How can educational institutions effectively use public relations to build brand awareness?

"Educational institutions can boost brand awareness through strategic public relations. By showcasing academic achievements, innovative programs, and student success stories, schools can connect with their audience. Engaging with the community through events, partnerships, and social media enhances visibility. Crafting a compelling narrative about the institution's values and impact establishes a positive reputation. In the competitive education landscape, leveraging public relations helps institutions stand out, attracting students, faculty, and stakeholders alike. #EducationPR #BrandAwareness #HigherEd"

The foundation of any effective PR campaign is having a clear understanding and fair knowledge of your target audience. Know who you intend communicating to as well as the many variables that influence their lives, needs and aspirations.

In my experience, every strategy runs on the research that identifies target audience based on the objective. Several methods are to be utilised while researching like, PESTLE or SWOT. These give us an analysis of political, economical, social, technical, legal and environmental factors impacting the brand/product. SWOT gives us deeper insights on the company and market. There are tools like GWI that provides intrinsic details on consumer behaviour too.

Be very clear on what you intend to achieve with public relations. Having clearly stated goals will help you know the resources required and inform the needed investment. Do not have isolated goals and do not entertain various units of the organisation working in silos. Ensure that your PR goals are aligned with the overall business goal, well communicated to the team and led by a team/unit lead.

Do not do 'copy and paste'. There is always a story to tell and a message to send - find it. It is important that you craft messages and stories that project the singularity of your brand and set you aside in an often crowded market. Nurture your brand appeal through storytelling across channels.

Public relations may help educational institutions improve brand awareness by creating appealing messages and stories. Clear and consistent storytelling about the institution's strengths, principles and accomplishments is crucial. Find out what makes the school unique, such as academics, programmes, faculty or community involvement. These messages should express the institution's identity and leave a lasting impact. Relationships with traditional and digital media are essential. A press outreach campaign with press releases, feature articles and interviews helps spread the institution's narrative. Brand communications reach more people through social media, blogs and newsletters.

The media is an ally. This must lead your thinking in building your media partnerships. The media can make and unmake a brand, especially in a connected world; endeavour to know and make yourself known to key media actors in your industry, markets of operations and target segments. Get your team to do thorough research into the media landscape so as to focus on the relevant media platforms so as not to stretch your resources too thin.

Clearly establish KPIs for your PR desk. Track everything, from the number of media outreaches, to your offline and online leads. This will give you an overview of what works or not and inform your PR strategies for future campaigns.

Also for consideration, I think in the realm of public relations for educational institutions, sharing positive narratives about the institution's transformative impact on students' lives is crucial. This includes emphasizing the wealth of knowledge imparted to students, preparing them effectively for the challenges of the world beyond academia. Additionally, leveraging testimonials from alumni can boost brand awareness and credibility, providing authentic perceptions for the institution.