Planning for your 2011-12 Sales Campaign
If I heard one thing this year, it went something like this - 'Our back to school sales had several problems.' (NOTE: the actual wording was probably a bit more, how should I say, 'colorful.')
NOW is the time to fix that - before school ends! Several schools experienced some sort of change in their fall enrollment process and in many cases yearbook sales suffered. Decades of experience have shown that back-to-school sales are key to the financial health of most programs, and in times like these - financial responsibility is critical. Having a plan NOW for how you will execute that back-to-school campaign is very important.
1. Make certain you know how your fall enrollment and fee paying will be handled (do people come to the school building? do they do all of their enrollment and fee paying on-line? is it a mix of the two?).
2. Determine how you will sell books at enrollment. Will you need to have a table with staff members there at certain times? Do you have those days on your calendar? Do you have those staff people in place with specific times so that parents can purchase yearbooks when they are at the building?
3. Make certain you have an on-line offer set up with me - send me your sell prices (start and stop dates) plus your local tax rate. If you have not considered tiered pricing, this is a good time to start. You will see more on that as you read on. Offer a discount of some amount for early sales, then publicize those dates so people have a sense of urgency - "Buy your yearbook by ____ for ____ . After ____ the price will go up! This is the lowest price of the season." The price from beginning to end doesn't need to change much, but the offer of the early order discount is key to driving urgency.
4. Create a campaign cycle for the 2011-12 school year that looks something like this:
A campaign cycle like this involves the entire staff and is a departure for many schools plus it provides some great variety of focus in the classroom which can break up the monotony of page creation day-in and day-out.
Clearly the back-to-school sales involve many people (you, your staff, office secretaries, your building principal, our on-line team, etc.)
What is different is following the back to school campaign setting aside weeks for fall and winter campaigns in which the entire staff works on book sales and not on book production. The 'dark' areas are where yearbooks are in essence not for sale and you focus on book production (of course you can take money, but the idea of getting people's attention is that you focus your efforts on a blitz with specific dates, times and pricing, then you take a step back into book production). Think about how the stores you buy from create excitement for purchasing at certain times - this campaign mimics that and has been very successful for many schools. NOTE: some schools go all the way to NOT take money during the dark weeks. It's radical, but worth considering.
I would suggest the following - (modify dates as your school calendar dictates - but this should give you an idea of what I am talking about)
August 15 - Friday September 16 - Back to school sales - first tier pricing (lowest price of the year).
During this time many of your staff are focused on book production but many will spend time at enrollment if you need to be at tables, selling books, taking money, etc. This area is something you need to get organized NOW, prior to the end of school.
Monday September 19 - Friday September 30 - Prep for Fall Campaign
During this time you are gathering names of non-buyers (those who didn't buy at enrollment). Your staff is working on their plan for creating the buzz about the fall campaign at home and at school through the following channels:
- School Website
- School Communications (i.e. parent newsletters, fall conferences, etc.)
- EMail blasts
- Phone (does your school have a robo-dialer?)
- Posters (give specific start and stop dates, plus pricing for this campaign)
- Clings (items to put on lockers, windows, etc.)
- Facebook - create a yearbook group
- Image Share - use ours, or share key photos with Facebook friends
- Twitter - keep people up-to-date with key school events as well as key selling dates
Monday, October 3 - Friday, October 14 - Fall Campaign (price is higher than enrollment, but lower than the next campaign)
During this time the focus of the staff is devoted to connecting with non-buyers (those who didn't buy at enrollment). Of course there are tables set up to sell books, but more importantly there is a review of coverage ideas - what would compel the non-buyer to take interest in the book? Showing current non-buyers where they or their group or organization where they will be featured in this year's book.
This is the time to send out letters, emails, make phone calls, all of the options you planned in the previous two weeks.
Once this campaign is down - take down posters, clings, etc. Often yearbooks-for-sale signs simply become wall art and are not noticed when left up all year. Clear the halls of these items.
Photographers would still be covering events, but keep staff focused on what needs to be done to sell books.
Monday, October 17 - Friday, November 18
"Dark" meaning that all yearbook sales signs are down and the focus of the staff is production. Keep up with Facebook and Twitter updates. Work on coverage ideas generated from staff when they connected with non-buyers during the campaign.
Monday and Tuesday, November 24-25
Prep for Winter Campaign. Depending on how your school operates around Thanksgiving break, you may need to modify these dates, but since you have been through a major campaign already, this may not take as much time to organize. Use all the items listed in the bullet points above.
Monday, November 28 - Friday, December 9th - Winter Campaign (price is higher than the first two options, but lower than your final push after break).
Again, during this time the focus of the staff is devoted to connecting with non-buyers (those who didn't buy at enrollment or the fall campaign). There are tables set up to sell books, but now a deeper review of coverage ideas. Are your non-buyers featured at least 3 times in the book? Have you sent them a printout of the pages they are on? If not, you may need to brainstorm harder on those events that such students DO find memorable about the year and how you can cover them in the book. Again, showing the non-buyer where they will appear in the book is important.
Again, photographers are still covering events but the focus of staff remains on executing emails, phone calls, special events, and getting the word to parents, who in most cases are paying for the book.
Monday December 12 - (see below)
"Dark" meaning that all yearbook sales signs are down and the focus of the staff is production. Keep up with Facebook and Twitter updates.
(here is the 'below' from above) - After winter break you have two options for your last chance sales event.
For schools that deliver in May, have this campaign run Monday, January 23 - Wednesday, January 31st (and add something like 10 am or NOON on that final day). I will be gathering final sales numbers at the end of January for spring delivery schools (as well as personalization).
Then for spring schools, you know there will be some folks who will buy at your distribution event, but you need to publicize the limited number of books available at that time. You should consider a signup list based on first come - first served for any of those books.
OR
For schools that deliver in July/August, have this campaign run Monday, April 18 - Friday, April 29th (and add something like 10 am or NOON on that final day). I will be gathering final sales numbers at the end of April for summer delivery schools (as well as personalization).
Again, you know there will be some folks who will buy at your distribution event, but you need to publicize the limited number of books available at that time. You should consider a signup list based on first come - first served for any of those books.
Finally Distribution Event Sales
This will require some of the same levels of organization of the previous campaigns, but by now you should have whittled down your non-buyer list by a significant amount. Again, the more you sell at enrollment, the less work you have through the rest of the year.
It is hard to over-estimate the coolness associated with great distribution events. For many schools this has become a great tradition - a time to reflect on an important year of their life with all those who made it possible. Having pens for book signing is very important.
Some closing thoughts...
Everything today is fighting for relevancy. Students (and subsequently parents) are more media savvy (and busier than ever). Having a plan in place for creating a book is so obvious that we would never imagine not having an editor, section chiefs, reporters, photographers and so on, all dedicated to the production of the best book yet. However, just creating something is only part of the equation in today's marketplace. The other part of the equation is having just as defined a plan in place to market the book. Getting the word out to people about your book and generating the buzz you and your students deserve for all their hard work pays off big when you sell all your copies and that creates a great building block for the next campaign.