Video summary

Sekolah Yayasan #4 | Strategi Marketing Yayasan Mendapatkan Ribuan Siswa | Drs. Sunarno, M.Pd.

Main summary

Key takeaways

Business

Business / Growth Strategy: “How Yasan Al-Abidin gets thousands of new students” (PPDB)

Drs. Sunarno (M.Pd.) frames student recruitment as a business-like growth system for private education foundations. Enrollment is treated as the school’s “blood” for sustainability—so marketing must be persistent, organized, and supported by product excellence and internal capability-building.

Core Principles (Mindset + Execution)

  • Joint commitment + no blame/scapegoating: prioritize sincerity and innovation to earn community trust.
  • Mindset as the driver: success/failure is treated as a function of mindset (positive/“GR” vs negative/“F”).
  • Premium positioning via “limited availability”:
    • Pre-order/indent signals premium, similar to Hajj or car buying—people “must wait.”
  • Long recruitment horizon:
    • Start recruitment 1–3 years in advance for upcoming cohorts.

Recruitment Playbooks / Frameworks Mentioned

Mindset-to-reality flow

  • Thought → belief → sincere effort → reality
  • Illustrated with examples like:
    • butterflies attracted to planted flowers
    • building a garage to get a car later

Premium product mechanics (indent system)

  • Create an “extraordinary” school perception with limited access, prompting families to pre-order.

Sales-team pipeline modeled from bank marketing

  • 27 contacts/day → 9 called → 3 follow-up / silaturahmi → 1 close/convert
  • Claimed output if executed well: ~300 students/year (based on conversion assumptions).

3 types of “marketing climbers”

  • Quitter: gives up when numbers are blocked.
  • Camper: satisfied too early.
  • Real climber: never gives up; keeps iterating until targets are exceeded.

Concrete Tactics Used at Yasan Al-Abidin

1) “Search students for the next year” starts early

  • Example: if recruitment targets July 2025 entry, then “next year” intake is expected to be >1,000 students.

2) Pre-order / indent + incentive “ordering waves”

  • Pre-order deposits create early commitment.
  • Example framing (as stated): standard development payment might be ~IDR 16M (“BPI”); pre-order “in waves” is positioned as cheaper at entry.
  • Ordering waves incentives:
    • Parents who pre-order earlier get special pricing / entry-fee reductions (example mentioned: ~IDR 2M).
    • Logic: earlier waves are more “profitable” for the school and more attractive for parents.

3) Build a “Super Team” (student search + socialization)

Each school appoints:

  • Student search team
  • School socialization / marketing team

Team size guidance:

  • up to 10–12 people for larger schools.

Enablement (“marketing ammunition”):

  • brochures, banners, achievement data, presentation materials, etc.

Workload design:

  • Teaching obligations are reduced for marketing roles.
  • Example guidance: principal may have ~12 hours teaching obligation, while marketing roles have a smaller teaching load, freeing time for outreach.

4) Daily reporting + management control loop

  • Marketing team sends an afternoon daily report covering:
    • what was done, where, with whom
    • audience size, impressions
    • direct registrations, etc.
  • Foundation leadership aggregates control across multiple schools via these reports.

5) Persistent outreach channels (offline + data capture)

Examples of persistence:

  • Engage parents through meetings at schools, government offices, and community places.
  • Coffee shops/restaurants (e.g., newcomers asked to fill a guest book).
  • Forum-based direct hosting/lobbying to meet parents.

Data capture:

  • collect name + cellphone number (guest book), document (photo), then follow up.

6) Stage-specific socialization tactics by student level

  • Kindergarten & Elementary:

    • Most effective method: trial class (“Tril CL”)
    • Parents pay a small fee (examples: IDR 5,000 or other small trial costs)
    • Goal: build trust and comfort before commitment.

  • Junior High & above:

    • Socialization leverages existing elementary/junior high relationships.
    • Scholarships for high achievers (e.g., medalists/OSN participants).

  • High-achievement value proposition:

    • “Smart children are capital” for future achievements.

Funding / PPDB: Making Fees Feel Attractive

Centralized foundation model + fee design tricks

  • The fee can’t be collected as a single lump sum at once; otherwise it “seems expensive.”
  • Fee structures described:

  1. Split payments across stages

    • Example: development cost ~IDR 16M
    • Instead of all upfront, installment payments are tied to grade transitions
      • paid once, then later split as the child moves up.

  2. Small tuition + activity contributions later

    • Example: kindergarten tuition split into parts
    • Parents pay smaller monthly amounts while outing/activity fees are added later as needed.

Referral / partnership example

  • Example model:
    • IDR 300k paid by the partnering kindergarten unit:
      • IDR 150k to the partner (referral)
      • IDR 150k to the internal team
  • Purpose: align incentives so partners actively bring prospects.

Management Capacity Building (Staffing Marketing + Leadership)

  • Leadership school / HR preparation school
    • Builds future leaders and marketing capability.

