Here are my 3 favorite rules of marketing (and proven techniques) that you can steal for your classroom needs!
- Know your client – like really know them!
- Where do they shop, what do they eat, what type of clothes do they like, what is their favorite sport, do they like to draw, and where do they spend their free time?
- Know your students so well that you can anticipate their needs and challenges. Create all your lessons and resources to solve their problems so well that implementing content in the classroom is easy because you understood their needs.
- The know like and trust factor – you must consistently be creating a relationship with them so that when you offer the lesson, they are so quick to say yes with enthusiasm that they will never even question the content. Because they just love you so much!
- Be real, Don’t try and trick or fake out your students. When you make a mistake admit it. When you have a human moment, you are allowed to share. This is part of how you win over your students.
- Be consistent- Don’t get sidetracked with the bells and whistles. Sure the idea of creating a youtube channel to share extra content sounds fun, but you already have strategies in your classroom to help give extra content and resources. So stick with it because when you say yes to adding one more thing to your class, you can’t give your other initiatives the full attention it needs to be good. Whatever way you choose to do it with consistency and do it well. I know some teachers who change their behavior charts and strategies monthly. This creates nothing but chaos in the minds of your students. Be consistent with everything you do because this creates tons of trust and respect.
- Scale – Keep data to see what works
- Analyze your data to see what is working and what is not. Those things that work, increase that game.
- Let go of those lessons or ideas that aren’t working with your class. Ask yourself why you are working so hard to teach something that isn’t working. Is it that important? Maybe it’s a standard or something that needs to be taught in the curriculum and you must teach it. If this is the case, then compare and contrast what is working in other lessons and try to identify why. Then go back and apply those strategies to the lesson that isn’t working.
Listen to the podcast episode all about using marketing strategies in your classroom here.
Next time you are feeling a bit frustrated with your classroom lessons, try applying my 3 favorite marketing rules! Let me know how it works out for you!