SMC: School Marketing and Communications

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Episodes

255

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Insights into the world of school marketing and communications, presented by Charlie Maughan, Rita Kilroy and the imageseven team. The education industry is an increasingly competitive one - a school is a business, and a marketing strategy can no longer be an afterthought.

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60 recent

October 15, 2026Episode 25511 min

255: The mechanics of enrolment momentum – 3/5

The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Turning confidence into enrolment momentum – The Insight After discussing where enrolment momentum quietly stalls, the third episode of 'Turning confidence into enrolment momentum' explores how schools can deliberately create the conditions that make each next step for their prospective families easier to take. For school marketers, it offers a way to look beyond generating activity and examine how communications, enrolments and the wider school experience work together to sustain confidence throughout the whole journey. Episode Links: Engaging the next generation of school parents – McCrindle Drivers of School Choice 2022 – Independent Schools Victoria Independent Schools Snapshot 2026 – Independent Schools Australia School Choice: A Research Report 2021 – Independent Schools Australia What Parents Want: Key Findings 2025 – Independent Schools Queensland Got more questions for Charlie and the team? You can ask them via the following: Email: smc@imageseven.com.au Have you heard about imaginate? The bespoke video solution for schools. If you're ready to take your school's video to the next level, head to imageseven.com.au/imaginate .

October 1, 2026Episode 25412 min

254: Where enrolment momentum quietly stalls – 2/5

The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Turning confidence into enrolment momentum – The Reality Your school tour may have been executed to perfection. Your prospective families may have driven home full of confidence that they've found "the one". What happens next is crucial. In the second episode of 'Turning confidence into enrolment momentum', Charlie explores how uncertainty builds through unclear next steps, disconnected handovers and weak follow-up, even when internal processes appear to be working. For school marketers, the challenge is recognising these small points of friction before they make the enrolment journey harder for families to continue. Episode Links: Engaging the next generation of school parents – McCrindle Drivers of School Choice 2022 – Independent Schools Victoria Independent Schools Snapshot 2026 – Independent Schools Australia School Choice: A Research Report 2021 – Independent Schools Australia What Parents Want: Key Findings 2025 – Independent Schools Queensland Got more questions for Charlie and the team? You can ask them via the following: Email: smc@imageseven.com.au Have you heard about imaginate? The bespoke video solution for schools. If you're ready to take your school's video to the next level, head to imageseven.com.au/imaginate .

September 24, 2026Episode 25311 min

253: What actually moves enrolments forward – 1/5

The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Turning confidence into enrolment momentum – Orientation More enquiries are not always the answer to an enrolment problem. In the first episode of 'Turning confidence into enrolment momentum', Charlie explores why interest and confidence do not automatically lead to commitment. He discusses the difference between generating demand and creating momentum, and why enrolment performance needs to be an institutional responsibility. For school marketers, the challenge is seeing where families hesitate and making the next step clear, timely and worth taking. Episode Links: Engaging the next generation of school parents – McCrindle Drivers of School Choice 2022 – Independent Schools Victoria Independent Schools Snapshot 2026 – Independent Schools Australia School Choice: A Research Report 2021 – Independent Schools Australia What Parents Want: Key Findings 2025 – Independent Schools Queensland Got more questions for Charlie and the team? You can ask them via the following: Email: smc@imageseven.com.au Have you heard about imaginate? The bespoke video solution for schools. If you're ready to take your school's video to the next level, head to imageseven.com.au/imaginate .

September 3, 2026Episode 2527 min

252: Designing a brand parents can move through effortlessly – 5/5

The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Creating clarity parents can see and navigate – Applied In the final episode of 'Creating clarity parents can see and navigate', Charlie turns the series into a practical framework for school marketers. He explores why clarity starts with what parents need to understand, not what a school wants to show. Rather than relying on any single asset to do the work, the episode looks at how a connected brand experience can reduce effort, strengthen understanding and make the next step feel clearer. In the next lecture, Charlie explores how to build on that clarity by turning parent confidence into enrolment momentum. Episode Links: Information Scent – Nielsen Norman Group Design Systems vs Style Guides – Nielsen Norman Group Design System 101 – Nielsen Norman Group Top Information Architecture Mistakes – Nielsen Norman Group Minimize Cognitive Load to Maximize Usability – Nielsen Norman Group Got more questions or topics you would like to hear about for Charlie and the team? You can reach us via the following: Email: smc@imageseven.com.au Have you heard about imaginate? The bespoke video solution for schools. If you're ready to take your school's video to the next level, head to imageseven.com.au/imaginate .

August 20, 2026Episode 25118 min

251: When a school's brand just makes sense – 4/5

The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Creating clarity parents can see and navigate – What we see A school brand can look impressive and still leave parents uncertain. In this episode of the Insight Series, Charlie is joined by imageseven Account Director Shelley Garcia-Webb to explore the difference between a brand that looks polished and one that genuinely helps parents understand a school. Shelley explains how clarity starts when a school's story, experience and digital presence reinforce each other, rather than asking parents to join the dots. When that alignment holds, the brand feels easier for families to recognise, trust and choose. Got more questions for Charlie and the team? You can ask them via the following: Email: smc@imageseven.com.au Have you heard about imaginate? The bespoke video solution for schools. If you're ready to take your school's video to the next level, head to imageseven.com.au/imaginate .

