Craft a compelling story

Your school has a very important story waiting to be told. Develop a narrative that goes beyond statistics and highlights the true essence of your school.

You must share success stories, showcase your school’s values, and illustrate the transformative impact it has on your pupils.

But, it’s not just posting occasionally on social media and that’s your story shared, it’s about embedding it into everything your school does. That’s how you speak to the hearts and minds of your current and prospective parents.

If you’re not sure how to create a compelling story read our handy guide.

Know who you are targeting

Do you know your audience inside and out? 

• Who are they (age, profession, hobbies…)
• What are their values 
• What are their aspirations? 

Understanding what makes your families tick means you’ll understand what aspects of your school will resonate with them. You can then ensure all your marketing messages are centred around these aspects and in doing so, you’ll start to build an emotional connection with them. Bingo.

Top tip: Go deep and create personas for your target audience, consider their interests, challenges, dreams and more. 

Optimise your online presence

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, if you haven’t optimised your presence online you’re already losing out to the school down the road. 

Your school’s online presence is often the first touchpoint for prospective families, whether they start with a search on Google, head over to your socials or go straight to your website. 

Here are some blockers we usually see on school websites that stop prospective families from enquiring:

• Slow website speed – did you know 53% of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than 3 seconds to load!
• Difficult navigation -if your website is challenging to navigate, with confusing menus or complicated pathways to get to the information they want to access, parents may become frustrated and abandon your website. 
• Outdated design – an outdated or unprofessional website design may convey a lack of attention to detail and an outdated approach to technology. Does your website create that all-important, positive, first impression?
• Unclear information – ambiguity or lack of clarity around the school’s mission, curriculum, extracurricular activities, admissions process and so on, can deter prospective families. 
• Sparse visual content – A lack of lively photos and videos that capture the heart and soul of school life. Parents are craving a peek into the dynamic atmosphere at a school. They want to feel your vibe. Make sure you have these elements front and centre on your website. 

In short, you have to ensure your website is user-friendly, visually appealing and provides comprehensive information about your provision and what makes your school tick. (We provide desktop audits that can highlight your areas of weakness and opportunity when it comes to your online presence.) 

P.S Don‘t forget to leverage the power of social media by sharing engaging content that reflects the vibrant school life seen on your website. Cohesion in these spaces will reinforce that strong story you are trying to tell. 

Implement targeted advertising

Remember your target audience? Where do they hang out? Identifying this means you can focus on the channels where your target audience is most active and target your advertising right there.

This could be out-of-home (OOH) advertising like:

• Local newspapers
• Billboards
• Bus advertisements
• Niche local advertising (train stations, gyms, coffee shops)

You can also harness online advertising, like Google and META ads in the same way. Targeting is key.

Top tip: we see lots of schools losing money from paid advertising that doesn’t work – make sure you hire a specialist to get the highest return!

Get a GOOD CRM

It’s time to ditch the spreadsheets. To remain on top of your admissions game, you need a CRM that is fully optimised to help you manage the relationship between your school and parents, both current and prospective.

Here’s what your CRM should be doing:

• Prospective pupil management – your CRM system can help you track and manage prospective families, logging their interactions, communication history, event attendance and other relevant details.
• Personalised & targeted communication – personalised communication is more likely to resonate with potential families, increasing the chances of enrolment (your CRM system will allow you to segment and target your communications accordingly based on where that family is on their admissions journey).
• Lead nurturing to boost enrolments – we’ve seen schools lose prospective families because they aren’t following up and don’t have a clear conversion strategy. A good CRM system will help you nurture leads and increase enrolments.
• Automated workflows – your CRM is more than a database, it can actually help you save time (lots of it) by automating processes, tasks and emails.
• Boost pupil retention strategies – a good CRM goes beyond just enrolment, it can also assist with your pupil retention efforts.
• Feedback collection – CRM systems can collect feedback from prospective and current families. Understanding their needs and concerns allows your school to make data-driven improvements to your admissions and communications strategies.

Need help choosing the right CRM for your school? Get in touch with us today.

Let them talk

One of the best ways to attract more pupils to your school is through authentic recommendations from other parents. 

Let them talk – it’s not just a phrase; it’s a powerful approach that can elevate your marketing efforts. 

Harnessing the influence of word-of-mouth (WOM)  begins with addressing parents’ feedback and actively working to enhance your school’s reputation and perception.

 If parents are unhappy they’ll talk about the wrong things with prospective families. 

Top tip: Find out what parents say about your school by being in the places they are, this could be community or Facebook groups for example.

Get support

Sometimes you just need a little helping hand, you shouldn’t have to waste money, time and resources on marketing that doesn’t work and isn’t driving growth for your school.

We help UK and international school leaders, bursars and marketing & admissions folks to boost revenue with strategic, simple and savvy pupil recruitment and retention services.

We’ve helped generate over £4 million for school. Get in touch with us here.

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