The Undisputed Power of PR

Whether we like it or not, the power of PR is a huge one for schools. I have been contemplating a move of ad dollars over to PR for several years now (this even with me being an ad girl!) and it is clear to me it's time to pull the trigger.

Social media combined with strategic media/public relations efforts - established on an foundation of awareness (which is where advertising comes in) - is going to be the way to go for my school, in this marketplace, going forward. The power of being able to post other-sourced links/share articles and news clips on our website and through our social media channels is great, and the potential for sharing out by our loyal parents, alumni, students and staff is even greater. The virility of such an approach is invaluable.

Recently Blake was featured in a first-ever "power/leadership" issue of a local glossy magazine (MN Monthly; "Built to Lead"). We did not pitch them the story, they came to us for - they said - a variety of reasons (not the least is that we have a new female head of school and the current state governor is an alum), but I worked with the writer/editor extensively to help connect him to interviewees who I knew would be the most powerful voices: our students. I also sent him a list of alumni who exemplified leadership in a number of areas (non-profits as well as for-profits) to help illustrate the power of what we do at Blake in terms of fostering leadership. What started out as an article that had potential to be somewhat rote about a local private school, turned into a fabulous and far-reaching brand piece that was authentic and powerfully relevant, no pun intended.

While we don't have metrics quit yet on the impact of the article, specifically on our recruitment/enrollment efforts, I am fairly confident we will see an uptick in inquiries, visits to our website and potentially applications due to the article - it raises us that much higher on the awareness field. It adds a credibility we could never give ourselves. It also ended up being valuable for us online through social media: alumni re-tweeted our tweet; we interacted with the Twitter account of the magazine and both alumni, parents AND staff (voluntarily!) shared the article on Facebook. We had a similar article run back in 2010 in the 'other' major metro magazine (Mpls St Paul Magazine) and I am convinced it was one of the reasons we saw - for the first time since the recession began - a nice uptick in applications that year.

Now I know that, of course, one must also accepted the potential for negative PR; where a story goes sideways and the quotes are less than ideal. Blake has certainly had its share of both (don't get me started). But the adage of "no PR is bad PR" might have some truth in it, uncomfortable as it may seen. One of the most recent examples for Blake was having a huge article published right before Thanksgiving last year in the major newspaper locally, about the salaries of heads of private schools, ours in particular. It was a uncomfortably piece with large dollars bandied about (with the incorrect context no less), however, it actually offered a platform for conversations with community members about why we are worth it. Not talking about the money does not help an independent school. I loved what our institutional advancement director said when I was sharing some of the angst emerging around the piece - and I paraphrase, "if people can't understand the value coming out of our school, e.g. our students and graduates, is driven by the quality of the work and leadership going in, they aren't going to understand private education today."

Net net, while I know sometimes PR efforts feel too intangible, and that they can sometimes take forever to take off (if at all), take it from someone who is living it: we could not have paid for the value of what we got out of any of the articles. The talk factor alone - partially generated because we had not authored it I suspect (although of course some people are persuaded we bribed someone!) - has had a huge and beneficial effect on our brand and our outreach efforts.

What stories could you pitch in your market that you think local media would bite? What examples do you have of PR that has had a positive impact on your work?

Addendum:  Posted this Monday morning, and found this blog item by Joan Stewart Monday afternoon about online publicity and why/how it is good! Like minds....