Evaluate Your Content Strategy Plan This Summer

Summer is quickly approaching, and for education marketers and communications strategists, you are probably hard at work on your recruitment and enrollment plans for the fall. That means it’s a good time to take a deep dive into your content strategy and analyze its effectiveness. A content strategy checklist will help you evaluate your overall strategy and discover if you:

• Know Your Audience(s)
• Understand Their Needs
• Are Equipped to Communicate How You Can Meet Their Needs

Know Your Audience(s)

Your audience is most likely parents and students. Simple, right? Not really. Parents are going to have different needs depending on whether they have children in preschool, kindergarten, middle school, or high school. And the students you are trying to reach will vary as well depending on their desire to attend a community college, trade school, or a four-year university.  Working with your team to understand who you are marketing to and the messages they need will help you determine if your content strategy is on track or needs adjustment.

Understand Their Needs

Your audiences may have various needs depending on who they are, but they all have one thing in common – they want you to share what you can do for them. Understanding what their needs are is key in developing a content strategy that works. Consider the following:

• Does their child have special interests/needs?
• Do you offer the type of learning environment they are looking for?
• Are other parents/students happy and satisfied with your school’s offerings?
• What specific programs does your school offer?
• Do you offer flexible learning options?
• Do you offer the types of programs/majors they want/need?
• What percent of your graduates find job placement soon after graduation?
  

Communicate How You Can Meet Their Needs

Now that you’ve discovered your audiences’ various needs and wants, it’s time to tell them how you can solve their issues. How are you doing that? On your website? Social media? Brochures? Newsletters? Look at all of the communication tactics you are using to reach your audiences and determine if they effectively show that your school offers the solutions to their needs.  

Planning your Content Strategy

Now it’s your turn. Use this Content Strategy Checklist to discover who your audiences are, what issues they face, and if your solutions meet their needs. Understanding these three areas more fully will help you create a content strategy that gets an A+!

Content Strategy Checklist

Who Is My Audience(s)?

a.         ________________________________________________________________

b.         ________________________________________________________________

c.         ________________________________________________________________

d.         ________________________________________________________________

What Does My Audience(s) Need?

a.         ________________________________________________________________

b.         ________________________________________________________________

c.         ________________________________________________________________

d.         ________________________________________________________________

How does my school, college, or university meet my audience’s needs?

a.         ________________________________________________________________

b.         ________________________________________________________________

c.         ________________________________________________________________

d.         ________________________________________________________________

What key points about my school, college, or university will resonate with what they need?

a.         ________________________________________________________________

b.         ________________________________________________________________

c.         ________________________________________________________________

d.         ________________________________________________________________

Taking the time to do this exercise will give you a fresh perspective on your content strategy. You may be hitting the mark with your audiences, or you may need to make some tweaks to better convey your story. Whatever the case, take some time this summer to review these three key areas of your content strategy plan, and if you happen to be going through this checklist poolside, that’s ok. You deserve it!

Chartwell Agency works with school districts, private and boarding schools, community colleges, universities, and education organizations. We can help you walk through this content strategy checklist. Give us a call. We’ll bring the sunscreen!