Who is this template for?
This template is designed for school leaders and staff responsible for shaping the school's public profile and engagement. This includes Headteachers, Senior Leaders, Middle Leaders, Marketing Teams, and School Business Managers who want to apply a rigorous, evidence-based approach to their promotional activities.
Why use this template?
This template helps you move beyond ad-hoc marketing efforts and build a cohesive, strategic approach to how your school presents itself. It provides a clear framework to promote open days, enhance social media engagement, or strengthen your brand identity in a structured, familiar way.
- Gain a Structured Approach: You receive a cohesive framework covering eight core marketing areas, from brand messaging to digital engagement, ensuring that no crucial aspect is overlooked.
- Establish Clarity on Best Practice: Clear indicators for each performance level (Emerging → Excelling) spell out what effective marketing looks like, helping you and your colleagues see the target you’re aiming for and judge performance accurately.
- Save Valuable Time: There is no need to create your own evaluation structure from scratch. The template comes pre-configured with relevant areas and helpful guidance to support an accurate and efficient self-assessment.
- Ensure Consistency in Judgement: The short, clear level statements offer a quick, consistent way for different people to rate practice, ensuring the school speaks with one voice on marketing matters and builds a unified strategy.
- Move from Reflection to Action: The iAbacus process naturally prompts you to record evidence, identify what’s helping or hindering progress, and create targeted improvement steps—making it straightforward to go from reflection to results.
- Enhance Collaboration & Transparency: You can easily share the abacus with colleagues, governors, or external partners to gather diverse input and build a collective, 360-degree view of your marketing strategy in one central place.
How does it work?
This template follows the standard, intuitive iAbacus process of making a judgement, verifying it with criteria, providing evidence, analysing factors, and planning for success. It is structured around the following key areas for evaluation:
- Brand Identity & Messaging
- Website & Online Presence
- Social Media & Digital Engagement
- Parent & Community Outreach
- Events & Open Days
- Promotional Materials & Campaigns
- External Partnerships & Alumni
- Monitoring & Impact Evaluation
Gaining Strategic Insight
The true power of this template emerges when different teams contribute their perspectives. For instance, if your admissions team, communications lead, and senior leadership team each create a separate marketing abacus, a leader can use the 'Overlay' and 'Stack' features to merge or compare them side-by-side. This instantly reveals patterns in performance, highlights areas of consensus or disagreement, and supports more informed, strategic decisions about where to focus your marketing resources.
Clear, Professional Reporting
With a single click, you can export your entire marketing evaluation into a polished, visually compelling PDF report. This is perfect for sharing with governors to provide a clear and transparent insight into the school's marketing strategy, ensuring they are kept fully informed and aligned with your objectives and progress.
How to Get Started
New to iAbacus? Discover how this template can support your improvement strategy. Book a personalised demo or start a free trial to explore the full platform. Visit www.iabacus.com to learn more.
Already a subscriber? You can find this template in the template library within your iAbacus account. Simply log in, create a new abacus, and select it from the list to get started.
