works for similar sized districts might not be the best approach for yours. The first question you need to ask yourself is simple; how can we better communicate with all of our stakeholders? From parents, to businesses, to senior citizens, all of a district's audiences need to be taken into consideration when identifying communication needs within a district. Other questions to ask yourself during this step include: Are our current communication efforts effective? How do we know if those efforts are effective? What do our stakeholders expect from our district in regards to communication?
2) Do Some Research -This may sound like a simple step, but it is the step that will make or break the whole process. Over the past 4 years, countless social media outlets have emerged, everything from basic outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, to more niche outlets like Yelp and Foursquare. The important thing about this step is to try to and keep it simple. There is no reason for schools to use unique outlets just because they are the "flavor of the month." Stick to what you think would work best for your district. Our suggestion; a multi-faceted approach. Facebook allows districts to set up their page as an extension of their district website. If it is important enough to have on the district site, it is probably worthy of being mentioned on the district's Facebook page. However, that is simply our suggestion. Remember, your district is unique!
3) Make A Decision - Your needs are identified, and you know what you want. Maybe your district has decided to keep it simple and just launch a Facebook page, or maybe your district wants to try and bring in everything but the kitchen sink. Either way, you need to make a decision! In dealing with school administration, decisions often take long periods of time to turn into results. The earlier your district can make a decision to use new marketing outlets, the sooner that decision can result in action.
4) Hire The Right Help - If you have made it this far don't negate all your hard work with the wrong help. When trying to decide what kind of help to hire, look to the amount of technology and marketing outlets you have decided to utilize. If your district is keeping it simple, paying a district staff member to take on the extra work may be the right direction to go. However, if your district plans on undertaking a communication overhaul, you should probably look at hiring a person or persons from outside the district. There are many firms beginning to break into the education industry with specific concentration on communications and marketing. Like everything else in this process, your help is specific to your district and your fiscal situation.
5) Stick It Out - This change is not going to yield earth-shattering results over night, it will not save your district from a financial disaster and it will not improve test scores. It will, however, ensure improved communication within the district, open two-way communication between the district and its' shareholders and do it all in a very cost-effective manner.