One of the most powerful marketing tools your school has at its disposal is the powerful, positive voices of your current parents. Positive stories in local media, great reviews online, impressive test scores, and national recognition all demonstrate your excellence, but there’s nothing as powerful to a prospective parent as the personal experience of another parent.
Great Parent Ambassadors can help you tell the story of your school and bring in new families. Here are some tips to build and maintain a
successful Parent Ambassador Program.
A Parent Ambassador is a parent or adult who has a child at your school who helps you spread the word about your school to their
friends, neighbors, and community. However, these parents are more than just your biggest fans. An effective parent ambassador is
trained, focused, and works in coordination with your school as a part of an intentional marketing strategy.
Think of your Parent Ambassadors as your boots on the ground marketing team. They are out in the community at the soccer games, the swim
meets, the grocery stores, talking to other parents about their experience in your school. And while the personal touch, the authentic
nature, of what they are saying is essential to the effectiveness of your program, it’s even more important that they are all working
together to tell the same story about your school.
When you decide to launch a Parent Ambassador Program, an important first step is to decide what story you want to tell. Are you a STEM
school? Do you have a project-based curriculum? Does your sustainable garden provide students the chance to work with their hands while
learning about the earth? Do your graduates excel at the next level?
Whatever your story is, you need to know it, live it, and arm your parent ambassadors with it. If your message is told consistently,
it has a much better chance of being remembered. Remember, you don’t just want your Parent Ambassadors to just say your school is great. You
want them to be able to wow prospective families by demonstrating why your school is great with the unique story of your school.
Your Parent Ambassador Program is only as effective as the ambassadors you choose. Some factors to consider when choosing parents to
help tell your story.
At this point in the process, you should also identify one or two lead ambassadors who you can communicate with and through, and who can
help lead this effort while you are tending to the other important parts of running your school.
While you definitely have some ideas about which parents would make great ambassadors, there are likely many parents who would love to
help sing your school’s praises. Before launching your program, let your school community know what the Parent Ambassador Program is,
what the goals of the program are, and how they can become involved.
The last thing you want is for an excited and motivated parent to be turned off because they weren’t offered the chance to help.
A Parent Ambassador Program is an exciting initiative! One that gives parents the chance to help their school and share something they
are passionate about. It deserves a lively and impactful start.
Your Parent Ambassador Program kick-off meeting should be filled with all of the information your ambassadors are going to need to be
successful and the energy you want them to take with them when they leave.
Your best ambassadors are informed and excited.
There are many ways that Parent Ambassadors can help you market your school including: talking directly to friends with school-age
children about your school, posting school news on their social media as
well as pages and forums for local parent groups, reaching out to feeder schools,
realtors, or daycare centers, manning tables at local school fairs, and leading
school tours during
open houses to name a few.
However, even though your Parent Ambassador are all well-intentioned, you need to ensure that they are representing your school in the right
way.
Make sure every Parent Ambassador understands the story of your school that you want them to tell. They don’t need to memorize a script word
for word, but they should be able to highlight the key value propositions that you worked so hard to create.
As such, it is best to narrow the scope of your Parent Ambassador Program to a few specific actions you’d like your ambassadors to take,
give them goals for these actions, and train them how you’d like things done. These are volunteers, not necessarily marketing professionals,
and volunteers without direction can do more harm than good. Take the time to give them the tools and training they need so they can give
you the help you need.
Also, make sure Parent Ambassadors understand that’s it’s okay to respond to questions with “I don’t know.” If they come across a question
they’re unfamiliar with, have them say that they’ll find out the answer and follow up later. Then have either the Parent Ambassadors or a
member of the administration get back to the questioner with the answer within 24 hours. Prospective families will appreciate the personal
attention of a follow up call much more than an immediate but unhelpful answer.
Parent Ambassador Programs require ongoing care. They are not perpetual motion machines or an “As Seen on TV” rotisserie chicken
cooker; You can’t just set it and forget it. Once you’ve kicked off your program and trained your ambassadors you need to take the time
to touch base with them regularly. These conversations help them feel appreciated, keep them engaged, and keep you connected to the
challenges and successes they are experiencing.
As the school year progresses, keep your Parent Ambassadors “in the know” about what’s happening in your school community. Whether you
are doing something exciting like launching a new math program, handling an unexpected expense like replacing a boiler or dealing with a
difficult issue like bullying, your ambassadors can help you spread your message and explain to current parents “the why” of your decision.
A group of parents trained and capable of sharing your message, properly informed, can be invaluable in helping you celebrate the successes
and manage the difficulties.
Your Parent Ambassador Program, just as with any volunteer operation, can only be helpful to you in the long-term if you take the time to
develop the next wave of volunteers. Provide frequent updates to the school community about the efforts and successes of your current
ambassadors. Talk to new parents as they become more familiar with your school. Identify which current ambassadors who will be moving on.
This can help you develop next year’s Parent Ambassadors and ensure that the program continues to grow and help tell your school’s story.
Nick LeRoy, MBA, is the president of Bright Minds Marketing and former Executive Director of the Indiana Charter School Board. Bright Minds Marketing provides enrollment and recruitment consulting to private, Catholic and charter schools. For information about how Bright Minds Marketing can help your school improve its’ student enrollment, send an email to nick@brightmindsmarketing.com or call us at 317-361-5255.
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