School Direct Marketing and Recruitment Guide by Carrie Blake: Essential Strategies for Success
This comprehensive guide by Carrie Blake, Marketing Manager, covers essential steps and strategies for school direct marketing and recruitment. From establishing a unique selling point to utilizing various promotional platforms, the guide emphasizes the importance of good systems, target audiences, branding consistency, key messaging, and visual identity. It also provides insights into market research, conversion tactics, and maintaining offers warm. A valuable resource for alliances looking to attract top trainees and stand out in a competitive market.
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School Direct Marketing and Recruitment Guide Carrie Blake Marketing Manager
CONTENTS Part A: Seven Basic Steps Part D: Conversion Unique Selling Point page 4 Visual Identity page 5 Key Messages page 6 Target Audiences page 7 Good Systems page 8 Warwick s Reputation page 9 Marketing Plan page 10 Keeping offers warm page 20 Part E: Market Research School Direct Where they come from page 21 Important factors for decision page 22 Barriers to being a teacher page 23 Marketing activity seen page 25 Marketing triggers page 26 Experience with children page 27 Preferred communications page 28 Marketing activity help decisions page 29 Motivation to teach page 30 Universities came from page 31 Part B: Promotional Platforms Website page 12 Events page 13 Personal Recommendation page 14 Social Media page 15 Local Media page 16 Online Advertising page 17 Newsletters page 18 Print Advertising page 19 School Direct Resource Hub: warwick.ac.uk/schooldirectmarketing 2
GOOD SYSTEMS TARGET AUDIENCES WARWICK S REPUTATION KEY MESSAGES VISUAL IDENTITY MARKETING PLAN USP 3 PART A - SEVEN BASIC STEPS
What makes your Alliance special? Why should trainees choose you above other competitor Alliances? Emphasise this and the other things that the Alliance is most proud of 1. Have a clear Unique Selling Point 4
2. Have a consistent Visual Identity Ensure that your Alliance logo is being consistently used across all your School Direct communications Increase brand recognition by using the same graphic style and colours on all your print and online materials 5
3. Decide on Key Messages to use in all your marketing Emphasise your Unique Selling Points Mention the things that are the most important to potential trainees Address their main concerns and motivations (see marketing research) Highlight key values that you want to get across about the Alliance Provide a strong call to action on all your marketing encourage them to contact you and apply Clarify important facts to help filter out the wrong applicants 6
4. Know how best to reach your Target Audiences (Career Changers & Undergraduates) Think about where your target audiences are most likely to live, work and how you can get messages out to them Consider the online and printed communications they are exposed to that you could advertise in Address your target audiences main concerns about becoming a teacher (see market research) What are your target audiences favourite channels of communication? 7
5. GOOD SYSTEMS Monitor success of any campaigns to inform your plans for the following year (using google links or bitly) Use your current trainees as focus groups or to fill out an anonymous insight survey. Please see our market research Have a robust system for recording all enquiries about School Direct. Keep a note of who is not ready now but should be contacted in the future. Follow up contacts at least twice. 4.MONITORING 1. ENQUIRIES Start recruitment, interviews and offers as soon as possible don t lose quality trainees to competitors. Review interview process and speed of offers. Send an online questionnaire for feedback. 3. SHARING 2. INTERVIEWS Keep quality candidates in the Midlands! Filled the places, but have quality candidates? Share that knowledge with the University of Warwick. = ATTRACTION & RETENTION OF QUALITY CANDIDATES 8
6. Dont underestimate the power of TheUniversity of Warwick s reputation 80% of current students surveyed said that the reputation of the university ITE provider was the most important reason behind their application Link to the Warwick CPE website 95% of SD applicants visit the CPE site: there is loads of useful information on there, including profiles, blogs and videos Use the Warwick logo prominently on your website and other marketing materials. Please check with us how and where you use our logo Have a Working in Partnership with The University of Warwick poster in all your Alliance schools receptions 9
7. Create a robust Marketing Plan A Marketing Plan for the year is important to set out at the beginning of your recruitment activity and should include: There is a template Action Plan on the SD Resource Hub. Activity Deadlines Status Lead Person Costs/ Resources Preparation Time 10
Website Personal Recommendation Local Media Newsletters, Emails & Letters Online Advertising Events Social Media Print Advertising PART B TEN PROMOTIONAL CHANNELS 11
Importance Rating Website Check list: Ensure that Job Opportunities or Become a Teacher can easily be found on the front page of your Alliance website or have a small link always on the homepage (School Direct won t mean anything to most people) Develop simple webpages explaining what School Direct is and how to apply with any key deadlines Use the University of Warwick logo and some key messages about Warwick Create a no commitment sign-up form and nurture those contacts, by sending them emails and invite them to meet you Make it really clear how to contact you and meet you (list events) Provide talking heads/quotes from existing trainees covering key messages Provide blogs from trainees, videoed mentoring sessions Create a memorable shortened URL to link straight to your materials e.g. /school-direct or /become-a-teacher Warwick support: Offer professional advice on your webpages Profile your school on our site with your trainee case studies List your places on our CPE website List any recruitment events on our Meet Us pages Offer advice on writing effectively for the web 12
