Every now and then, thanks to technology advances, a shift happens that changes the way we do something forever. That shift can be small, but its impact can be huge. We all do things that are either done out of habit, or because they have simply always been done that way, and never actually question the method used. Yet when an alternative comes along that makes us change, our first reaction is often ‘Oh – that’s just obvious!’, as if we have always known there was actually a better way of doing something all along. We never question it or look back again on the old way of doing things.
Have you had to compromise when creating your school prospectus?
Take school prospectuses: the way they are created hasn’t changed that much over the years. Schools spend time and money creating a well put together overview of the school and its benefits, then send them out to prospective parents and students who are interested in the school. Producing a school prospectus that aims to appeal to everyone can sometimes mean producing a compromised version, and perhaps missing out on hidden gems of information that would have otherwise attracted more students to the school.
Do you print more copies of your school prospectus than you need?
Another reason why the creation of prospectuses hasn’t changed much to date is associated with the initial print run and costs. Yet, having a few thousand copies printed to keep the unit cost down is a false economy, especially if the school has more than one prospectus to print. Only once they have all been used can any changes be made and prospectuses be reprinted. However, what often actually occurs, is the need for a costly update within months of printing due to a big change taking place at the school. This results in the disposing of all the print copies, costing a school thousands of pounds and resulting in a waste of valuable marketing budget.
Every school prospectus has one thing in common
One thing that most prospectuses have in common is that they all contain generic information. When putting together their prospectus, not everything a school would like to go in, can go in, so choices and compromises have to be made so that it works in the main. This of course means there are fewer opportunities to share information about what makes a school different from the competition, or content is just overlooked because it’s not deemed important enough to go in. This all happens because there has been no other way of creating a school prospectus…until now.
The landscape has changed when in comes to the school prospectus
Unify is changing the landscape when it comes to the school prospectus. Gone are the days of printing hundreds or thousands of copies and storing them. With the advancements in digital printing it’s impossible to tell apart a traditional litho printed prospectus from a digitally printed version. This it is the trigger point that brought around the change to the school prospectus forever. So from now on, only think of printing a single prospectus at a time: it will open up a new world of options that were not possible to your school before.
A game changer when marketing your school
The game changer is because just one copy can be printed at a time. It can be tailored and personalised to each individual. Not only can the student’s name be printed within the prospectus to make it personalised, but even more importantly, the content can be tailored to their specific requirements. All the extracurricular activities or specific types of sports content that might not have made it into the generic prospectus, can now be selected and added to the new prospectus depending on the student’s preference. This also benefits schools who have a Pre-prep School and a Prep School prospectus with double the print costs. With Unify, there is no need to print and store both of these anymore. However, the most impactful feature of Unify is in giving schools the flexibility to make changes at any time to content on any of the pages. So, any unforeseen changes, such as a change in Headteacher staffing that would normally require a reprint of the generic prospectus, can now be forgotten.
Once you start thinking about how Unify can change the way your school prospectus is produced, you will start to think of other benefits and options. For a demo of Unify, or if you would like to talk more about the system, please contact us on 01279 732436 or https://unifyschools.co.uk/contact/