Fueling Your Student Enrollment and Retention Plans | California Charter Schools Conference 2017

PowerPoint Presentation

Fueling Your Student Enrollment and Retention Plans2017 CALIFORNIA CHARTER SCHOOLS CONFERNECE

IntroductionsKim BraterVP, MarketingCharter School [email protected] NilssonCOOCharter School [email protected] J. BarberFounderbarber&[email protected]

Copyright 2017 Charter School Capital Inc.

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WHY ARE WE HEREFueling Your Student Enrollment and Retention Plans

Why are we hereEnrollment issues:Need to attract and retain students. Nobody just shows up when you open the doors.Budgets are tight, resources strained, and priorities many. The thought of marketing yourself and your school can be confusing at best, and daunting at worst. But, it doesnt have to be


AgendaDefine student enrollment and marketing in the context of charter schoolsDiscuss enrollment strategies and tactics to drive goals and objectivesSlides are available here: CharterSchoolCapital.org/California2017


WHAT DOES GROWTH LOOK LIKE?Fueling Your Student Enrollment and Retention Plans

CHARTER SCHOOL GROWTH CATEGORIES

# of StudentsStart-upSurvival/EstablishGrowthFlexibility/StabilitySustainable MaturityEfficiencyTime (years)02-35-10100%

Students as a % of mature targets10-25%25-90%90-100%


----- Meeting Notes (3/17/15 10:56) -----Ask where schools attending are in this cycle?7

Define goals UPFRONTFirst have a definite, clear practical idea;A goal, an objective.-AristotleHow many students?What type of students?How much retention is needed?Team should understand these goals


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Define & refine enrollment methodsOn the spot / eventOnlineNormalize the enrollment process


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Define & refine CONVERSION METHODSAll conversions methods should be seamlessPhone processIn-person processOnline process


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Marketing & charter SchoolsSustainable Student Enrollment11

Marketing in the purest senseMarketing is communicating the value of a product, service or brand to customers, for the purpose of promoting or selling that product, service, or brand.Source: WikipediaSource: Wikipedia


Enrollment & marketing Students are not required to attend your schoolWhy would parents choose us?What makes us unique?How are you going to find these students?How are you going retain students?


Marketing for charter Schools


So, how do we generate AWARENESS & NEW STUDENTS with LIMITED TIME & MONEY?

THE PROCESS OF PROMISE AND YOUR SCHOOLS BRANDSustainable Student Enrollment

The Process of PROMISEDefine what makes your school unique, distinguishable, and compelling.

Define the values that will connect your school to your students, families, and community.

Your uniqueness & values build to the core essence of who you are.

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What makes YOU uniqueDefine what makes your school unique, distinguishable, and compelling.

What makes your school different? Program focus? Students served? Educational philosophy?

Which aspects of your organization cant be easily replicated?


What makes YOU uniqueWho do you want to serve?Why should students choose your school?Why would parents want to send her kids to your school?What are you providing to families and the community that isnt already offered?How are you different? Better?


Define your valuesValues define who you are, how you work, who you want to serve and why, they help you know when to say yes and no.

More than anything, your values are the benchmark of the legacy you want to leave behind.


Your schools essence Take what makes you unique and your core values, and then craft your essence.

Your essence should be embodied in everything people see, hear, touch, taste, or smell about your school. It articulates a higher-calling, a clear positioning amongst your competitors.

Your team should be able to convey this whenever needed.


Now SHARE YOUR VALUES / PROMISE


Now we know who we are, its time to craft our messages.

Crafting your messageSustainable Student Enrollment

audiences & GOALs are keyAudiences:StudentsTeachersParentsLeadersCommunity / mediaGoals:AwarenessIncrease enrollmentFundraisingStudent retention


Communication methods matter tooMethods:Face-to-faceSocial mediaIn-schoolWebMedia


Message / Call-to-ActionLeverage what makes you unique, your values, and promise to craft messages for specific audiences, goals and the communication methods.

Ensure appropriate call-to-actions are leveraged.


Next up, What do we look like?

School identitySustainable Student Enrollment

School identityIdentity consists of the visual elements the define your school including:LogoColor palette/systemVisual style/guidelinesSignageTemplates (letterhead, presentations, etc.)Name badge (everywhere)Business cardsSchool lapel pinsShirts

Share your story (your promise) with your design resources. Identity should reflect your story.