Importance Rating Check list: Events Run Information Sessions/Open Evenings regularly and promote them on all your communication channels. Face to face contact is incredibly important for SD applicants (see market research) Offer Teacher Taster Sessions/Observations Join Train to Teach fairs run by DfE Sign up to local careers fairs all Universities have them for employers Hold a stall at any community events Have a stall at any of your schools events, such as Open Days, Parent Evenings and shows and hand out credit card-sized information for people to pass on Have a stall at the local supermarket or shopping centre Warwick support: Advise on effective promotion at an event Share our space at career events (only one school and two people maximum at a time) List any recruitment events on our Meet Us pages If you can offer a unique free talk or workshop around a specific subject, we can help organise and promote to relevant students 13
Importance Rating Personal Recommendation Check list: Warwick support: Promote and share on our webpages Offer advice on how to do these well what works You can link to any of our SD profiles or blogs We can put any of your profiles, blogs and link back too your Alliance page Gather quotes and online talking heads (short videos talking to camera) of trainees Provide opportunities for School Direct trainees or alumni to your trainees at events or career fairs 85% trainees say they would have found this helpful (see market research) Do an online Ask the Trainee session on Facebook Ask all staff to post an advert and link on their own Social Media sites the reach could be thousands Use a mix of career changers, teaching assistants and UGs as trainee case studies, blogs or videos. Put a meet the teacher profile into all your schools communications such as newsletters to parents. Then end it with a promotion of School Direct 14
Importance Rating Social Media Check list: Use your schools Facebook pages to post and share School Direct adverts on all local community pages (ask Admins to re-share, so will appear on newsfeeds) Use national campaigns and local community pages and Tweet events they may re-Tweet Create an alumni Facebook group if you have a Sixth Form they are potential trainees in the future Consider using LinkedIn job listings Ask trainees or SD alumni to blog about their experiences ask them to promote SD on their Social Media sites. Warwick support: We can offer advice on Social Media promotion and groups Follow us on Twitter and re-Tweet our promotional activity 15
Importance Rating Local Media Check list: Find out where teachers who came through the SD route are from and see if their local paper will do a piece about them Send a Press Release you need an angle and a good relationship with local paper Invite a journalist to spend a day with a (well chosen) trainee or try to get them teaching for a lesson - as a discussion piece Advertise in the job section Ask local radio if they would be interested in an interview with a career changer trainee Work with the press to always put a line about job opportunities at the end of any positive press activity Link into any themed special edition such as career spread Warwick support: We can offer support and advice on working with the media, writing press releases and finding an angle See Resource Hub for press release template 16
Importance Rating Online Advertising Check list: Consider the external networks in the community amongst your staff. Ask them to post an advert on their webpages, social media pages, and newsletters. Ask parents to help promote SD (a simple link and a sentence for social media and emails) they will have contacts all over the area List your recruitment events on local What s On pages Investigate local online paid or free listing opportunities to advertise any job listings (Council pages, etc.) Ask your local organisations to re-Tweet or share your Social Media activity Investigate graduate job sites to advertise under subjects or general sections Consider Pay Per Click advertising on Google, LinkedIn and Social Media sites Look at suitable forums/ online sites for career changers or Ugs Most university career pages have free job listings for employers Warwick support: Provide a one- minute online video that can be posted online to link to YouTube Provide a list of job sites, ideas of costs 17
Importance Rating Newsletters, Emails & Letters Check list: Warwick support: Write a regular section about School Direct in all your communications to stakeholders including parents and alumni Send a direct communication to parents by letter, addressing motivations and concerns about becoming a teacher see market research Have a one-line agreed message and link about School Direct on all staff footer emails Develop a mailing list of enquirers invite them to events and keep them updated about deadlines Try a Recommend a Friend campaign create a web page about what makes a great teacher and ask people to pass on to someone they think would be a good teacher Offer advice and guidance on any campaigns Provide logos and key messages about Warwick Provide in-house printable generic leaflets N 18
Importance Rating Check list: Print Advertising Create a simple A4 poster and ask all your parents, staff and contacts to each find a place in the community to put it up Do a mail-out to local libraries, theatres, super- markets, places of worship, job centres, high end coffee shops, leisure centres, dentists, surgeries to display a poster Banners are useful to attract attention keep them simple and make one main point Leaflets should be kept simple and encourage a visit to your website as this is up-to-date and should have lots of interesting information Depending on your budget , you could consider advertising on buses and local train stations Warwick support: Advice on effective posters and leaflets Advice on effective bus and train advertising as well as an idea of costs 19
