Marketing: An Effective Tool for Managing Secondary Schools in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper focused on the use of marketing ideas as a vital management and business tool for effective operations of secondary schools in Nigeria. The study was aimed at making school managers to understand that school is a business and must require application of marketing insights and skills for effectiveness. Moreover, the work is to provide the blue-print for school managers to purposefully introduce marketing strategies into school management. The study unveiled that schools are naturally practicing marketing unconsciously thus marketing is relevant to its activities.  Marketing strategies that can be adopted and utilized in school management includes-market environment analysis, market segmentation, product/service design, price decision, promotion activity, place (distribution channels), people, process, coordinated marketing and marketing audit. The study highlighted that school managers can wisely blend the marketing strategies to improve on their planning, performance and profitability, and adequately satisfy education needs of students (target market). The research concluded by enlisting the following recommendations-school managers and staff should be trained on marketing principles/customer service, a marketing officer should be hired to manage all marketing programmes in collaboration with school managers, qualified staff and students must be employed and admitted respectively, needs of students and societal trends should inform design of curriculum, policies, fixing of chargeable fees, etc.