Top 8 Enrollment Marketing Strategies for 2025

Building an enrollment marketing plan is a marathon, not a sprint—but these tips can help.

By Brittany Keil Last Updated: Nov 2024

We don’t have to tell you that families have more options than ever before when choosing how to educate their children. And one implication of this is true for school marketers across the country—it’s almost always enrollment season.

Running a sophisticated online enrollment marketing funnel for your district is challenging, but you don’t have to go it alone! These eight marketing strategies to increase student enrollment will help you show families the best of your district—and hopefully prove that your schools are the right fit for them.

1. Meet parents and guardians where they are—online.

Think about the last time you made a major purchase, like a new appliance. Where did you start your research? If you’re like 99% of Americans, you probably started your research online. That’s right—a survey in 2022 found that nearly all Americans start online when making major purchase choices. When it comes to choosing a school for their child, their behavior is likely no different.

While families are likely to consider a variety of online resources when choosing a school district, the one you have the most control over is your school website. For many families, their first visit to your district website is their first impression of your school district. Make it a priority to present them with a website that is both visually appealing and easy to navigate.

Look at this example from Duval County Public Schools in Florida. Their home page has everything a prospective parent could want—including a clear “Enroll” tab front and center.

Read The Comprehensive Guide to School Websites

2. Take advantage of social media.

You probably realize that almost everyone (two-thirds of American adults, by a recent study) is on social media. What you might not realize is that social media is a key place for families to visit to get a picture of what the day-to-day looks like at your individual school campuses. While prospective parents are definitely some of your top researchers, don’t discount that prospective students may be looking at your schools’ social media pages too. After all, they want to get a picture of what their life could look like if they transfer to your district. “My daughter was really hesitant about moving to a new elementary school,” one parent told Apptegy. “Then I showed her the elementary school's Facebook page, which was full of pictures of smiling children on field trips and utilizing the school’s outdoor classroom. Now my daughter can’t wait!”

Take a look at your schools’ social media pages and try to imagine what a prospective parent could be looking for. Do you feature happy students of all ages? Are a wide variety of activities and extracurriculars showcased? If not, how can you change this? Some districts have also gone as far as to create Facebook groups specifically for prospective parents to ask questions and get a sense of what the sense of community is like. While moderating a Facebook group can be challenging, this could be a great responsibility to hand over to your district’s PTO or booster club.

3. Go all in on email marketing.

If you’re reading this, you’re probably a marketer. And if you’ve been around school marketing spaces before, you’ve probably heard about email funnels, where your goal is to nudge a potential customer (or in this case, a prospective family) toward “conversion” or choosing your product or service. When it comes to enrollment, gathering and using the information of parents who are interested in your district is an excellent way to nudge them along to becoming more and more interested in your district.

To do this, consider adding an interest form to your enrollment page that gathers parents’ email addresses and information without them having to jump through the complicated hoops of actual enrollment. This way, families won’t be frustrated by having to join a complicated portal or fear that they’re making a decision they won’t be able to go back on. Once you have their contact info, you can develop an email campaign that shares all of the incredible reasons they should be excited to join your district—plus important enrollment information and deadlines. Not sure about what this could look like on your website? Check out this example of a pre-K enrollment page from Hutchinson School District in Kansas.

4. Run targeted ads online.

Your enrollment marketing funnel doesn’t have to be limited to emails, either. Ads are a powerful way to target families in your area to help them learn more about your schools. Use platforms like Google Ads, Meta Ads, and LinkedIn Ads to target specific demographics and interests and then run ads that showcase your district’s many accomplishments and programs.

Google Ads, for example, has capabilities that can help you track visitors who have looked at your enrollment pages but not taken action, i.e. not enrolled their child in your district. This strategy, called “retargeting” is an effective way to help nudge prospective families deeper into the funnel, meaning they are one step closer to enrolling their child in your district. It’s especially helpful if these ads include dates parents won’t want to miss—such as open houses or when enrollment opens.

Read How Schools Can Leverage Google Ads

5. Take advantage of video marketing.

The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words—but what does that mean about the potential of a video? Videos—including video ads displayed on sites such as YouTube or Instagram—are a great opportunity to show off what it feels like to be a part of your school community.

