Gain Insight to Guide Your Strategy
In this current environment, schools are up against some serious competition and more than ever, it is important to effectively communicate what differentiates your district and sets it apart. What you may not know is that you have a lot of data at your disposal, and it is exactly what you need to focus your efforts to face down your competition.
Galapagos believes that data is the basis of effective strategy – and that’s why insight is our starting point, every time. Using quality research guides impactful strategies and allows you to better focus your marketing efforts, successfully tell your story, and adapt and change if needed. From researching consumer trends and demographic shifts, understanding your unique parent and community audiences, and pulling in analysts from our data team, we specialize in making sure your strategy is based on insight, intelligence, and expertise to be sure your efforts are laser-focused to meet your objectives while staying on budget.
Consumer Needs
Unlike other industries such as healthcare, financial services, and hospitality, there is very little sound research available about the needs of parents. What many of our education clients don’t realize, however, is that ongoing research on consumer needs provides context for the changing expectations of parents. Using national and global research, we can help districts evolve their communication strategies to meet the ever-changing needs of their stakeholders. For example, in the fall of 2020, no doubt because of the pandemic, consumers globally had an increased need to “regain control.” We’re confident you saw this need increase among the parents in your school district, as well. In the financial industry sector, we saw consumers start to save more and we witnessed a massive increase in financial planning services. How can we take this insight and apply it to schools? If your parents want to regain control, they want better communication, they want more choice, they want to feel more involved in their child’s learning. Taking this global insight and applying it to your specific industry can help you evolve and get ahead of changing consumer needs.
Survey Knowledge
One of the best ways to gather insight is by going directly to the source. Parent, staff, and student surveys often jumpstart the strategy for what your district needs to focus on. Do you know why parents chose to send their children to your district? Do you know what type of research they did before they decided to enroll? If you’re wondering what attracted your current parents to your district, ask them! Chances are those same attributes will attract new families. Learning what is most important to your current families allows you to narrow down and focus your communications on those top priorities.
Net Promoter Score
Net Promoter Score®, or NPS®, measures customer experience and is a leading indicator used to predict business growth.. This index measures customers’ willingness to recommend a business or organization, based on the quality of the experience they receive.Galapagos uses this measurement for our education clients to assess how well they deliver an experience that satisfies parentsand we have seen it predict future growth or decline in enrollment. In fact, increases and decreases in Net Promoter Scores are often directly correlated to enrollment.
A low NPS® indicates the need to focus on building internal culture and reevaluating, and improving, how you serve your customers.
What Insight has Uncovered
Research often brings to light information that is beneficial to guiding your strategy moving forward. For example:
Enrollment
Research can reveal the number of households with school-age children within the district who have chosen competitors and the reasons why.
Lack of Differentiation
Are you telling your district’s story and differentiating your district from its competitors? Research can show whether you’re succeeding in communicating to your target audiences the attributes that set your district apart.
Attrition
Are families leaving your district? Are they moving away or moving to competing schools within your district? Taking a deep dive to find the reasons why families leave allows you to focus on areas where change is needed to better meet the needs of the district’s families.
Feedback on the Enrollment Journey
What do parents think of the enrollment experience? By asking for their feedback, this insight can be utilized to adjust the enrollment process to improve the enrollment experience and ensure families feel confident in their decision to choose your district.
At Galapagos, we believe it’s not necessarily the biggest or the strongest school district that survives, but the district that is able to adapt, change, and successfully differentiate and communicate their story. Through our proven methods of research, we’ll help you gain insight that will develop and guide your strategy to retain students and even increase enrollment.
Find out how insight can help your district better achieve its strategic objectives. Get in touch today to get started.