Uncover Your School’s Personality in One Afternoon

Can you name the qualities or characteristics that make your school unmistakably your school? Can you convey that personality in every bit of marketing material you write and produce?

If you said no (or if you’re on the fence), you have an exciting day ahead of you. Knowing your school’s personality is an important first step in being able to tell your school’s story — it’s just a matter of clearing your head and digging into the information that’s all around you.

You can complete these five tasks in an afternoon and end the day with a clear view of the qualities that make your school unique.

Walk around campus

Pay attention to everything you see and hear. What is your campus really like? What’s the vibe? What are people wearing, what are they talking about, what’s their demeanor? As you’re paying attention to all of this, do you notice any commonalities? What words come to mind that describe what you’re experiencing? Write them down.

Review your current marketing materials

When you sit down and take an objective look at all the marketing content your school produces, you’re likely to gravitate to some pieces over others. Things that “feel” or “sound” like you—those are the ones you want to pay attention to. Write down your thoughts on what makes those pieces stand out and what attributes they convey.

Describe your ideal student

Take two minutes to write down words and phrases that describe the ideal student for your school. Don’t censor yourself; just write. Now take a look at your list. Since your ideal student is someone who is a good fit for your school, some of the characteristics that describe them are also those that are good descriptors of your school and its values. Circle the ones that feel like a fit.

Create an inspiration board

Grab a stack of old magazines and a pair of scissors. Clip out images, words and phrases that reflect everything you’ve absorbed today and that you feel reflect your school.

Write your school’s introduction

Pretend your school is a person at a cocktail party. Use the words, experiences, feelings and emotions you gathered to introduce your school to a fellow cocktail-party attendee. Choose a voice and tone that convey the experience of your school. This isn’t something you ever have to publish, but it should be something that can guide you and the entire marketing team when creating content. Thinking of your school as a person can help you better guide your content creation (you can think to yourself “Would our school say that?”) and help you approach new content ventures with confidence.

Now that you have school personality, you need a full school story. Learn more about what that means, why you need one, and how to get started, in The School Marketer’s Guide to Content Marketing — available for FREE in our Resource Library.