Marketing and messaging school nutrition programs is a vital way to boost participation, engagement, and awareness of the amazing work being done in our schools daily. But school nutrition is a complex operation, and clarifying the most impactful areas for a busy audience comes with its own set of challenges.
That’s why we maintain strategic guidelines for our clients’ marketing that help to take the hundred things we want people to know about what we do and create compelling and confident messaging.
Here are three tips we utilize daily to help our clients take control of their own stories.
Connect The Dots
Remember that common knowledge about school food to you is likely unknown by almost everyone else. Things that are just part of the job are remarkable to others when they learn about it. Don’t assume that anyone knows what you do. Help them learn by connecting the dots.
What is commonplace to you is brand new for someone else
For example: We recently did a survey of thousands of students, parents, and staff in a district. We asked if they were aware that their schools served fresh, seasonal produce from local, California farms. The response rate was relatively high. We also asked if they were aware of the district’s robust Farm to School program*. The response rate to that was significantly lower.
Lesson: Knowledge of the amazing, fresh, local produce was not being connected to Farm to School. We crafted messaging that connected the dots and grew awareness of a trusted Farm to School program.
That is one of dozens of things that are happening in school nutrition programs that are getting lost in the messaging. Help your audience connect the dots and engage with you.
Quantify Your Information
School nutrition differs from restaurants in that there are so many stereotypes, myths, and misunderstandings about everything from where school food comes from to what’s in the food to why it matters. That’s why addressing these things with specificity can be helpful.
Example: We work with clients to create “Ours Vs. Theirs” comparison charts that highlight the nutritional advantages of school meals. When parents, students, teachers, and school staff see a school meal that has 4x less fat, 5x less cholesterol, 82% less sodium, and 55% fewer calories than a comparable meal at a restaurant, it gets attention!
You don't need to get deep into the weeds with your information. You need to capture people’s attention and disrupt their preconceived narrative. Deeper engagement can happen after that, but you need to capture someone’s attention first. The information is on your side - so highlight how you’re offering a superior product with facts.
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Show What it Means in Real Life
This is also called highlighting the benefits. School nutrition programs provide amazing help to students and families, and we can give specific examples to help people.
This moves your messaging from a generic, “school meals are great for you” type of message, to showing concrete examples of how school meals make life better, easier, and more affordable.
Example: Do you know the dollar amount of the value of universal meals? We do a lot of communicating that school meals in California are free, and we should. With all of the federal messaging about the loss of programs, etc. we need to keep making that clear.
But when we can show parents and guardians that they can save up to $1,800 per year, per child, when their kids eat at school, that makes an impact. When a massive accounting firm like Deloitte releases a study showing that a standard PB&J sandwich now costs more than an entire school meal, free has a tangible value.
Our work means a lot to families. We can’t be afraid to showcase the real-life benefits of school nutrition programs.
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Let us put 12+ years of school nutrition marketing to work to tell your story.
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* I know that procurement is only one of the three legs of Farm to School. It’s the most visible and easily understood, which is why we use it as a starting point to dive deeper. Much love to our Farm to School gurus!