Before the advent of Google and Facebook’, advertising was a bit of a guessing game.
Companies spent fortunes on TV adverts, billboard campaigns, newspaper advertising, etc.
But if you were promoting a product that only interested one gender then half your audience had zero interest in your offer.
Essentially you are paying £1 for a service that is at best only worth 50p.
Then there are other sub categories such as age, location, etc.
I make this point because secondary schools are in the entirely unique position of knowing exactly where to find their target audience.
The first thing I suggest when working with a school is they look at their admissions data from local primary schools.
You are looking for patterns. Have you had a major drop off in recruitment at any of your local feeder primary school in the past? five years.
If yes, it may be time to go on the charm offensive.
When researching a secondary school most parents will seek guidance from their child’s current teacher or headteacher at primary school.
If they are giving less than favourable reviews to your school it will almost certainly be impacting recruitment.
We recommend having dedicated transition coordinators whose jobs it is to create meaningful partnerships with local primary schools.
We suggest offering taster lessons at your school – and in the process getting some brownie points with a year 5 or 6 teacher.
The use of drama studios, sports pitches, science labs gives the children the chance to feel comfortable in your school whilst also currying favour with the local primary.