Communicating and Marketing the Unique Benefits of Girls’ Schools (North American Cohort)
Headways™ 2024-2025 Cohort Offering
Cohort Region: North American
Open To: All members of ICGS schools in communications, marketing, and public relations roles.
Facilitator: Christine Wilson, Director of Marketing and Communications at Academy of Our Lady of Peace (US)
Discussion Topics
October 10, 2024 3:00 p.m. NYC / 8:00 p.m. London / October 11, 2024 6:00 a.m. Melbourne via Zoom
Telling Your School’s Story
Defining and communicating your unique value proposition; “word of mouth” marketing – empowering faculty, parents, and alumnae as brand ambassadors; effectively answering the question “why all-girls”; targeting your message to the appropriate audience – are you talking to students or parents?; developing your own clearly identifiable voice and visual identity; incorporating editorial, media, and public relations decisions into this mix
November 20, 2024 3:00 p.m. NYC / 8:00 p.m. London / November 21, 2024 6:00 a.m. Melbourne via Zoom
Evolving Admission and Philanthropic Marketing
What new strategies, tactics, and philosophies are you employing for the admissions funnel; what marketing trends in advancement are you watching; how are schools inspiring philanthropy from parents, graduates, and friends of the institution; how are ICGS schools faring in this space, compared with colleges and universities
January 23, 2025 3:00 p.m. NYC /8:00 p.m. London / January 24, 2025 7:00 a.m. Melbourne via Zoom
Digital Trends, Tools & Strategies
Managing increasing demand for content creation (social media, videos, blogs, website, etc.) in tandem with traditional duties: has anything dropped from the workload; what digital tools are using—dashboards, AI, automated posting, etc.; measuring success of content creation efforts and tracking audience reach; inbound marketing; customer relationship management (CRM) software: which vendors, is it connected to admissions; working with admissions on digital marketing
February 19, 2025 3:00 p.m. NYC /8:00 p.m. London / Feburary 20, 2025 7:00 a.m. Melbourne via Zoom
Communicating Your School’s Values
Representing diversity, equity, and inclusion in marketing/communications; do current families see themselves represented; authentic vs performative messages; empathetic relationship management and building buy-in within your community; gender identity guidelines for applicants; recruiting a diverse student body; DEI professional development
April 16, 2025 3:00 p.m. NYC /8:00 p.m. London / April 17, 2025 5:00 a.m. Melbourne via Zoom
Market Research, Advertising, Data-Driven Decisions
Using existing research, qualitative (surveys, interviews, focus groups) vs. quantitative (social media, search/website analytics), survey tools, developing personas based on research to target content and marketing efforts; advertising mix – how are you using data to drive advertising decisions or using ad buys to shape other marketing decisions
