SNN Advisory Team 4/21/16 www.schoolnewsnetwork.org

What We’ll Cover A brief review of our history Our connections to readers Our challenges Our options

Our Inspiration “People need to stop bad-mouthing schools and spreading negativity… because schools reflect the communities they serve. They need to tell the positive stories about schools.” Jamie Vollmer “The mass media tend to filter and distort our messages, and people aren’t listening anyway. Go direct.” Pat Jackson “Stories communicate the importance of public schools without confrontation or argument… Research tells us that a simple, powerful story is the most effective way to influence others… Stories stick.”  John Draper

School Communication by the Numbers How We Got Here – School Communication by the Numbers Who’s left to tell the stories of our schools?

Media by the Numbers Full time education reporter in local West Michigan media (down from nearly 20) 1 1-2 Positive media stories in local media per district each year (on average); twice as many negative or neutral Are they telling the stories of our schools?

How Some Charter Schools Do It Spent each year on advertising/marketing, according to a recent study of Ohio charters $400 per pupil $40,000 per day Spent by National Heritage Academies in wall-to-wall advertising on Detroit newspaper websites $2 per pupil Approximate cost of SNN

Given this reality - how effectively were our 20 districts’ stories being told?

What our readers say… “Typically, education seems to get a bad rap. SNN draws attention to the myriad positive things happening in education. I appreciate SNN highlighting hard working teachers, parents and students and the good work they do.”

What our readers say… “Information not just for my son's school, but all area schools. I want to hear about what is happening with other districts and the great things we are doing for our area children. It's inspiring!”

What our readers say… “School News Network articles are written by real journalists who know what they're doing! This is probably the best-written prose I read on a regular basis. Certainly it's higher quality than most blogs or newsletters. I really value that.”

What our readers say… Three-fourths of parents (74%) and 80% of school staff who are SNN readers say that School News Network helps them be more informed about their schools. This includes 20% of both parents and school staff who reply “definitely yes.”

What our readers say… Three-fourths of SNN readers read School News Network every week, including 76% of both parents and school staff. Moreover, almost all read SNN every month, including 95% of parents and 96% of school staff.

What our readers say… Approximately 80% of the parents (82%) and school staff (78%) who read SNN readers read School News Network via their Weekly Headlines email. These percentages are significantly increased, almost 4x, from the 2014 SNN Reader survey.

Our Challenges Sales Promotion Getting SNN to every parent

Our Challenge: Sales Sales Hinge on Your USP – Unique Sales Proposition Our USP – “We reach the moms of Kent County” That’s a powerful proposition; one that would sell Trouble is, we don’t Why? Districts don’t send it to parents

Our Challenges: Sales Our numbers don’t match other advertising options Not reaching all parents negates our unique sales proposition Lagging sales takes money from promotion

Our Challenges: Promotion Developing new ways to overcome obstacles to parent distribution Exploring partnerships with community partners Arts organizations Grand Rapids Community College Kent County/Kent County Health Department

Our Current Situation Cost allocation: 1/3 Kent ISD, 1/3 local districts, 1/3 sales Sales and promotion challenges eat up staff time Strains coordination with local districts Strains ability to make technical adjustments Strains ability to provide full coverage

Our Options Continue as we are and gradually try to reach all parents Work on sponsorships/partnerships Create more “must have” content Return to banner headlines on each district website Ignore sales, go to cost allocation model

Our Options: Partnerships/Sponsorships Will add readership Will add essential content Will add new sales options

Our Options: Sales/Sponsorships Retain current sales and add sponsorships Sponsorships may: Entice school vendors to demonstrate their commitment to schools Entice community partners to illustrate their commitment to issues Entice local community organizations to support “their” district

Our Options: Sales/Sponsorships Banner headlines on each district website Page views for advertisers multiply geometrically Really does deliver on our USP – delivering the moms of Kent County Doubles down on our sales efforts Resurfaces opposition to district website sales

Our Options: Sponsorships Will require more of our time and yours Will be sold by us – superintendents, Kaufman and Koehler Will add community support and those who are affiliated with the sponsors Could potentially bring some sponsor-driven copy Should bring some “must read” content for new readers

Our Options: Cost allocation We’ll continue sales, such as they are We’ll continue Kent ISD’s contribution of staffing and, presumably, cash contribution Cost to districts would go from approximately $3,700 to as much as $7,000 Costs about one FTE per district Costs far less than a communicator

Our Options: Discussion Questions? Thoughts? Additional options we’ve not considered?

Thank You!