Next level USPs for Schools – Unveiling the Growth Process of Students
In brief: Next level USPs for Schools – Unveiling the Growth Process of Students
Schools marketing commonly prioritises the what of their value offering, curriculum, facilities, academic results, qualified staff, etc. However, I would say there are a few problems with this approach.
1. Almost every single school does this, so families find it almost impossible to meaningfully differentiate and identify a school that would be right for their child. As families become more demanding, you’re basically promoting the common threshold of purchase decision making; most schools are generally IB or UK curriculum, most schools have an indoor pool, and most schools have excellent and qualified teachers, etc. In fact, these are called Points of Parity, basically essential but the same as the other offerings in the market.
2. Unless you are appealing to experienced or analytical buyers, consumers often don’t really know why something is good for them, they haven’t done the research, and unlike ourselves who have been working in schools for a good chunk of our professional lives, don’t have an innate understanding of why certain aspects of a school are actually really beneficial for their child.
3. Probably most importantly, these USPs can easily be copied, and even if you do have a unique selling point, it won’t last long; once other schools see how well that nice USP is working for you, if it’s valuable enough, sooner or later they’ll jump on the bandwagon. Believe me, I was a victim of this myself a few times before I learnt my lesson!
So what’s the answer?
Despite the fact that the end objective is basically the same for all schools, i.e. entry into your first choice uni, good grades, a well rounded son and daughter, what is more commonly unique is how our schools achieves this, and the why of “why this approach matters for your child.”
In other words, we want parents to be able to say two things about their child and our school:
This is what my child’s experiences have been at this school, and I’ve really seen her grow from that.
These are the values of this school, and we found they really resonate with our own values and beliefs in life.
Highlight lots of examples of growth, and how it is this growth helps our students ultimately realise their potential, and show how our nurturing, supportive environment contributes in helping our students grow and achieve their potential.
All in all, there are two general benefits to this approach
1. Schools can find a great deal more differentiation in illustrating the growth of their students, how we support our students, and why this matters for them.
2. As schools, we have a lot more scope for improvement and differentiation in what is essentially our service offering, rather than focusing on the somewhat limited and much more copyable tangible offerings, of what we have.
Highlight lots of examples of growth, and how it is this growth helps our students ultimately realise their potential, and show how our nurturing, supportive environment contributes in helping our students grow and achieve their potential.
All in all, there are two general benefits to this approach.
