Marketing Tips

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Marketing Tips The GEAR UP College Planning Portfolio is designed to help students and families collect information and records they will need when applying to college. This kit of materials— videos, resource materials, the portfolio itself—can help you to deliver an important message, namely: Early planning for college can make a big difference in a student’s readiness for higher education. This message is especially important for students and families who are unfamiliar with the college-application process and unaware of the range of academic skills that students need to succeed at the college level. The GEAR UP College Planning Portfolio can be the centerpiece of a public awareness effort that stresses the importance of planning ahead for college.

ic Increase Publ Awareness of Presentations

Your portfolio includes everything you need to plan and host informative and motivational presentations in your community. But how will you get students and families to attend your presentations? Here are some suggestions:

Utiliz e the Mass M edia

Radio, television and newspapers are the best vehicles for making community-wide announcements. You can usually get all the help you need if you take the time to meet representatives of the media. It always helps if they know who you are and what you do when you contact them about a story. If you have not already made contact with newspaper editors and broadcast personnel, you can use your College Planning Portfolio presentations as a calling card. Because your presentations can benefit many people in your community, most media representatives will welcome your contact and help you spread the word. Please keep in mind that media people are very busy, so make your visits brief. Be well prepared when you talk with them to quickly provide all of the most important facts about your story.

ownyourownfuture.com || Texas GEAR UP

Marketing Tips

Marketing Tips

Televis ion

Rad io Included in this toolkit are scripts for a 30-second and a 60-second public service announcement (PSA). Many radio stations will be happy to record and air PSAs to help you publicize your presentations. Some radio stations produce a weekly “community bulletin board” program, which features announcements of newsworthy happenings in the community each week. If your local stations produce this kind of a program, provide them with a news release that includes information about the purpose, date, time and place of your upcoming presentations. Included in this toolkit is a sample news release which you can customize for your community. You can also provide a news release to the news editors at your radio stations. If a radio station produces a local news program, a reporter can use the release as the basis of a story, which can also include an interview with you.

Provide a copy of the news release to the news editors and program directors at your TV stations—the free GEAR UP College Planning Portfolio for attendees will get their attention. They will also like the fact that the portfolio will make an excellent visual for a news story. You should invite a TV news crew to one of your presentations to shoot footage for a news story. After the initial news segment airs, the TV station can reuse the footage to announce upcoming presentations.

New spap ers You are certain to find a helpful editor or reporter at your hometown newspaper. The first step is to identify the city editor or reporter who covers public education in your community. That is the person who should receive the news release and a follow-up phone call. If editors or reporters think that the story merits more in-depth coverage, they will probably want to interview you and, perhaps, attend a presentation.

Many stations produce their own community-focused morning, afternoon and weekend talk shows. Ask about these kinds of shows when you make contact with program directors. If they like your story, they will probably invite you to be a guest. In a talk show format, you will have ample time to explain the importance of early planning for college, the date, place and time of your next presentation, and, of course, the free portfolio for attendees.

ownyourownfuture.com || Texas GEAR UP

Marketing Tips

Marketing Tips

e Word

Spread th Other Ways to

Co m m un ity Groups

Ask community groups, business groups, church groups, PTAs and other organizations meetings to announce your GEAR UP College Planning Portfolio presentations. It is an excellent way to reach parents face to face, answer questions, and show them the free portfolio that they will receive if they attend.

N ew sletter s

Most community groups, church groups and other organizations publish a newsletter that is sent to all of their members. These publications are another excellent way to spread the word about your presentations. All you need to do is send the news release and make a follow-up phone call to answer questions.

Web site

Announce upcoming presentations on your school’s website. Be sure to mention the free College Planning Portfolio for each attending family.

ownyourownfuture.com || Texas GEAR UP

Po sters

Your portfolio toolkit includes posters that you can display at your school or other gathering places in the community to announce upcoming presentations.

Cl as sroo m An noun ce ments

Enlist the support of your school’s administration and faculty. Ask teachers to make announcements about upcoming presentations and the free College Planning Portfolio. The best way to reach parents is though their children, so if each teacher makes a two-minute announcement in his or her classroom, chances are the word will get back to a large number of parents.

U se you r im ag in at ion ! There are countless ways to spread the word about worthwhile events in your community that only someone who lives in your community will know about. Give it some thought. Brainstorm with faculty members, students and families. If you make your presentations a priority, so will the audience you are trying to reach.

Marketing Tips