Private Schools Marketing

Helping private and independent schools deepen their customer relationships - and ultimately, improve their bottom line.

Schools around the world today that use websites and digital marketing to promote themselves are facing the same problem—they’re not sure how to find their data or what to do with it.

At a private or independent school, it’s important to provide our board (and our executive team) with the numbers they need to see and understand return on ad spend. Some metrics are simple to understand and the line between investment and success is clear. Others - like assisted conversions - can be misunderstood, but they are a critical piece of the puzzle. 

Let’s explore the fundamentals of assisted conversions, and how you can ensure that your board understands how to make decisions on digital channels, and their role in providing a positive return on ad spend.

At a Glance 

Independent schools are becoming more and more competitive, trying to recruit qualified applicants to fill all available slots. Consequently, independent schools are investing more in marketing and branding to get potential applicants' attention. However, many of these schools are still missing out because of one common mistake: failure to align decision-making between the marketing and admissions departments. 

Building alignment–and ultimately, decision-making–between your marketing and admissions departments can help improve student recruitment and retention. Here’s how you can get started on this path today.

Independent schools in North America are fiercely competitive. With more than 34,000 schools in the United States and 2,000 in Canada, staying ahead of the competition requires a unique approach to marketing.

Because of the importance and high price of independent education, parents and older students will often spend months researching the subject. This elongates the customer journey, giving private schools an opportunity to develop a more diverse digital marketing strategy.

At a glance:

• Pay more attention to the middle of the customer journey: Enjoy lower expenses, fewer competitors
• Streamline your approach: Get the right data and insights from marketing campaign results
• Employ omnichannel marketing: Take full advantage of all available channels to maximize your reach

Let's take a closer look at some key fundamentals that can help you build a successful independent school marketing strategy.

Any way you look at it, 2020/21 is going to be a different year for private school recruitment. Remote learning like we’ve seen this year represents a sea of change in the delivery of education. But with students and parents at home on their computers, it also represents an opportunity for private schools to recruit more strategically. Here’s how.

AT A GLANCE:

• Measurement & analytics: Get the right answers with the right data
• Gather data: Integrate analytics with school management software
• Build an agile campaign: Address what parents care about

Learn how to tap the power of data to optimize your school’s marketing strategy, so those already looking for your school can find you easily online.

If “data,” “optimize” and “strategy” sound like buzzwords, don’t be discouraged. They show up in marketing conversations for a good reason. Let’s discuss what they mean.

AT A GLANCE:

• What kind of data are we talking about?
• Optimizing your KPIs, CTAs and ROI
• Strategy is what you do with your data and insights

Millennials are the world’s leading generation. Every year, 82 per cent of babies are born to millennial parents. Find out how to market your independent school to this powerful—and unprecedented—generation.

AT A GLANCE:

• Overview of who millennial parents are
• Millennial parents' habits and catering to them
• Overview of steps to successfully market your independent school to millennial parents

Learn how to turn five common website challenges faced by private and independent schools into marketing opportunities.

Many school websites today function well as online brochures, but they may not meet the needs of those using your site. The good news is that your website challenges are your greatest opportunities.

AT A GLANCE:

• Five challenges with school websites today
• Turn your challenges into opportunities
• Steps you can take to improve your school’s website

Learn how to increase the visibility of your school online through improved search, content, digital and bandwidth opportunities on your school’s website.

AT A GLANCE:

• Five common pitfalls of school websites today include inconsistent information, unhelpful Search Engine Results Page (SERP) titles and descriptions, no access to analytics or tracking on your site, losing track of people interested in your school, and a website that’s slow to load.
• You can improve your website’s performance by ensuring your school info is clear and consistent, writing enticing SERP titles and descriptions, enabling Google Analytics (GA) and Google Tag Manager (GTM) on your website, keeping track of your leads and learning how to increase the loading speed of your site.