Does your school think Future Proof Marketing?

All too often, I've come across reactional marketing departments. Marketing strategies are developed for the here-and-now rather than looking ahead at the bigger picture. Future Proof Marketing is about taking a long-term proactive view of your school's marketing needs. This; however, is not achieved in a silo and needs to be guided by the overall long-term strategic plan of the school - which, if you haven't developed yet, needs to be done first - I'll write about this in a future blog post.

Future Proof Marketing is about developing systems, strategies, policies, and procedures that work as well in a school of one hundred students as it does in a school of three thousand students. It's about doing the job right from the beginning and then just having to make small adjustments as the years go by.

Some examples of what elements you should be putting in place to start the process of Future Proof Marketing for your school are:

1. A comprehensive Brand Bible

2. A flexible website that can grow with the school

3. Marketing systems and procedures - requests, approvals, changes, timelines, etc.

4. Communications guidelines - internal and external

5. Crisis management documents and procedures

6. Regularly updated and correct marketing tools - cameras, software, computers, etc.

7. Regular marketing team professional development

Quite simply, think like a big international school from the beginning and then grow - as the age-old adage goes 'dress for the job you want, not the job you have.' You might be thinking - but we don't want to be a big international school - and that's wonderful, but you still need to future proof your school's marketing to avoid the pitfalls of complacency and redundancy. International school marketing is an ever-evolving animal that requires constant monitoring and attention. Those schools that don't evolve will, inevitably, be left behind by those that have.

What are you doing to future proof your international school?