The centre-point of school marketing efforts revolves around the open house. The concept is very simple. The schools open their doors to families. During this time, prospective parents and their kids around the school, talk to current students, teachers and many others. The families come to the school, take part in various activities, and then some are never to be seen again. From a return on investment perspective, there is an obvious issue. Open houses cost a lot to happen, and they are often times quite successful, but many schools have them because other schools have them.
I would like to propose a new concept, the Virtual Open House. This is not a replacement for the traditional Open House events, but as an adjunct to it. It contains the following sections: videos, streaming content, high-quality photos, Skype engagements, and personal invitations.
Overall format: The school should create a unique website for this virtual open house. The favicon should include the school's logo with the words "Open House". The website should be heavy on visuals and descriptive words.
Videos: Schools can take a number of "fly-on-the-wall" videos, interview videos with students/parents/teachers. These videos can be posted on the website.
Streaming content: schedules, synchronous video content, such as a principal's talk, or a Q&A session with alumni showcasing the reasons why attending the school helped them in the future.
Skype or video-conference engagements: Personalized Skype engagements, scheduled and tailored to the virtual prospective parents can be a boon since it allows the virtual session to be done at any time.
Who it's for: Busy families, families who live too far away, families who wish to re-experience the open house.
What it says about the school: We are open to technology and using technology to enhance the parent experience.
Example of Virtual Open Houses:
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