Carrie Blake – Marketing M anager

1. School Direct Marketing and Recruitment Guide Carrie Blake – Marketing Manager

2. CONTENTS • Part D: Conversion • 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 A: Seven Basic Steps • 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 • 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

3. GOOD SYSTEMS TARGET AUDIENCES WARWICK’S REPUTATION KEYMESSAGES VISUAL IDENTITY MARKETING PLAN USP PART A - SEVEN BASICSTEPS 3

4. 1. Have a clear Unique Selling Point • 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 4

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 6. Don’t 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

10. 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: • Activity • Deadlines • Status • Lead Person • Costs/ Resources • Preparation Time • There is a template Action Plan on the SD Resource Hub. 10

11. Website PersonalRecommendation Local Media Newsletters, Emails & Letters Online Advertising Events Social Media Print Advertising PART B – TEN PROMOTIONAL CHANNELS 11

12. 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 ourCPE website • List any recruitment events on our “Meet Us” pages • Offer advice on writing effectively for the web 12

13. Importance Rating Events • 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 • Check list: • 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 13

14. Importance Rating Personal Recommendation • 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 • Check list: • 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. Importance Rating Newsletters, Emails & Letters • Warwick support: • Offer advice and guidance on any campaigns • Provide logos and key messages about Warwick • Provide in-house printable generic leaflets • Check list: • 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 N 18

19. Importance Rating Print Advertising • Check list: • 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

20. 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 PART C – KEEPING OFFERS WARM 20

21. PART D – MARKET RESEARCH 21

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32. Carrie Blake is the Centre for Professional Education’s 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