Your open day is more than just a calendar event—it’s a major opportunity to inspire and convert prospective families into enrolments.
Here are 5 ways you can make your open day work harder for you.
1. Build buzz early (min. 6 weeks ahead)
Start promoting well in advance. Marketing is a numbers game, the more people you get to the event, the more chance of enrolments you have. A ‘one hit wonder’ social media post or email won’t cut it. Instead, map out online and offline activities to reach your target audience with a structured promotional plan. (If you need help, our short online marketing course includes a ‘ready to go’ plan).
2. Capture data
Make sure all promotions are pointing to a dedicated landing page where you can capture and use this to continue building your message, before and after the event.
3. Create a WOW experience.
On the day, avoid anything vanilla or generic. Instead, bring your school to life with
- Interactive sessions
- Live demos
- Immersive displays
- Showcasing outcomes (i.e. mini pupil case studies, destinations etc.
- Pupil journey maps on the walls
4. Make sure everything and everyone points to a single next step
Make sure everyone involved knows the single next step that you want visiting families to take is (e.g. to book a taster day or a school tour) and drives activities towards it. Support this with marketing materials e.g. take home leaflets, foam board wall displays (‘Have you booked your taster day?’).
5. Follow up, follow up, follow up
Both attendees and non-attendees are hot leads – make sure you have set plans for keeping in touch and remaining in their minds – don’t let them forget you and go on to their next choice.
In summary, an open event done well is a brilliant way of attracting new families to your school.
Want to take yours even further? Our 6-week online marketing course is designed to help you do just that while supporting your professional development.
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