Parents have never been busier or more inundated with communication than they are now. As a school, it’s imperative to make strategies that allow for this and simplify their inboxes. If you’re one of the forward-thinking schools turning to a Digistorm App to help out, you may be wondering how to best introduce the app to your community.
In this article, we explore some practical steps your school can take to ensure a smooth rollout and high adoption rates. Along with these ideas, don’t forget to lean on the advice of your Digistorm Customer Success Manager (CSM) and Onboarding Specialist. They have extensive experience working with schools just like yours and can provide tailored advice and support to help you along the journey.
Setting clear, measurable goals is crucial for tracking the success of your app during launch and beyond. Focus on metrics that matter, such as the number of downloads you receive within the parent community. For example, aiming for 80% of parents to engage with the app within the first month gives you a tangible target to work towards and helps in assessing the effectiveness of your promotional efforts. It also helps you show your leadership team the effectiveness of your strategy.
An internal marketing campaign is essential to raise awareness and encourage app downloads. Use a variety of channels to reach parents where they are most active. This might mean placing a QR code in your newsletters, on your school’s website and in physical locations like the front office. A quick scan can then take parents directly to the app download page. Along with the QR code, include information about the app, highlighting key features and benefits to spark interest. Utilise bulletin boards, social media and parent-teacher engagements to spread the word. You could even pitch the app in your school’s email signature! Digistorm supplies a marketing pack of graphics to help you along with your marketing campaign.
Using new technology often requires some trust building with families. Introducing student, staff and parent ambassadors who can be the face of your marketing campaign is a sure-fire way of showing others in your community that your new app is easy to use and solves common problems. These ambassadors could assist with short how-to videos, quotes or stories, all of which you could share across your social channels and internal communication platforms.
First impressions are everything when it comes to launching your new school app. It’s important to make sure you give parents everything they need during launch so that they have a smooth start and get off on the right foot. If they find it challenging or purposeless, it will be hard to win them back over.
Launch info might include:
However you choose to package up your launch, make share details around the app’s benefits through all of your communications. Be specific about how the app will make their lives easier, such as “No more clunky logins via the laptop – check your child’s sport schedules straight from your phone.” This clearly communicates the convenience and value of the app and will up engagement.
Your school community is an ever-changing cohort, meaning your app will need to be promoted on an ongoing basis. To simplify this, make the app a standard part of your welcome packs for new students. This ensures that new families are introduced to the app from the very start of their journey with your school. Adding the app to your new year checklists for all parents reinforces its importance and encourages early adoption.
If there’s a disconnect between your school and the app, you may find parents are hesitant to download it. On the flipside, branding your app can significantly increase its appeal and usage. Give it a unique name and a catchy tagline that resonates with your school community. For example, a school named Digistorm College might call their app DigiConnect. This helps give your app an identity and cements its purpose. You can also add your school colours, logo and social links to a Digistorm App to further enhance your school’s brand.
Soon after your app has been launched, collect feedback from parents and staff to find out how their experience has been. Use surveys, feedback forms or direct communication to understand what they’re loving and any challenges they’ve faced. You can also work with your Customer Success Manager to assess the meaning behind your Google Analytics data. Acting on this feedback and data to make improvements shows your community that you're committed to providing the best possible tool. And that you care about their opinion!
If uptake of your app is low, consider offering incentives to encourage downloads. This could be something like a tuck-shop voucher for the first 100 parents who download the app or a raffle entry for those who use the app regularly. Incentives can create buzz and motivate parents to engage with the app. Alternatively, you could drop an exciting piece of news exclusively in the app, such as teacher updates for the new school year.
For most schools, introducing a school app includes sunsetting or discontinuing communication on other channels. This makes your app the one source of truth for everything your families need to know. Once your app has launched, it’s important to inform and remind parents that other channels they may rely on are no longer available – for example printed newsletters or email updates.
Introducing your school to their new app is a multifaceted process that involves strategic planning, effective communication and ongoing support. By using the advice in this article, your school can foster a positive reception and high adoption rates in no time. These additional steps will help ensure that the app becomes an integral part of your school community, enhancing communication and making administrative tasks more efficient for everyone involved.