New school year, new enrollment goals! As the semester is already in full swing, school leaders all across the country are implementing new strategies and tactics to meet and even exceed their enrollment goals. So what steps are you going to take to ensure your school knocks recruitment out of the park this year?
At Schola, we know that homework is not just for students and that school leaders like you constantly look for ways to be more efficient and maximize their team’s results. That’s why we’ve created a Schola-approved list of four steps every school leader should take to make their enrollment goals more achievable than ever!
1. Know Your Audience
“You want to understand where your audience sleeps, eats, plays, and prays.” -Jaime Martinez (Founder & CEO of Schola)
Getting to know your audience is an ongoing task; just like you and me, families are always changing, so recognizing their current needs will be essential for successful recruitment and retention. When we know our audience, we can make better decisions, tailor messaging, and build stronger connections. By creating your parent and student Persona Profile, you will start to understand what matters most to your diverse school community and highlight the school benefits they are actually looking for.
Homework: If you want extra guidance on creating a well-rounded and detailed Persona Profile, we invite you to join our free weekly webinars. There we share in-depth information on how to better understand families’ needs and interests based on their backgrounds, social media behaviors, and daily routines.
2. Be Consistent
Adequate follow-up is all about consistency! When a parent shows interest in your school, sending the initial follow-up within the first 24 hours is very important. Remember, the longer you wait, the higher risk of losing potential enrollments. But how much follow up is too much? Don’t give up easily when it comes to following up with potential new families, as it is proven that 80% of conversions require more than five follow-up efforts.
Homework: Our team of marketing experts recommends establishing a regular cadence in your communication by sending out periodical emails to disengaged families every three days, considering the current average 20% open email rate.
3. Form Strong Connections
Meeting families in the middle is vital to form solid and long-lasting relationships. When communicating with your diverse community, speak to them in their native language. When communication stops feeling generic, and families feel like you are directly talking to them, inevitably, connections become stronger.
Homework: Bilingualism is your best friend. This semester, make sure to translate flyers, resources, forms, and subtitled promotional videos or social media posts. By using bilingual communication, you ensure all families feel welcome and will start noticing an increase in parents’ engagement with your content.
4. Work to Stay Top of Mind
At Schola, we know that enrollments are good, but student retention is even better! Ensure to stay top of mind throughout the school year by creating engaging events that will keep families satisfied. Creating parent groups, open houses, check-in events, and offering engaging student clubs or teams are some ways you can enrich your school’s offer and help families feel part of an active community.
Homework: Promoting your events is just as important as creating them! When promoting your next school event, don’t forget to include links, phone numbers, dates, times, event purpose, and your school branding. You can use various channels to ensure your event stays on parents’ top of mind – email, text, and social media are some of the easiest and most effective ways to engage with your students and their families.
If you want assistance on how to tweak and enhance your recruitment efforts, we can lend a hand! Our Schola team has done most of the homework for you and can help you streamline and simplify your recruitment process from beginning to end. Claim your School Profile today and automatically get access to free tools that will help you get on track for a year of meeting all your enrollment goals.
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