Check list: Ensure you have regular communications with those applicants who accept offers as you still could lose them Give them a SD trainee or alumni to be their buddy until they arrive to answer any questions they may have before they arrive Make them feel part of your school community straight away invite them to any events (school plays, concerts) and make them feel special Invite them to meet other staff as soon as possible Send a looking forward to working with you email 20 PART C KEEPING OFFERS WARM
Primary School Direct PGCE - where they have come from (58 responses from trainees & NQTs) Secondary School Direct - where they have come from (68 responses from trainees & NQTs) Already working in a school 17% Already working in a school Career changer Career changer 36% 52% Unemployed or full-time parents Unemployed or full-time parents 36% 47% UG student UG student 21 PART D MARKET RESEARCH
68 School Direct teachers rated the most important aspect when applying 86% 82% 70% 61% 59% 59% 43% 25% 7% Reputation of Warwick and CPE Being able to train locally to where I live OFSTED rating and reputation of the school High chance that I would be employed by the school at the end Had teaching/ life experience - was ready for classroom Funding: bursaries and scholarships available Earn as you learn - salaried route Training in a school I work in/ know well Other 22
Main concerns about teaching before applying (65 SD responses) 20% 19% 19% 13% 13% 6% 5% 5% Behaviour management in class Financial concerns The amount of work Not enough/ needing more varied experience in classroom Academic work involved Travel concerns Being a mature student Not knowing how much support/ mentoring I would receive 23
What could have helped to ease pre-application concerns (68 SD responses) 25% 16% 16% 13% 11% 9% 6% 2% 2% Having direct contact with a SD trainee - to ask questions Chance to meet trainees - observe a lesson at the school An event at the school to talk to other School Direct trainees/ mentors Having access to a social media group to talk to other trainees Blogs of trainees Online An information evening held at the school Printed materials - leaflet/ postcard Other interviews/ case studies of current trainees at the school 24
Exposure to Warwick CPE marketing materials & events (65 SD responses) 100% 71% 43% 43% 34% 20% 20% 17% 14% 11% 11% 9% 9% 9% 9% 6% 6% 3% 3% 0% 25
What was the promotional trigger to applying to be a teacher (65 responses) 38% 33% 15% 12% 2% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 26
Previous experience working with children & young people undertaken prior to application 36% 18% 14% 11% 9% 5% 5% 2% Assisting in a school (paid) Volunteer work with young people Summer camps None of the above Working in a school through your university society Volunteering overseas Other UG module involving teaching (WiNS) 27
We asked 70 potential and existing trainees (School Direct & Core) the most effective method of communication when making a decision to apply Digital - Webpages Events - Course Leaders Events - Trainees Digital - Case Studies Digital - BlogsDigital - Social Digital - Webinars Digital - Forums Give Aways - Freebies Printed - leaflets/ propsectus Printed - banners/ posters Media 28
What marketing activity would have been of value to help make your decision? 16% 15% 15% 11% 8% 8% 8% 7% 4% 4% 4% Digital: Centre for Professional Education webpages Face to Face: Events - where I could talk to a course leader Face to Face: Events - where I could talk to another trainee Digital: Online case studies/ talking heads/ quotes from existing trainees Digital: Blogs from current students Digital: Social Media Digital: Online webinars - talk to course leaders or trainees Digital: Online forums (please state) Printed: Leaflets Printed: Freebies - mugs, USB sticks etc Printed: Banners, posters 29
We asked 70 existing and potential trainees (SD & Core) the most important aspect making a decision 39% 27% 12% 6% 3% 3% 3% 3% 3% 0% Inspiring others Developing students Being creative Longer HolidaysGraduate salary Career Progression Bursaries/ scholarship Travel PD Good state pensions opportunities opportunities 30
Which top 30 universities all our current trainees got their first degree from 34 32 16 13 1110 8 7 7 6 6 6 6 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Number of trainees University of Exeter Coventry University Keele University Aberystwyth University The University of Birmingham University of Northampton Newman University Cardiff University The University of Warwick The Open University University of Sheffield Nottingham Trent University Warwickshire College University of Durham University of Leicester De Montfort University Aston University University of Central Lancashire Manchester Metropolitan University University of Derby University of the West of Engalnd University of Wales Trinity St. David. Sheffield Hallam University Loughborough University The University of Worcester University of Wolverhampton Birmingham City University The University of Gloucestershire The University of Nottingham Liverpool John Moores University 31
Carrie Blake is the Centre for Professional Educations recruitment and marketing specialist, with nearly 20 years experience of developing and implementing successful recruitment, marketing and communication strategies across HE, FE, charities and schools. The Centre for Professional Education is pleased to offer free professional support and advice to our partnership Alliances for School Direct at any level and at any time through the year. Carrie Blake Marketing Manager Email: c.r.blake@warwick.ac.uk Tel: 02476 522259
