When I started as a school marketing director, my goal was straightforward: increase enrollment. But that clarity turned into chaos as I faced an overwhelming number of tasks.
I soon realized that, without a structured school marketing plan, I was spinning my wheels.
What I needed was a way to break down my ultimate goal into actionable steps that guided parents through their journey, from learning about the school to enrolling their child.
Here’s how I turned a monumental task into manageable success!
Why a K-12 School Marketing Plan Matters
A marketing plan isn’t just a document — it’s your roadmap to achieving your goals efficiently and effectively.
With limited resources and time, a plan helps you focus on efforts that yield the best results while ensuring consistency in your approach.
1. Define Clear Goals and Metrics
What does success look like for your school? It could be a 15% increase in applications or more engagement on social media.
Clear goals paired with metrics allow you to track progress and adjust as needed. For example:
- Goal: Increase enrollment by 10% by June.
- Metric: Number of applications submitted via your website.
By the way, we have a 30-minute recorded webinar on how to properly set goals for your school marketing plan in SchoolMint Enrollment Academy.
Click the image below to learn how you can get free, unlimited access to this valuable resource library!
2. Understand Your Audience
Parents’ needs and concerns are central. Are they looking for strong academics, extracurricular activities, or proximity?
Use surveys, family feedback, or even exit interviews to gather insights into their priorities and challenges.
Questions to consider:
- Why do families leave or choose your school?
- What channels do parents use to discover schools like yours?
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3. Map Out the Parent Journey
Parents move through stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. Your marketing plan should align strategies to each stage:
- Awareness: Host open houses, create flyers with tools like Canva, or engage on social media.
- Consideration: Offer personalized tours, highlight unique features, or share testimonials.
- Decision: Simplify enrollment processes and provide clear follow-up.
4. Develop School Marketing Strategies and Tactics
Once the journey is clear, outline tasks to support each stage. For example:
- Awareness: Build a content calendar with weekly social posts and video tours.
- Engagement: Include Q&A sessions, live chats, or fun parent workshops.
- Enrollment: Offer resources like translated materials or automated reminders to help families complete applications.
5. Leverage Tools and Automation
Tools like Canva make creating professional designs simple, while CRMs help nurture leads.
Automating emails and follow-ups ensures no prospective family slips through the cracks, which is especially essential after you’ve hosted enrollment-focused events, such as school choice fairs or tours.
Additional reading:
6. Iterate and Improve
Marketing is not a “set-it-and-forget-it” task. Analyze which efforts are yielding the most ROI and pivot as needed. For instance, are your Facebook ads driving sign-ups, or is your open house the big draw?
Looking back, my biggest challenge wasn’t setting the goal but figuring out how to achieve it. A simple plan helped me prioritize, execute, and ultimately, succeed. By understanding parents, aligning efforts to their needs, and continuously improving, I turned a daunting task into a repeatable success.
Your school’s story deserves to be told — and with a thoughtful marketing plan, it will resonate with the right families. So, don’t wait to start.
Your next enrolled student could be just a strategy away!
Improve your school marketing and enrollment efforts with SchoolMint.
For over 10 years, SchoolMint has been helping schools, districts, and charter organizations attract and enroll more students through a range of tailored enrollment marketing services, including:
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