Many schools have experienced a declining enrollment in recent years. This presentation highlights 12 strategies that several schools implemented to turn around their enrollment. This workshop was presented at the AISAP Summer Institute in July 2013 in Nashville.

2. OUR GOAL
During this workshop we will discuss how several schools
experienced an enrollment turnaround.

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6. Enrollment Catalyst partners with schools to provide
coaching for school leaders in their school’s enrollment
management and marketing systems, strategies, and
solutions needed to reach their goals.

7. WWW.ENROLLMENTCATALYST.COM/BLOG

9. School Growth
Leadership
Quality School
Experience
Vision
Faculty and
Staff
Parent
Satisfaction
Reputation
Location
Price
Competition
Enrollment &
Marketing Plan

10. CURRENT STATE OF THE SCHOOL MARKET
Economic uncertainty
Enrollment instability
Parent entitlement, consumerism and disloyalty
Increased competition
Increased dependence on financial aid
Increased focus on branding and marketing
Strong schools are in demand

11. SOME MARKETING/ENROLLMENT OBSERVATIONS
We lack marketing knowledge, training and expertise.
We lack resources and staffing (and the commitment to
make this a budget priority).
We gripe about not getting our school published in the
local newspaper when we can publish anything we want
on the web.
We place priority on traditional advertising strategies to
reach our community and often neglect our most
strategy—word of mouth through our parents!

12. SOME MARKETING/ENROLLMENT OBSERVATIONS
We often take a shotgun approach to marketing.
We have a plan for improving our school but don’t have a
marketing and enrollment plan for growth.
We are intrigued by social media and web-based
strategies but don’t know how to use them effectively.
We don’t tell our story very well.

14. School Growth Turnaround Stories

15. 1. Committed, Personal and Visionary Leadership
2. Develop and communicate your brand
3. Set goals and analyze enrollment results
4. Devote resources to staff and the team
5. Launch a parent ambassadors program
6. Consistently follow-up with inquiries
7. Re-recruit your current families
8. Implement a word of mouth campaign
9. Focus your resources on your website
10. Generate leads through online marketing strategies
11. Tell your school’s story through social media
12. Aggressive use of financial aid
STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

17. “Enrollment rises or falls on
leadership.”
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19. BRANDING
What is branding?
“From a business point of view, branding in the
marketplace is very similar to branding on the ranch.
A branding program should be designed to
differentiate your product [school] from all the other
cattle [schools] on the range. Even if all the other
cattle on the range look pretty much alike.”
§ Al and Laura Reis, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding

22. “The brand on the outside is only
as strong as the brand on the inside.”
– Karl Speak, President, Beyond Marketing Thought

23. BRAND DEVELOPMENT
Develop a compelling visual brand for your school that
includes the following:
§ Logomark
§ Typography
§ Color palette
§ Photography
§ Messaging

24. CONSISTENCY
Consistent use of your school’s brand elements:
§ Logo
§ Tagline
§ Colors
§ Message

25. FOCUS ON TALKING ABOUT THEIR SCHOOL
Most administrators haven’t considered this question as a
key part of their marketing strategy. We need to begin
asking the question:
What do you want them to talk about?

27. OPTIMAL AND ANNUAL ENROLLMENT GOALS
Determine/Define the optimal enrollment your school.
Develop annual incremental goals to reach desired
enrollment:
§ 2013
§ 2014
§ 2015

28. ENROLLMENT GOALS
Develop specific enrollment goals for the following areas:
§ Total Enrollment
§ Retention
§ Admissions
§ Inquiries
§ Campus Visits
§ Applications
§ Deposits
§ New students

29. Provides a data snapshot overview of the re-enrollment
of current families and enrollment of new families.
ENROLLMENT DASHBOARD REPORT

32. STAFFING
Increase staffing to increase the enrollment results.
Key skills include:
• Passion
• Personal
• Initiative
• Communication

33. Direct administrative responsibilities for admissions
§ Director of Admissions/Enrollment
§ Head of School/Principal
Additional involvement in admissions
§ Secretary/Receptionist
§ Administration
§ Faculty and Staff
§ Parents
§ Students
THE ADMISSIONS TEAM

34. Develop, implement and manage the recruitment plan
Strive to reach and exceed all of the goals
Provide an outstanding campus visit experience and follow-
up for all inquiries and applicants
Increase awareness of the school through feeder schools,
churches and other groups
Encourage and facilitate the involvement of parents in the
recruitment strategy
Report weekly on the progress toward recruitment goals
ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

