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PROLOGUE
You Are Not Behind. You Are One Person.
It’s the first week of August. Your inbox has a flyer request from the band director, a viewbook question from admissions, a "can we get on TikTok" note from someone who saw a competitor's account, and a website update that was supposed to go live in June.
All of it is reasonable. And you are one person.
Here is the part nobody says out loud in a school: you were not hired to do marketing. You were hired to absorb every request in the building that has a picture or a paragraph in it. Those are different jobs. Only one of them fills a class.
You do not have an effort problem. You have a permission problem. Without permission to say no, your year gets assigned to you by whoever emails first. The band flyer gets done because the band director is standing in your doorway. The inquiry follow-up does not, because nobody stands in your doorway on behalf of a family who has not applied yet.
That family is the whole job, and they are the only stakeholder here with no advocate on your calendar.
Three moves for the next four weeks
Pick the one number you own this year. Inquiries, tours, or applications. Say it out loud to your head of school in August, so it is a shared expectation instead of a private hope.
Give requests a front door. An intake form and a published turnaround stop interruptions from being interruptions, and finally make your workload visible. A queue with fourteen things in it is an argument for help. A frazzled person is just a frazzled person.
Protect three hours a week for the inquiry path. Same block, every week. Spend it only on the road a family actually walks: the form, the reply, the tour confirmation, the nudge when they go quiet. Everything else can run on templates.
A team of one is not a staffing problem you have to solve before you can be effective. It is a systems problem, and systems are the only thing that has ever scaled one person.
One quick win
Open last week's task list. Mark every item that was seen by a family considering your school. Not staff. Not the board. Families deciding. Count the marks. That is your actual marketing week.
You cannot do everything, and this is the week you find out what happens when you try anyway. So while the year is still quiet enough to choose: if you only got credit for one outcome this year, which one would you want it to be?
Thanks,
Brendan
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UPCOMING EVENT
For MarCom Society Members Only
If You Don’t Define Your Story, Someone Else Will
In an increasingly competitive educational landscape, schools can no longer rely on generic messaging or program lists to differentiate themselves. Brands are a signal of trust, and to build a strong one, schools must have clear and consistent storytelling. This session explores how schools can define and articulate a compelling brand story that goes beyond logos and taglines to shape perception, strengthen reputation and support enrolment and engagement goals. Participants will learn how to identify their school’s positioning, uncover emotional and functional benefits, and build messaging that aligns with the institution’s mission, values, and community experience.
Guest Expert: Emily Rabe
Emily Rabe is a Toronto-based marketing leader and currently Director of Marketing and Communications at The Bishop Strachan School. She is a strategic, results-driven marketer known for building alignment across teams and translating insight into high-impact campaigns that drive enrolment, engagement, and brand growth.
With experience spanning education, retail, and agency environments, Emily has led integrated marketing strategies for organizations including Party City, Jackman, and Bath & Body Works. Her work blends data, storytelling, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver measurable results—from record-breaking application growth to multi-channel campaigns that increase sales and customer engagement.
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