August 6, 2026Episode 25013 min

250: Clarity is a system parents experience, not a message they hear – 3/5

The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Creating clarity parents can see and navigate – The Insight Clarity of message depends less on one strong asset, than on the system connecting every interaction. Charlie explores why a school can follow its style guide perfectly, yet still feel difficult for parents to understand. Exploring the differences between style guides and design systems, he looks at the layers beneath execution, from strategy and message architecture to visual identity and experience design. When those layers connect, parents are less likely to notice the system itself. They simply feel that the school makes sense from every interaction. Episode Links: Design Systems vs Style Guides – Nielsen Norman Group Design Systems 101 – Nielsen Norman Group Information Scent – Nielsen Norman Group Got more questions for Charlie and the team? You can ask them via the following: Email: smc@imageseven.com.au Have you heard about imaginate? The bespoke video solution for schools. If you're ready to take your school's video to the next level, head to imageseven.com.au/imaginate .

July 23, 2026Episode 24914 min

249: Where brand and website inconsistency erodes trust – 2/5

The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Creating clarity parents can see and navigate – The Reality Small disconnects in brand experience can do more damage than a school realises. In episode two of 'Creating clarity parents can see and navigate', Charlie discusses how outdated documents, broken links, mixed messages and confusing website journeys make parents work harder to understand a school. That extra effort can quietly shift confidence into doubt. He explores how a more coherent visible experience can help each touchpoint reinforce the same promise, rather than leaving parents to reconcile or bridge the gaps. Episode Links: Information Scent – Nielsen Norman Group Minimize Cognitive Load to Maximise Usability – Nielsen Norman Group 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design – Nielsen Norman Group Got more questions for Charlie and the team? You can ask them via the following: Email: smc@imageseven.com.au Have you heard about imaginate? The bespoke video solution for schools. If you're ready to take your school's video to the next level, head to imageseven.com.au/imaginate

July 9, 2026Episode 24813 min

248: Why visible clarity shapes parental decisions – 1/5

The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – Creating clarity parents can see and navigate – Orientation In episode one of 'Creating clarity parents can see and navigate', Charlie explores why visible clarity is more than a design issue. He explores how parents experience a school through its website, visual identity, photography, publications, signage, social posts and everyday communications. Charlie then poses that parents do not see these touchpoints as separate from the school experience. Instead, they use them to judge how organised, professional and trustworthy the school is. Episode Links: Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility Jakob's Law – Nielsen Norman Group Information Sent – Nielsen Norman Group Minimise Cognitive Load to Maximise Usability – Nielsen Norman Group Got more questions for Charlie and the team? You can ask them via the following: Email: smc@imageseven.com.au Have you heard about imaginate? The bespoke video solution for schools. If you're ready to take your school's video to the next level, head to imageseven.com.au/imaginate .

June 25, 2026Episode 24710 min

247: Designing a marketing strategy that builds confidence intentionally – 5/5

The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan – How parents form confidence - and what it means for your marketing strategy – Applied In the final episode of 'How parents form confidence – and what it means for your marketing strategy', Charlie discusses how to turn parent confidence into a deliberate part of a school's marketing strategy. He explains why schools need to look beyond enquiries and conversions, and build confidence through clear positioning, structured messaging, connected touchpoints and shared ownership across the entire enrolment journey. In the next lecture, Charlie will explore how to create clarity that parents can see and navigate. He will discuss how brand, websites, visuals and the role they play in creating an overall experience that can help parents understand and trust a school. Episode Links: The 2024 B2B Buyer Experience Report – 6sense Determinants of Parental School Choice: A Systematic Review of the Literature The Components and Determinants of School Reputation: Insights from Parents' Voices Brand familiarity and confidence as determinants of purchase intention: An empirical test in a multiple brand context Drivers of school choice: The role of behavioural science in parental decision making – Independent Schools Victoria Got more questions for Charlie and the team? You can ask them via the following: Email: smc@imageseven.com.au Have you heard about imaginate? The bespoke video solution for schools. If you're ready to take your school's video to the next level, head to imageseven.com.au/imaginate

June 11, 2026Episode 24624 min

246: What changes when strategy aligns with how confidence is formed – 4/5

The Insight Series with Charlie Maughan and Suzanne Willcock – How parents form confidence - and what it means for your marketing strategy – What we see In episode four of the Insight Series on how parents form confidence, Charlie is joined by imageseven Group Account Director Suzanne Willcock to explore what happens when a school's marketing, enrolment and leadership teams are working from the same understanding of how confidence is built. Drawing on her experience working with schools across Australia, Suzie explains why prospective parents rarely arrive at tours and open days as blank slates. Instead, they arrive carrying a level of confidence that has been shaped long before those interactions take place. Together, Charlie and Suzie discuss how misaligned messaging creates friction, confusion and unnecessary pressure on enrolment teams, while strategic clarity helps parents arrive better informed, ask better questions, and seek confirmation rather than persuasion. Episode links: The 2024 B2B Buyer Experience Report – 6sense Determinants of Parental School Choice: A Systematic Review of the Literature The Components and Determinants of School Reputation: Insights from Parents' Voices Brand familiarity and confidence as determinants of purchase intention: An empirical test in a multiple brand context Drivers of school choice: The role of behavioural science in parental decision making – Independent Schools Victoria Got more questions for Charlie and the team? You can ask them via the following: Email: smc@imageseven.com.au Have you heard about imaginate? The bespoke video solution for schools. If you're ready to take your school's video to the next level, head to imageseven.com.au/imaginate

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