35. ROLE OF FACULTY AND STAFF
Quality/excellence in their job
Tell your school’s story
Turn negative moments into positive moments
Channel concerns to the administration
Communication with parents
Relationships with parents
Create memorable moments
Positive ambassadors for the school

37. PARENT AMBASSADORS
Recruit a team of parent ambassadors to expand the
reach of the enrollment office.

38. Passion for your school
Credibility among their peers
Connections at the school and in the community
Opportunity to be involved
RECOGNIZE THE RIGHT TALKERS

39. PARENT AMBASSADOR PROGRAM
Recruit a team of parents to help you in your enrollment
effort by:
§ Presenting tours of campus.
§ Hosting new family “desserts” in their homes.
§ Mentoring a new family throughout their first school year.
§ Follow-up for prospective parents.
§ Calling and/or writing personal notes to parents and welcoming
them to your school.
§ Reaching out to churches and schools.
§ Posting online reviews.

40. New parents can be the best resources for your school to
reach out to their previous school, church, neighborhood
or other group.
USING YOUR NEW PARENTS

42. FOLLOW-UP
Implement a 30-day follow-up plan for parent inquiries.
This follow-up plan should include mailings, calls and
emails that encourage the parent to apply/enroll at
your school.

43. Step 1 – Make initial contact with inquiry
Step 2 – Send information packet on school with
personal letter (within 24 hours of inquiry).
§ Make sure the letter is personalized and well-written to sell your
school.
30-DAY FOLLOW UP PLAN

44. Step 3 – Call one week later to discuss your school and
encourage the parent to take the next step (seven days
after inquiry date).
§ Phone call should focus on the following:
§ Make sure information was received in the mail.
§ Encourage the family to visit.
§ Use the time to better understand the parent’s needs and sell
the parent on your school.
§ Send hand-written note immediately after call is made.
30-DAY FOLLOW UP PLAN

45. Step 4 – Send email or postcard with key message (15
days after inquiry date).
Step 5 – Personal contact from a current parent (25 days
after inquiry).
§ Use a parent ambassador from a similar grade level to contact the
inquiry.
Step 6 – Send email or postcard with key message (30
days after inquiry).
30-DAY FOLLOW UP PLAN

46. FOLLOW-UP AFTER 30 DAYS
What should you do with your inquiries after your 30 day
follow-up?
§ Email messages
§ Monthly contact with inquiries.
§ Send your school’s email newsletter.

48. RE-RECRUITMENT
The strategy and process for recruiting your current
families to continue enrollment in your school for the
next year.
Re-recruitment is the activity that leads to retention.

49. Parent Satisfaction
Vision and leadership
Retention statistics and reports
Responsibility of re-recruitment
Connections to community
Customer service
Identify at-risk students and families
The re-enrollment process
Focus on the transition grades
Parent communication
Internal marketing
Parent feedback
RE-RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES

50. FOCUS ON INTERNAL MARKETING
When your parents are very satisfied with their
experience at your school, they will be your greatest
asset to reaching your community. Do everything you can
to market your school internally to your parents.

51. RETENTION OF CURRENT FAMILIES
Be proactive in working with current families to keep
them enrolled at your school
§ Grade all of your families on their likelihood to return next year.
§ Meet with all families personally that are “on the fence” regarding
their decision to re-enroll.
§ Host small group coffees and events for parents.
§ Implement “Next Year and Beyond” meetings for families to
understand the next level.
§ Reach out personally to current families.

52. RE-ENROLLMENT CAMPAIGN
Launch an internal marketing campaign that coincides
with re-enrollment (Jan. and ongoing):
§ Re-enrollment package that communicates the value for the
continued investment at your school.
§ Design banners that communicate the brand and tagline.
§ Personal phone calls to all families encouraging them to re-enroll.
§ Communicate key messages that reflect features and benefits of
continuing at your school.
§ Develop bragging points and boast about the remarkability of your
school.

53. PARENT FEEDBACK
Survey your parents annually by conducting an overall
parent satisfaction and perception survey.
§ Look for areas of dissatisfaction to improve the quality of the
school.
§ Report findings from the survey back to parents.
§ Best time to survey parents is October/November and February.
Conduct exit interviews when parents choose not to re-
enroll at your school.

55. “This is the foundation of buzz: in order to get people
talking about your product or service, you must provide a
great experience.”
• Rosen, The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited
WOM is Based on Experience

56. Strong
Retention
Parent
Satisfaction
Positive
Word of
Mouth
POSITIVE WOM

57. 5 T’S OF WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING
1. Talkers—who will tell their friends about you?
2. Topics—what will they talk about?
3. Tools—how can you help the message travel?
4. Taking Part—how should you join the conversation?
5. Tracking—what are people saying about you?