Growth targets:

  • Minimum growth rate set at 15% annually
  • Example result: ~27% growth for the year mentioned.

Student scale:

  • Currently cited: ~7,000 students

Training areas/modules include:

  • sales techniques (e.g., “sales without rejection” / “hypno selling”)
  • digital marketing
  • data sourcing and follow-up skills

Digital Marketing (Social Media) Execution Emphasis

  • Social media is treated as non-negotiable in the current tech era.
  • Tactics include “social media engineering,” such as ensuring searches like “best school in Surakarta” show the school name (search visibility/branding).

Channel effectiveness example:

  • For TK Quran Platinum, ~30–40% of new registrants came from Instagram DMs (millennial parents with strong social media access).

KPIs / Metrics Explicitly Stated (or Implied Targets)

  • Recruitment growth target: minimum 15% per year
  • Actual growth example: ~27% growth
  • Student base example: ~7,000 students
  • Recruitment horizon: start 1–3 years ahead
  • Conversion pipeline benchmark (bank-marketing inspired):
    • 27 contacts/day → 9 called → 3 follow-ups → 1 close
  • Team outcome (example estimate): ~300 students/year
  • Trial class value: small trial fee (example: IDR 5,000 mentioned)
  • PPDB incentives: early ordering wave fee reductions (example: ~IDR 2M)
  • Order waves behavior: entry-level pre-order amount mentioned as “only 7M–8M” (relative to larger standard amounts)
  • Digital acquisition: TK Quran Platinum 30–40% from Instagram DMs

Case Examples / Outcomes Used in the Talk

  • New school in Klaten:

    • Parent registered because they searched the school name online (website/social presence), then became confident.

  • School-quality feedback loop:

    • A founder in Surabaya explained that registration depends on whether the community sees the institution as performing well—marketing alone can’t overcome reputation/quality gaps.

  • Kindergarten “continuation engineering” to junior high:

    • Engineer continuity by ensuring:
      • junior high infrastructure and HR competency are not inferior vs elementary
      • homeroom teacher incentives maintain enrollment
    • Example incentive cited:
      • IDR 100k per child, leading to ~IDR 3M for a homeroom teacher if 15 continue.

  • Program partnership / scholarship workaround:

    • Partner foundation model:
      • fees may be low / many don’t pay directly
      • scholarship used for fees (e.g., PIP Smart Indonesia scholarships)
      • students still receive BOS/BOP/other aid

Actionable Recommendations (What to Do)

  1. Start recruitment early (1–3 years) and treat PPDB as a continuous pipeline, not a one-time campaign.
  2. Create premium perception:
    • use indent/pre-order and limited access framing.
  3. Build and train a dedicated marketing “super team”:
    • provide marketing assets and reduce teaching load for dedicated marketers.
  4. Implement a daily reporting & control cadence using real numbers and outcomes.
  5. Use a bank-marketing-inspired conversion pipeline:
    • prospecting at scale → called follow-ups → 1–3 silaturahmi steps to close.
  6. Use stage-appropriate tactics:
    • trial classes for early levels; scholarship/orientation-driven strategies for higher levels.
  7. Strengthen social media presence as brand + proof:
    • content + search visibility + DM-based lead conversion.
  8. Design fee structures to reduce perceived upfront burden:
    • split payments by stage and offer incentives for earlier commitment.
  9. Ensure the “product” is truly superior:
    • flagship programs (e.g., Cambridge/ICT/Tahfidz cited as differentiation).
  10. Institutionalize leadership/HR preparation so recruitment capacity scales with school growth.

Presenters / Sources Mentioned

  • Drs. Sunarno, M.Pd. (speaker; Yasan Al-Abidin / Al-Abidin Foundation)
  • Moderator(s): unnamed in subtitles

Participants / Questioners mentioned in subtitles (examples)

  • Mrs. Yesik Arunata (National Pharmacy Education Foundation, Surakarta)
  • Mr. Permata (Mojokerto Foundation)
  • Ustaz Zianudin Bakhtiar (Alhakim Foundation, Tangerang)
  • Mrs. Erli Megawati (Arrahma Foundation, Sukabumi)
  • Mr. Ibnu Asakir (Indonesian Tahfid House Foundation, Yogyakarta)
  • Mr. Umar Diharja (Lubuklinggau Education and Piety Foundation, South Sumatra)
  • Mr. Sri Widodo (Fatahilah Cilegon Education Foundation, Cilegon)
  • Mr. Deni Hendra (Tunas Harapan Ilahi Foundation, Banten)
  • Mr. Ahmad Marsudin and Mr. Mutijab (from Zoom chat)
  • Mr. Imam Samudra (mentioned as contact for certificates / logistics)
  • Mas / participants: “Mass … Imam” / “Mr. Narno” (also appears as the name used by the moderator; likely referring to the same main speaker)

Original video