School Marketing Has a Precedent Problem

There has been an elephant sitting in the space of many school marketing roles for years: Why is there no real precedent for what independent school marketing is “supposed” to be?

It’s not that marketing is unimportant. School marketing and communications keep the trains moving. The work isn’t unclear in our heads. It’s because marketing, across schools, has been treated like the catch-all function that absorbs whatever needs doing, instead of being thought of as a strategic thought partner and critical operation of the school.

If you work in a school and someone says “admissions,” you can picture it. There’s a job description (even if the details vary). There are established expectations. Same with development. Fundraising has structure: relationship-building, annual giving, events, and stewardship. It is understood.

Then there’s marketing.

At one school, “marketing” means managing the website and sending emails. At another, it’s social media and enrollment support. At another, it includes brand stewardship, content strategy, crisis comms, internal comms, PR, photography, video, event promotion, community partnerships, and on and on.

And here’s where it gets real: the work has exploded, but the infrastructure hasn’t, and staffing is not prioritized to keep up.

The last decade has been a turning point. Many schools used to feel like they didn’t need to market. “We need to send emails. Update the website. Post on social media.” 

Now, the world around schools is shifting fast: declining birth rates, economic uncertainty, and political disruptions that directly affect families’ ability to pay tuition. And layered on top of all of that, the pace of change in marketing itself has gone into overdrive.

AI is all around us. Search is changing. Parent behavior is evolving. The tools are changing. The expectations are constantly growing. Every year, schools are being asked to communicate more, prove value more clearly, bring in more money, and connect more intentionally with families who are making higher-stakes decisions.

And yet, schools are still posting job descriptions that look like a list of “everything we wish would magically happen.”

Some roles include two dozen bullet points. A “Director of Marketing and Communications” who supports admission and development, manages the brand, runs social media, writes and designs everything, handles email strategy, supports leadership messaging, and basically becomes the human answer to “can you just…?” all day long.

If you have ever sat in that seat, you know what comes next.

Burnout. Frustration. A sense of failing at a job that was never set up to be possible.

There are hidden expectations underneath those postings, too: that the person will be highly experienced, current on every trend, excellent at design and copywriting, strategic and tactical, and willing to stay late to get it all done. That is not a reasonable role. It is a system problem disguised as a hiring plan.

How do we handle this unsustainable, never-ending workday reality?

First, schools need clarity on what they actually want marketing to accomplish. Strategy and execution are different skills, and most roles require both. If a school is not investing in the ability to step back, prioritize, and make trade-offs, the work becomes reactive by default.

Second, staffing and budgeting must be considered with honesty. There are elements that can be hired in-house, pieces that can be outsourced, others that can be automated, and non-essential functions that can simply be deleted. None of that happens unless leadership is willing to name what matters most.

Third, we need better peer benchmarks. A one-person marketing shop cannot compare themselves to a four-to-six-person team. This apples-to-oranges juxtaposition fuels jealousy, FOMO, and a constant feeling of falling behind.

What would it look like if our field had clearer standards, shared language, and real guidance for different school sizes and models?

School marketing is no longer optional, and the people doing the work deserve roles that are built to succeed.

The Next Era of School Marketing: Candid thoughts from veteran school marketers Aubrey Bursch and Laurie Ehrlich

By Laurie Ehrlich, Co-Founder + Marketing Strategist, Thrive Hive, and Aubrey Bursch, Founder & CEO of Easy School Marketing