61. FLIER AND PACK OF CARDS SENT TO
CURRENT PARENTS ABOUT
WELCOME WEDNESDAY’S AT
LAKELAND CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

63. WEBSITE
Your school’s website should be the hub of news, activity,
information and stories about your school.
It is the most important marketing and communication’s
tool for today’s school.

64. KEY ELEMENTS OF WEBSITE DESIGN
Brand—It is important to convey a strong brand for your
school—including your logo, colors, and tagline.
Photos—Large, professional photos on the home page
will draw the visitor to your school.
Content—Dynamic content and a compelling message is
important to keep users returning to your school’s
website.

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72. How can you use a blog in your strategy?
§ Share student, faculty and alumni stories.
§ Share how your school is achieving its mission,
§ Provide educational expertise on important and timely issues.
Benefits of blog:
§ Provides an additional website full of content on your school.
§ Regularly feeds into blog subscriber in-boxes
§ Increases SEO for your school.
§ Can feed back into your website and provide dynamic content.
BLOG

74. WEB-BASED MARKETING STRATEGIES
Hire a web company to guide in the search engine
optimization process for your website.
Launch a PPC campaign on Google AdWords.
Launch a Facebook ad campaign using multiple ads to
target several key messages (Everyday is an open house,
messages, etc.).
Parents, faculty and staff should write positive reviews
on GreatSchools.com and Google.
Launch a blog integrated on your website.

75. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
SEO is the process of adjusting websites and pages to
gain higher placement in search engine results.
§ Where does your school come up on a web search?
Organic versus Paid
§ Organic – page titles and keywords in your website
§ Google’s AdWords – pay-per-click advertising for keywords.

76. It is critical for you to focus on search engine
optimization as part of your marketing strategy.
§ Keyword research
§ Page titles
§ Page descriptions
§ Keyword-rich content
§ Dynamic content
FOCUS ON SEO

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81. School administrators most often focus on website
design when launching a new site but fail to focus on the
most important elements – SEO and content
development.
It is critical to focus on developing content that is:
§ Relevant
§ Keyword-rich
§ Dynamic
§ Compelling
FOCUS ON CONTENT

82. Pay-Per-Click Ads
§ Google AdWords
§ Facebook Ads
Online Reviews and Directory Sites
§ GreatSchools.com
§ PrivateSchoolReview.com
§ Yelp.com
§ Google+
ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES

84. Programs
§ Academics, Athletics, Arts, Service, Technology, Character
People
§ Students, Parents, Leadership, Faculty, Staff, Coaches, Alumni
Results
YOU HAVE A STORY TO TELL

85. TELL YOUR STORY
Tell the story of your school through students, alumni,
parents, faculty and staff:
§ Motivate every faculty and staff member to share one story to the
leadership
§ Focus on linking stories to the USP’s
§ Develop video vignettes that can be posted on the website, YouTube
and Facebook
§ Lead story in every issue of your email newsletter
§ Stories on Facebook, website and blog
§ Create positive buzz about your school

86. TYPES OF STORIES
Grads at other schools looking back on their experience at
your school
Faculty expressing their unique passion for teaching at your
school.
Students conveying what they like best about your school.
Students answering the question, “What makes your school
special to you?”
Parent sharing why they chose your school for their child and
the difference this decision has made.

87. FACEBOOK
Facebook can be used to connect to alumni, parents and
friends of your school.
§ Set up an alumni group for your school
§ Connect with alumni to keep in touch with them
§ Set up a fan page for your school
§ Provide regular updates on your fan page
§ Tell stories of your alumni and faculty
§ Encourage interaction among your fans
§ Enter into conversations with your fans

88. CAPTURE THE MOMENT
When something happens in your classroom, on the
field, or on stage that is communicates your school, you
need to capture the moment.

90. The Power of One Post
• 2,846 Likes
• 139 Comments
• 175 Shares
• 22,139 People saw
this post

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95. LEVERAGING FINANCIAL AID TO FILL SEATS
With empty seats, the schools took an aggressive
approach to discounting tuition to maximize enrollment.
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96. Q & A
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97. Rick Newberry, Ph.D.
9770 Indian Key Trail
Seminole, FL 33776
727.647.0378
Rick.Newberry@EnrollmentCatalyst.com
Blog: www.EnrollmentCatalyst.com/Blog
Facebook.com/EnrollmentCatalyst
@RickNewberry

98. P.O. BOX 709
BOSTON POST ROAD
MADISON, CT 06443
WWW.AISAP.ORG
203.421.7051
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