Marketing Your Student Trip: Your Three Key Audiences
Marketing Your Student Trip: Your Three Key Audiences
It’s happening! You’ve dreamed about making performance travel part of your school’s program, and you’ve finally got a student travel experience on the calendar.
You’re excited for good reason – for the learning opportunities your students will enjoy and the life-long memories they’ll create. But deciding to travel is only the first step in getting your trip off the ground.
You have three primary “audiences” that need to be as excited as you are – each with their own concerns and motivations:
Administration
We’ve yet to meet a school administration that simply won’t consider student travel. But administrators, like music directors, have plates stacked high with often-competing priorities.
In our experience, the following three areas work hardest to convince administrators of the value of student performance travel:
Its benefits. Travel creates better performances, as students rise to meet the occasion and learn from top clinicians. And it helps students to develop into adults, as they responsibly represent their school and community.
Trip timing. Administrators will want to know the “why” behind the travel dates you’ve selected, and how it fits with your school district’s calendar.
Security. This takes two forms – the financial security of the investments in the trip and, most importantly, the safety and security of the travelers.
Students
As you already know, students pick up on everything – so your enthusiasm and confidence as you discuss the trip will create the same in them. This is vital not only during the trip announcement, but beyond.
Keep energy levels high by mentioning the trip frequently in the classroom, sharing trip preview videos, and decorating your practice space with images of your destination. This is just a starter list – be creative and keep it fun!
And when it comes to fundraising – a necessary part of almost every trip – look for ways to make it a fun, team-building event, not a drag.
Parents
Parents share some concerns of your administration – they want to know that their children will be safe and that the trip will be worth it. We’ve found it helps to:
Kick things off right. Parents need to know what will happen on the trip, so share an itinerary (even a sample) with as much detail as you can. Communicate the benefits of student travel, making clear that this is a learning experience, not a vacation. (Though it will be a lot of fun!) And outline the financial details that they’ll need to know.
Calm their safety concerns. Share your student travel partner’s steps and procedures for keeping students safe. Training, track records and certifications mean a lot here.
Keep them involved. Give parents opportunities to lead fundraising efforts. And, just like with your students, keep sharing those trip updates and milestones.
In summary, a little bit of planning goes a long way. Think ahead about how you’ll “sell” the trip to each of these audiences, and you’ll be taking a major step toward getting your trip off the ground!
For a deeper dive into selling your trip, click here to get your free copy of our guide, “Sell It! Marketing Your Trip to Students, Parents and Administration.” It’s packed with resources, including sample letters, fundraising tips and more!