My children often ask me what I do at work. Their dad is a teacher, their uncle is a police officer, their aunt is a doctor, I could go on… These are jobs they understand.  They can picture what a teacher, police officer, or doctor do when they go to work.

My child: “Mom, what do you do at work?”

Me: “I use digital marketing tactics to promote adult professional education programs and increase enrollment for my partner schools.”

My child: “Oh, I thought you just played on your computer.”

I think I have a new way of explaining my job to my children.

My child: “Mom, what do you do for work?”

Me: “Just like I help you as your mom, I also help students find the right program and school for them.”

Here’s how I incorporate my “mama skills” into 5 marketing strategies to help MindMax’s partner schools.

Tell them a story

I am always providing my children with examples, or telling them stories of how I managed a problem or issue when I was a kid.  It helps them visualize how they can approach something. Prospective students understand that going back to school would potentially benefit them, but school’s often must help them see beyond that.  Use student testimonials to show them how someone in a similar situation did this.  Or display industry job growth statistics to give them confidence that this is the right choice for their career.  You could even help prospect students visualize themselves in the class with class demos or webinars featuring the faculty.

Be available when, and where, they need you

You can offer support and advice to your children, but sometimes you must wait for them to come to you when they are ready.  The same holds true for prospective students. The decision to enroll in an educational program can be tough – the individual must consider their work schedule, family commitments, the time and money investment.  When they finally decide that enrolling is the right choice for them, it is critical that your program is front and center.  So whether through paid search, email communication, retargeting, or social media you need to stay top of mind.

Nurture, nurture, nurture

Parenting is a journey that involves nurturing and supporting your children as they move through each stage of their life.  Similarly, going back to school is a buying journey.  There are stages along the way from awareness and consideration to decision making.  Using a marketing automation system (like Pardot, HubSpot or Marketo), we can nurture and build relationships with prospective students who are not currently ready to buy.  These systems help you increase conversions, leverage data for improved, targeted, personalized and intelligent campaigns, and increase engagement with timely and relevant content.

Use your support team – have a “it takes a village” mentality

Today’s parents must lean on extended family, childcare services, neighbors, and friends to accomplish the demands of parenting.  The same holds true for you and your resources.  Your best advocates are current students, alumni, and faculty.  Use these networks to get the word out about your programs.  Ask them to share on their social networks, set-up a referral program, or a networking event where they can bring a friend to learn more.  They are your brand champions so give them the power.

Test, test, test

I found this quote to be very relevant:

The beauty of “spacing” children many years apart lies in the fact that parents have time to learn the mistakes that were made with the older ones – which permits them to make exactly the opposite mistakes with the younger ones. ~ Sydney J. Harris

As parents, we shouldn’t be afraid to make mistakes, but we should learn from them.  As marketers, the same is true.  Using tools like marketing automation systems, Google Analytics, AdWords, and Salesforce, we can use data to help us make beter decisions.  Digital marketing allows us to change keywords, images, messaging, and audience targeting when we see an area that is not working, or, is working well.

Whether my 5 strategies were helpful for parenting or marketing, I hope you enjoyed reading!

These strategies have helped guide MindMax’s partner schools and they will undoubtedly help inform your own process too.  For more insight into how MindMax implements marketing strategies with our partner schools, check out the wide variety of solutions we offer or contact us today!

How I lived, saw or experienced one of MindMax’s values this month

Get Results – Learn Always – Align to Mission – Build Meaningful Relationships – Ask for Help.

Building meaningful relationships is a MindMax value that’s also critical in the practice of parenting and marketing.  This past month, I spent time planning for how to bring our partner schools the right talent to support their initiatives and goals.  In the process, I have built my own marketing village of talented resources to bounce ideas off, seek expertise, and get strong results.  I will be taking this value and learning home with me as well!