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Suzanne Oxford

How to get buy-in

I didn’t believe the ‘chairman’s billboard’ myth until it happened to me in a meeting at a school several years ago.

There I was, presenting a 5-year brand strategy roadmap to board members, when one suggested billboard spend could be moved to a particular intersection.

We were talking about strategy, not tactics and, regardless, the billboard was out of the catchment area. So why the non sequitur?

The answer was simple. He lived near the road, and wanted to see ads about his school when he drove to work.

His board colleagues said nothing.

I agreed to look at the costs and we continued the presentation.

But I must admit that there was one thought running in the back of my mind for the rest of the meeting: Wow. They’re stuck on tactics. They don’t get strategy.

That’s one story. As I’ve sat with marketing teams, principals and boards since, I’ve heard many iterations of stories with the same punchline: They just don’t get it.

Most school marketers don’t have the benefit of a mature brand champion in their leadership team. Every school marketer I’ve ever met would like more budget than they’ve been given. Yet some succeed in getting their strategies across the line, and some don’t.

Here are some ways they win.

1. Start with awareness and empathy

It’s tempting to double down on your great ideas and just push harder. But change starts by first empathetically understanding the challenges your peers and your leaders are facing. Taking a leaf from Patrick Lencioni, high-performance teams – and decision making – start with psychological safety and trust. When your colleagues and leaders sense you have their back, they’re more likely to have yours.

2. Clearly link to your school’s goals

This should go without saying but it’s important to make plain: everything you present should have clear, deliberate alignment to your school’s strategic goals. Brand and marketing strategies should always – with rare exception – deliver on your business goals. If they don’t, they’re not strategies. They’re just good ideas. And they probably don’t deserve to be approved.

3. Success starts in the hallways

Don’t discount the value of informal engagements with your peers and your leaders. The most successful marketers I work with have broad and deep relationships, forged through months of water cooler, coffee-maker and hallway conversations. Long before they reach the decision-making table, they garner buy-in through relationship, conversation and mutual understanding.

4. Educate from within

Given that most of your decision makers will be professional educators, it’s unrealistic to think they’ll deeply understand how your brand strategy can influence change and growth. And if your decision makers don’t feel confident, they’ll shy away from giving you an unreserved ‘yes’. Brand and marketing are research-driven areas of expertise. So lean into this, and educate your educators. Invite in an external agency like ours to run a professional development session on brand. Engage your leadership team in a marketing workshop so they feel ownership. Share links and resources and case studies. Also, try a lateral play. For example, brand, crisis communication and reputation management are closely linked. If the idea of ‘brand’ is a step too far for your board, focus instead on their role: risk mitigation. Over time, that will open up broader and deeper understanding about the importance of proactive brand management.

5. Trojan horse your big idea

Schools aren’t known for embracing change or risk – yet sometimes where you need to take your school’s brand and marketing will feel like both. If it does, one way to achieve approval is to wrap the strategy you need within a bigger play. This usually works best where the bigger play you present – the trojan horse – aligns with what everyone else in the room wants.

6. Tap into hearts and minds

We often make the mistake of thinking that decision making is only logical. It’s not. We make decisions with our hearts and our minds. So, do what you do best and create an internal campaign. Showcase how other schools are winning, and tap into your leaders’ innate sense of competition. Give them ways to develop a sense of mastery and confidence in brand and marketing. Find examples of engagement in other schools that tie into areas where your leaders feel they’re not succeeding, from community elevation to professional recognition.

7. Solve the time and money problems

Decision-making blocks often come down to limited resources. So solve questions about time and money before you arrive in the room. Part of the answer to the time question lies in how you’ll work smarter, not harder – like ways of reusing content across different channels. Being clever with time also includes leaning into existing opportunities and new collaborations across your school. Some of the most powerful marketing strategies I’ve seen reflect a slice of your school life – an alumnus talking or a school choir’s performance becoming a backing track to a video. Think about potential partnerships, too. Not every cent needs to come from your school. Think about how you can leverage sponsorships and partnerships beyond the school fence to grow your budget and benefit your school.

8. It’s not personal. So keep going.

Not every idea will be approved. And even when your strategy **is** approved, you might feel like it’s been watered down by competing demands. Both of these things frequently happen. Your best next action is to dust yourself off, regroup and restart. Focus on what you do best, and make sure you are collecting ROI that showcases your expertise and your approach. Then, learn from this experience so you can succeed next time.

Not all of these ideas will work in your situation, but some will. Practice these skills, and you’ll start to go beyond random acts of unconnected marketing towards strategic directions you know can propel your school to greater success.

Suzanne Oxford is founding partner of New Word Order, and has worked with schools across Australia on strategies, brands and campaigns for the past 20 years.