The Portage School of Leaders: Marketing a New Charter School

Location: South Bend, Indiana
Website: The Portage School of Leaders
Opened Fall 2023

The Challenge

The Career Academy network of public schools in South Bend, Indiana, has a portfolio of successful schools across the larger South Bend area.

In the spring of 2023, they were granted authorization to open a new campus, the Portage School of Leaders, but they only had six months to advertise and enroll students — and they didn’t yet have a location ready!

Marketing a school without a building is a big task, and that meant the team needed to focus heavily on digital marketing to drive student enrollment and public awareness.

A school website could take months to develop. They needed to get the word out fast.

The Solution

Portage’s decision to choose SchoolMint was straightforward, given their longstanding positive relationship with the SchoolMint team. But beyond that, SchoolMint Engage offered everything Portage needed to get their marketing off the ground within weeks.

Additionally, SchoolMint’s digital advertising service for schools would help support public awareness and get the word out about the Portage quickly.

Ultimately, SchoolMint’s expertise and understanding of the unique marketing needs a brand new school has were key factors in their decision to partner with the SchoolMint team.

The Results

Within just a few weeks, the Portage School for Leaders had launched both their new website and social media ads for their new campus.

Above: Portage’s enrollment-focused website (“microsite”)

Instead of needing to wait months for a full school website design and implementation, the Engage team was able to get started on their website in just a few days.

After a single round of reviews, Portage had an effective microsite that was designed to do exactly what they needed to do: tell prospective parents about the amazing things their students could achieve at Portage and encourage them to take the next step in enrollment.

As for their digital ads? The Career Academy Network of Public Schools shared that more than 30 of their incoming students across their school network came from SchoolMint digital advertising.

As Marketing Director Rob Koehler says, “Recruiting students to a new school is a big challenge, especially when there is such a tight timeline. The fact that the Engage team delivered a great product and great, personalized support during a really hectic enrollment season was a huge relief.”

Interested in how SchoolMint can help your public school attract and enroll new students?

Let’s discuss how SchoolMint’s ad services and SchoolMint Engage can help you reach your enrollment goals.

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