Photo tips and ideas for language and literacy programs

July 23, 2010

Your marketing materials need photos. Period.

I’m a big fan of using professional quality photos in your marketing and promotional material. They really are worth it. If you really can’t afford to use pro quality photos, get out your digital camera and start clicking. Here are some tips.

Tips on taking and using marketing photos

  • Take high resolution photos. You can always shrink them later.
  • Keep your photos updated. – Every 2-3 years.
  • Make sure your photos are appropriate for your audience (culture, age, context)
  • Get permission from your photo subjects to use their photos.

Ideas of things to take photos of for language or literacy program marketing materials:

  • your students relaxing on school property
  • your students in class
  • your students on excursions or participating in activities
  • the school’s facilities
  • the graduation ceremony or year-end party
  • your school staff, faculty and administration
  • a typical homestay family and their home

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Use the KISS principle in all your marketing materials

July 21, 2010

The KISS (Keep it Short and Simple) principle can – and should – be used in your marketing and promotional materials. When it comes to writing, the KISS principle may also be called a plain language approach. And it makes your marketing more powerful and effective.

Regardless of what you call it, a simple, short approach is the most effective for marketing. This applies to both the amount of content and its presentation in your marketing materials. The first step is to eliminate unnecessary words. Next, review your document to ensure that the words are short, simple and easy to understand.

Some word processing programs tell you the reading level of the documents you write. For example, in my version of MS Word, I can do this by accessing

Tools >

Spelling and Grammar >

Options >

Show readability statistics.

This shows me the grade level of the text. For most marketing documents, a grade six or seven reading level is recommended. That’s for native speakers! Remember that you are marketing to people whose first language is not the same as yours. If the reading level comes out higher than grade 7, your sentences may be too complex to sell effectively.

Avoid colloquialisms in your international marketing material. If you were an ESL student, what would you think if you read, “…homestay families will look out for students…” in a brochure? Does that mean “keep vigil over them” or simply “protect them as their own parents would”? The phrase as it is could be difficult for a non-native speaker to understand.

You could re-word the above phrase to read: “Our homestay families care for you as part of their own family.”

Review your marketing materials to ensure they follow the KISS principle. You will find that students are more interested in your program because they understand what it is about.

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This post is an excerpt from 101 Ways to Market Your Language Program It is “Idea # 10: Use the KISS principle in all your marketing materials”

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Comments Off on Use the KISS principle in all your marketing materials | 101 Ways to Market Your Language Program, marketing, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Are you promoting your program from the inside out?

June 13, 2010

I like to say that marketing is about people and sales is about the dollars. Marketing is about developing excellent relationships and building a reputation of excellence so others want to work with you. The most effective marketing starts from the inside out. This includes the marketing of educational programs, be it an English as a Second Language program, a literacy program or any other kind of educational program.

Here’s how: Managers, administrative staff, teachers, tutors and all staff become your program’s ambassadors in the community; not because you want them to, but because they want to. Are you the kind of administrator who inspires your staff to be an ambassador for your program?

  • Do you treat them as if they are the most important aspect of the program? Excellent teachers = excellent program.
  • Do they have their own business cards? A business card is a symbol of professionalism. Can you really afford not to have them? If your teachers don’t have this “business basic”, the message you are sending is that they are not considered professionals.
  • Do you ask for their input? What are their ideas on how to clean up the school, improve the program and extend your reach further into the community? Do you ask them to act on their ideas by pitching in to help the school improve?

If you want to market successfully, start from the inside out. Make sure relationships within the school are the best they can be.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

Selling Words: Promoting Your Second Language Program

April 25, 2010

I’m sharing some slides I did from a presentation at the annual conference of the Intercultural and Second Languages Council (ISLC), Alberta Teachers’ Association, 2004. At the time, the province of Alberta was on the verge of introducing mandatory second language learning for students in grades 4 through 9. This presentation was aimed at school teachers and administrators who promote second languages in their schools.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

Comments Off on Selling Words: Promoting Your Second Language Program | education, ESL, languages, marketing, second languages, Uncategorized, youth | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

SWAG for language and literacy programs

March 9, 2010

Swag is an important part of your promotional strategy. Otherwise known as “freebies”, “goodies” or “loot”, these are the items you give away to people in the hopes that they remember your program in a positive way.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines swag as:

  1. (slang) ( a) The booty carried off by burglars, etc. (b) illicit gains
  2. (a) an ornamental festoon of flowers, etc. (b) a carved etc. representation of this
  3. (Australia & NZ) a traveller’s or miner’s bundle of personal belongings.

Marketing swag has elements of all these definitions. We hope that people will carry their swag with them in their briefcase or backpack (i.e. their “bundle of belongings”). Swag is now considered de rigueur as part of “table decor” at trade shows. It is a necessary accessory to the adornment of any promotional booth. People love it because it is free, so they make off with it like hot cakes, often sheepishly tucking it into their bags with a slight feeling of either guilt or glee, possibly both.

Recently though, I came across a definition of swag that I like even better. In a 2007 blog post, Suzette Bergeron, a marketing expert in Maine defines swag as “Stuff We All Get”. She goes on to explain different types of swag such as promotional giveaways, prizes and business gifts. For those of you who work in with international clients, you know how important those business gifts can be when working with certain countries.

So rather than the traditional definition, I’m going to go with Bergeron’s. It’s easy to remember and it conveys the idea of marketing swag perfectly.

Swag for language and literacy programs should relate to your program somehow. Remember to include your logo and program name, and if there’s space your website.  The items need to reflect your purpose, your image and hopefully be useful to the recipients. Pens, pads of paper, book bags and even portfolios are all excellent swag ideas for language and literacy programs. Baseball caps, not so much. That is, unless you are offering an ESL program for baseball players. I’d also hesitate to go with items such as breath mints, eye glasses cleaning cloths and toys, all of which I have seen at educational trade fairs. When I see items like this, I scratch my head. I understand that they are novelty marketing items, but I question their longevity in the hands of the recipient once the novelty has worn off. Before you spend your money on swag ask yourself what is going to be most useful to those on the receiving end. You want them to hold on to it, make it part of the bundle of things they carry with them for a long time and most importantly, remember you by it.

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Update – January 2018 – This blog has had over 1.8 million views thanks to readers like you. If you enjoyed this post, please “like” it or share it on social media. Thanks!

Sarah Elaine Eaton is a faculty member in the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, Canada.

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Posted by Sarah Elaine Eaton, Ph.D.

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