Word of Mouth Marketing Resources for Private Schools

As we know, word of mouth is the number one way that prospective parents find out about a school. However, most school leaders don’t have an effective word of mouth marketing plan.

Ironic, isn’t it?

Andy Sernovitz, in his book entitled Word of Mouth Marketing, defines this as “Giving people a reason to talk about your stuff [your school] and making it easier for that conversation to take place.”

That’s our goal as marketers, admissions directors, and heads of schools.

Word of mouth marketing IS your primary marketing strategy to grow your school’s enrollment.

My passion is to help school leaders develop and implement an effective word of mouth marketing plan. During the past year I have focused my presentations and blog posts on this critical topic.

In order to help you develop your word of mouth marketing plan, I have compiled some helpful resources in this blog post:

Webinars on Word of Mouth Marketing

• Developing your School’s Word of Mouth Marketing Plan — Originally presented at the AISAP Summer Institute and then presented as a webinar in December 2012 for SSATB
• Using the WEB to Inspire WOM for Your School — Presented in September 2012 for EdSocialMedia

Blog Posts on Word of Mouth Marketing for Schools

• The LCS Talkers Program — An Innovative Word of Mouth Marketing Strategy
• Private School Marketing Lessons on Love
• Mouth to Mouth — Your School’s Best Marketing Strategy
• 9 Strategies Presented at the Word of Mouth Crash Course
• Three Word of Mouth Marketing Strategies for Private Schools
• A Better Way to Market Your School’s Open House
• Three Ways to Ask Parents for Referrals to Your School
• Private School Marketing Lessons from a Restaurant on Captiva Island
• They Will Tell Two Friends
• Developing Your School’s Word of Mouth Marketing Plan
• Six Ways to Market Your School Through Your Parents
• Paying Your Parents for Referrals

Books on Word of Mouth Marketing

• Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz
• Brand Advocates by Rob Fuggetta
• What’s Your Purple Goldfish? by Stan Phelps
• Brains on Fire by Robbin Phillips, Greg Cordell, Geno Church and Spike Jones
• The Face to Face Book by Ed Keller and Brad Fay
• The Dragonfly Effect by Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith

Websites, Blogs and Associations on Word of Mouth Marketing

• www.WordofMouth.org
• Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA)

Are there any word of mouth marketing resources you can add to the list?

What are some word of mouth marketing strategies that work for your school?