Are you afraid of your leads going cold over holidays?
The holidays can bring chaos to your marketing efforts and put a halt to your admissions. But this time of the year is not only chaotic for you but also for parents.
Parents are looking to entertain their children over the break. Christmas present shopping, preparing the turkey, visiting friends and family, parents are trying to squeeze their time and make this time of the year memorable for their children.
Choosing the right school for their kids might not be on their minds over the Christmas break. But with the right processes in place, you can change this.
If you’re looking to keep engagement with prospective families high, we’ve put together some easy ideas to get you started.
Automated workflows are your ally
Email automation can help you set up a strategic time to communicate with parents. You can start your Christmas marketing emails early in December to catch the attention of parents and educators before the holiday rush begins.
As Christmas approaches, you may want to send a final email wishing your audience a Merry Christmas and summarising any ongoing or upcoming activities in the new year.
A rule of thumb is to avoid sending emails during peak holiday times when inboxes are flooded with promotional emails.
Mailerlite can automate your emails and offers a free plan for up to 1000 contacts to enable your School to communicate with prospective parents and students without stealing a bank.
What to include in my emails?
Include recent highlights from your School community. You could send out an email spotlighting the ‘Educator of the Year’. You can include a brief interview with your teaching staff, and testimonials from students or colleagues.
Showcase significant achievements of students and faculty over the past term. Include images, quotes, or stories highlighting academic successes, sports triumphs, or artistic achievements.
Create personalised content to tailor to your audience’s interests. For example, if you know which students are interested in extracurricular activities, you might plan an email recommending specific clubs, activities or events that are relevant. You could also include a calendar of extracurricular activities for them to browse.
Other ideas include creating a ‘Looking Ahead to the New Year’ email to provide a sneak peek into plans for the upcoming year and create excitement for what’s to come.
All we want for Christmas is social media engagement
Fewer families will be visiting your website during this time. What do you need to do to overcome this hurdle? Invest in social media posts. Offer high-quality and engaging content through various social media platforms to connect with students and parents.
Here are a few ideas:
Short-form videos of your teaching staff sharing their favourite traditions or holiday memories.
A series of posts to share the artwork or volunteer efforts of your students.
Bring some holiday cheer with photos of your decorations.
Recommend some educational apps to keep your students busy during holidays. This could be Duolingo which makes language learning fun, or GeoGebra for allowing your students to explore maths concepts.
Greet your prospective families
Let your prospective families know that you are there for them and create a special greeting for them. Have teachers record a video for prospective students and highlight why they should join your school community. Or this can be a digital storybook as a downloadable PDF featuring highlights from the school year, awards, students’ accomplishments, and future events. These ideas give a personal touch to your communication with prospective students and parents and will increase your admissions as they drive leads at the bottom of your sales funnel.
Follow up with your leads
Set up follow ups in a timely manner. It’s crucial to re-engage with parents after you’re back from your break.
Consider creating a personalised ‘New Year’s Greeting’ email expressing your excitement about the upcoming year and the prospect of their children becoming a part of your School.
Give them exclusive access to your webinars or workshops. Lastly, set up a reminder for important dates such as application deadlines, sponsorship applications, or any upcoming open days.
Digithrive for Schools can help your School discover new marketing strategies to attract and nurture your leads so that you can increase your admissions. Find out more here now.