AISAP52

One of the more poorly explored topics in admission is how and at what level schools should establish an advertising budget.

Budget information is rarely shared outside the walls of the business office, much less at professional development conferences. Regardless of the source of our reticence, given the vital requirement that we amplify our value proposition, the topic should be at the center of good admission work everywhere. Wise strategic tactics should be explored on the national stage.

Making educated decisions about advertising must first uncover comparable institutions that advertise. To what set of institutions or services could we compare ourselves to determine whether our ad budgets are sufficient or sensible? Would we look at the relationship between our ad budgets and our tuition revenue requirements and compare that to other commercial offerings? Non-profits only?  This would certainly be eye-opening. If a school requires $10 million in tuition revenue, is a $50,000 ad budget in a major American media market a completely insufficient attempt to convey our complex value proposition? What if the tuition requirement is $25 Million? $35 Million? Intuition would point to the value of a close look and active discussion.

Any comparison would also need to take into consideration the unique marketing constraints of independent schools. Most of our untapped clients are not switching private schools, In every American market, the vast majority of full pay clients, the folks we should seek most if we hope to reverse national trends, are not even looking at our schools. We are angling for them to pay for a deeply unfamiliar service. We are not inexpensive and we have not looked carefully enough at what might be required and what might help solve our long-term troubles.

Any review and decision-making process must also confront the task of assessing at any institution that is near capacity what the financial benefit of advertising might be and how deeply it matters in the short and long run. Schools that are under capacity can more easily measure the return on advertising, perhaps by tracking interest at Open Houses, carefully monitoring the timing of inquiry demand or surveying families successfully and carefully at the end of each year to calculate budget impact. Even for schools that are fully enrolled, beyond the mission-driven value of finding fit and greater selectivity, how might a healthier school measure the risk of not advertising a service that in most cases nationally has passed its price point with non-traditional families and is moving farther and farther out of reach?

As an AISAP Board member, I would suggest that we work regionally and within our schools to advocate for a close examination of advertising budgets with the following questions in mind:

1. What is the relationship between our ad budgets and revenue requirements and those of comparable services nationally? What services are comparable?
2. What is the current footprint and impact of our advertising on each of our market’s consciousness of our value? 
3. What budget would it take to trigger a cultural consensus that our services are worth the money? (Colleges are very expensive. Their value is a given. Demand for US Colleges is skyrocketing. We are worth the money too. In advertising dollars, what will it cost to match the American cultural consensus surrounding the value of paying for college?)
4. On the topic of budgets, what could we (AISAP, NAIS) consider facilitating collectively to make our ad efforts more financially reasonable? Given the complexity of unpacking our value proposition in an impactful way. How can the value be conveyed briefly (within the constraints and costs of available advertising mediums)?
5. Can our national organizations fund templates that any school could use to communicate the value proposition? Would 12-15 90-120-second, easily adaptable graphic videos with high production values and the best possible arguments help us create a new cultural consensus of the value of our schools?