Identity development options$$$$$$99designs.comcrowdspring.comVolunteerIndependent designerSmall agencyLarge agencyDesign firm


The gooD, the bad, and THE UGLYIdentity done well can position your school for growth opportunities. Bad identity can turn away potential parents / students.Pay attention to the demographic and geographic influences on identity and design.


start-up phaseSustainable Student Enrollment

Before you even startEstablish an advisory teamFind people who believe in your promise/valuesMake the askFind broad advice (parents, community leaders, business leaders, former charter leaders)Identify creative ways to compensate them

Ask for helpSeek help from your contactsConnect and seek mentors/advisors that can compliment your skills


YOUR people are your greatest strength AND ASSETStudents, teachers, parents, and the community are your greatest assetsRun workshops with groups to help them tell the schools story and its values.Have them tell your story. Often.


Leverage Non-Paid Marketing ChannelsSocialPrimary: Facebook, Instagram (we are visual people)Secondary: Twitter, SnapchatTertiary: LinkedIn, PinterestEmailMultiple vendors offer free services for education/non-profitsEasy, opt-in communication with stakeholders, fans, friends of your schoolWebsitewww & blog


Website AND/OR branded email optionsTons out there. Here are a few we like:G Suite for Education (lots of additional productivity tools)GoDaddySquarespaceWordpressPagely


Growth phaseSustainable Student Enrollment

Layer paid channelsSearch Marketing OrganicBest for giving your website maximum visibility to those who are searching for your school on search engines.

Organic listings are free. Rankings are determined by the search engine to produce the best user experience.

Relative content, easy navigation, etc., all play into a positive user experience which, in turn, improves your search rank.

Create a strategy to include top-quality, relevant information on your website to match what users are searching for. This is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO)


Layer paid channelsSearch Marketing Pay-per-clickBest for giving your website maximum visibility to those who are searching for your school on search engines.

Advertisers bid in on search terms (keywords) users are likely to use to find their school.

Paid listings use a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) system where the advertiser pays for each click on the their ad.

Once the user clicks on the ad, the goal is that they visit the page and complete a desired action, such as filling out a contact form, donating, or applying for enrollment.


Layer paid channelsDisplay and retargeting (banners)Best used for creating brand awareness and bringing users back to your website to complete a conversion.

Display ads appear next to content on various websites in text, image or video format.

Display campaigns can be set up to target audiences in a variety of ways (time of day, on certain websites, etc.).

Retargeting: Showing display ads to users who have previously visited the website, leveraging their familiarity with your brand to encourage them to complete a conversion.


Enhance non-paid channelsSocialDisplay and retargeting advertising available through these platforms.Target your audience based on location, industry, job title, etc.

EmailBegin to segment audiences

WebsiteEnhance content created for your siteBegin to develop content calendar that shares your schools stories


Sustainable MaturitySustainable Student Enrollment

Mature your marketing planningQuarterly/annual marketing planning and budgetIdentify goals by audience/targetDevelop strategies and tactics to target audiencesIdentify budgets by channelOngoing measurement


Bring your stories to lifeLeverage video and other visual storytelling mediumsYouTube is the second largest search engineSnapchat and Instagram Stories offer other visual storytelling opportunities with different audiences

Help your school stand out and connect with your audience by creating videos worth sharing.

Use video to explain concepts and visions that are difficult to put into paragraphs.

Create a YouTube channel where all of your videos will reside for your audience to view.

Share your videos through social media or blog posts.


Leverage more sophisticated toolsAudience segmentation and relationship management (Salesforce, Base, Hubspot)

Marketing automation (Hubspot, Eloqua, Marketo)


Create revenue generating marketing opportunitiesCommunity sponsorshipStreet signageDigital signage (if applicable)Annual banquets/benefitsSponsored content (i.e. emails sponsored by local service business)


Retention matters tooSustainable Student Enrollment

Retention, retention, retentionLive up to your brand and promiseDevelop your retention frameworkSee DePaul retention framework

The 4Ps of Student Retention framework is an integrated approach to improving rates of student retention. The framework includes: shaping the profile of new freshmen and transfers with a goal of improved degree completion; ensuring students initial and continuous academic progress toward degree completion; improving and integrating all processes and services related to student enrollment; and ensuring that all students experiences are consistent with the promise of DePauls mission, purposes and brand.


Retention, retention, retentionTalk about your accomplishments, alwaysBuild your case all the timePromote to parents and advocatesSeek feedbackOnline surveysFoster word-of-mouthEngage parents and advocates in About Us sessionsHelp them advocate for and sell your school


The budget questionSustainable Student Enrollment

Average marketing budgets5-15% of annual budget


BUDGETS for charter Schools


Charter School marketing budgetsBudget = time + sweat equityStart-upGrowthSustainable MaturityBudget = limited dollars + time + sweat equityBudget = dollars + time + sweat equity


Thank youDigital Marketing 101 for Charter SchoolsKim BraterVP, MarketingCharter School [email protected] NilssonCOOCharter School [email protected] J. BarberFounderbarber&[email protected]

Date post:	11-Apr-2017
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