Videos can capture enthusiasm in a way other mediums can’t, and they’re also a great opportunity to integrate student voice into your enrollment marketing strategy. While videos are effective at showcasing student life for students of all ages, families of kindergarteners may enjoy getting a glimpse into your classrooms and hallways—especially if their child is spending the day away from home for the first time.

Take this example from Coosa Christian School in Gadsden, Alabama. Note how the district prominently features videos of students telling their stories and what it means to them to attend their school. How could stories like these—or other voices in your district—help families and guardians understand what day-to-day life is like at your schools?

6. Magnify your in-person events on social media.

As open enrollment laws change the landscape of school enrollment, don’t underestimate the value of selling yourself at community events, especially if your school district is in a bigger city or suburban area. You want your school district to look like the place that prospective families—and even teachers—want to be. And if you spotlight your in-person events through online content like social media posts, you get double the benefit. You’re not only reaching all your real-life attendees, but also the people who couldn’t make it.

Tyler ISD in Texas is all about capitalizing on making their district events look like the place to be. For Tyler ISD’s 2022 high school graduation ceremony, Hines and the district’s Facilitator of Marketing Skyler Hefley designed custom Snapchat filters representing all four high schools. “We wanted students to be proud of where they go to school and give a little FOMO to other students that aren’t in the district,” Hefley says. “It’s good branded content.”

The best part? It was a low-cost, high-reward investment. “I think we paid less than $200 to do it, so I thought, Why wouldn’t we just try it?” says Hines. Even though Snapchat doesn’t allow you to track who uses your filter on an individual basis, the general metrics were still impressive. One filter alone got 51,300 views with a 73% usage score. That’s a lot of brand impressions for a relatively low price tag. Plus, the filter made it more fun for students to post about graduation when they may not have done so otherwise.

Read the full story in Pics or It Didn't Happen

7. Build a strong network of ambassadors.

While many families start their enrollment research online, there is nothing more compelling than word-of-mouth advertising. You already know who your district’s superfans are—from the parents who bring in coffees for the students who treat spirit week like it’s their full-time job. These superfans are already primed to become the kinds of advocates who prospective parents and guardians are hungry to talk to when considering whether your district is a good fit for their family. Do your part to help train these superfans so that they can serve as trustworthy ambassadors for your school district.

What does this mean for you? Training. Think back to the community events we mentioned in Tip #6. What would it look like to have community ambassadors present at these events? After all, the person that a prospective parent is most likely to trust about their experience with a school district isn’t an employee, but rather another parent or guardian.

8. Realize the power of events.

If you’ve ever attended a high school football game, you know the infectious excitement that can accompany the best kinds of events. But have you considered that this same excitement could benefit your enrollment marketing process too?

Hone in on some of the ages that families are likely to transfer their children to your district. These may be pre-kindergarten and kindergarten registration, post-elementary school transition, and transition into high school. What can the schools in your district do to help families at these events feel excited about the uncertainty that’s ahead of them—and feel reassured that your schools are the place where they want their child to be? Whether this is a Kindergarten open house or a student-led high school enrollment fair, know that the best way to welcome new families into your district is to, well, make them feel welcome.

Building an enrollment marketing plan is a marathon, not a sprint. And while no single tip is likely to change the ways families in your school district approach enrollment, know that every touchpoint counts. After all, enrollment is a funnel and facilitating a strong and strategic customer journey is the best way to make sure your district doesn’t miss out on its potential students—and potential advocates.

For more insights on enrollment marketing, check out the Enrollment Issue of Apptegy’s magazine, SchoolCEO.

Top 8 Enrollment Marketing Strategies for 2025

1.

Meet parents and guardians where they are—online.

2.

Take advantage of social media.

3.

Go all in on email marketing.

4.

Run targeted ads online.

5.

Take advantage of video marketing.

6.

Magnify your in-person events on social media.

7.

Build a strong network of ambassadors.

8.

Realize the power of events.

Read more Apptegy resources