OUTbrand. OUTmarket. OUTenroll.
Ever wanted to participate in the popular show “Survivor” on CBS? Here’s your chance…Brand Together Conference style.
“Drop your buffs…”
You don’t have to be a superfan to know the rules. In this workshop-style session, you will be a part of a tribe where you will be given a school’s case study to learn how to improve and strengthen your brand moving forward. Learn how to position your school’s brand in the eyes of your school community, outside community, and prospective families. Explore challenges and opportunities, along with a plan to strategically position your school to succeed in an over saturated market.
Tribes will compete against each other. You will be given tools, a budget, a luxury item and the necessary knowledge to combat real-world challenges and setbacks. Find hidden idols that give you advantage or steal attributes from other teams. Will you play a social game or be a villain?
And who doesn’t like an auction where tribes can bid on various items. No player’s torch will be snuffed or extinguished. No need to build a fire. Last team to “OUTbrand, OUTmarket, OUTenroll” and create the most compelling school marketing plan wins. Winning tribe will “draw for rocks” to see who will win a school photo shoot with Peapod Design.
“This challenge is on!”
Search Engine Marketing for schools is a crucial way to ensure you control what appears when families search for you and your offerings. From SEO (Search Engine Optimization), GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), and PPC (Pay per click search advertising), we will discuss the opportunities schools have to attract, engage, and convert families in the exact moment they are searching online. This workshop will dive into best practices that you can apply to your digital footprint immediately. Bring your computers and be prepared to work and make changes, and ask questions on the spot!
Get ready to geek out about YOUR data. What is it telling you about your school’s marketing strategy, your website, and your enrollment trends? All of this can be understood with GA4 when used properly. Bring your laptop and your Google Analytics access, and we will dive in and geek out together!
The 80/20 conundrum
It is said that all schools are 80% alike. This can feel especially true to families who are exploring independent school options for the first time. Whether online or from a 90-minute tour of campus, many schools can struggle to share their 20% with families. Terms like school community, student teacher ratio, and advisor programs may catch the attention of a family, but if we all say the same thing when does it no longer matter? In this interactive session, James, Meredith, and Emma will use examples of both school profiles and in-person experiences to help guide you in finding your school’s 20% and how to share it with interested families. Attendees are encouraged to share their own examples as well. This session seeks to be conversational as well as informative.
Confessions of a wayward admission professional
Join James Ramsdell for a candid roundtable discussion on the challenges and opportunities of international marketing in today’s ever-changing climate. With a mix of personal insights and open dialogue, this session will explore how schools can:
– Put data to good use
– Understand and respond to enrollment trends
– Deliver tailored messaging to international audiences
– Maximize results while working within a set budget
Come ready to share, question, and connect in this lively, strategy-driven conversation.
Marketers should be using big data to look at their ideal consumers…and now, with big data and AI, understanding trends in your local market is easier than ever. In this interactive session, we will look at a new method of analyzing real estate trends in your market in relation to tuition sensitivity. If you want to really dig in to understand how likely families are to engage with your school, let’s start with the data!
You’re not an AI expert. And you don’t know where Co-Pilot and Perplexity are getting their info about your school.
But with the advent of AI and its integration into search engines, SEO and online search are more dizzyingly complex today than they’ve ever been before. So much so that you now even need a “zero-click strategy” to get your content in front of searchers who’s not gonna click on a website anyway!
Whether it’s a search engine, ChatGPT, or a review site, all you want is for people to find your school when they search online. Is that too much to ask?
No, it’s not. And this new world of AI everywhere doesn’t have to fragment your efforts in a hundred different directions. We will help you focus on some human-centric fundamentals that can carry your school to success in online search wherever it happens.
In this session…
1.) We’ll try an integrated approach founded on human-centric strategies to bolster the complete online expression of your brand.
2.) We’ll learn some steps to boost your school’s likelihood of showing up in AI results and recommendations.
3.) We’ll talk about what a zero-click strategy looks like and how it can benefit your school.
4.) We’ll step into the “pinball machine” of online touch points and see how your school can use those touches to build trust and reputation.
Artificial Intelligence is all the rage, and many in MarCom are worried that it’s “coming to take your job”. In this session, we will dispel the rumors, learn what AI is and more importantly, isn’t, and provide you with real world examples you can start to use in your office right away to build efficiencies. If you aren’t a team of ten, this session will get you working like one.
Breaking News: Is your school ready to respond when global events disrupt your campus?
Student protests, political demonstrations, institutional statements, and more statements. When societal issues or global events disrupt campus life, how do you respond? Is your crisis communication plan built to support your community in these volatile times? In this interactive discussion, we will cover: core elements of crisis communications, policies for navigating official statements, internal communications protocols, promoting dialogue and safely allowing for free expression, legal and ethical considerations, case studies.
WordPress is fast becoming the most popular platform for schools. Already over 50% of colleges use WordPress for their main website.
Not all WordPress CMS platforms are the same. Peapod Design created their own WordPress theme specifically for schools. During this informative session, we walk you through why WordPress is the most powerful ecosystem, how it adapts with other products (ie. Blackbaud, Veracross, etc.), it’s affordability, and ease of use. Your school may not be currently thinking of a website redesign, but be equipped why WordPress can be a great future option.
After three days of in-depth, high-impact sessions on school marketing and communications, there’s no better way to wrap up the conference than by diving into discussions that are relevant to both you and your school’s unique needs. This is your opportunity to engage even more with peers, share insights, and explore strategies that will drive your school’s success going forward. Leave equipped with actionable techniques, fresh ideas, and a deeper understanding that will elevate both your school’s marketing efforts and your own professional growth.