You haven’t tried it all. Yet. Reaching prospective students is an evolving process, and there are new marketing tactics and platforms that are serving up higher engagement rates.

Want to see a return on those marketing dollars? It takes a combined advertising, public relations and digital marketing effort — all cohesively and strategically joined together by compelling creative.

Here are five tactics to add to your marketing toolbox:

Geofencing

Today’s advertising world has the ability to track live audiences with very specific and accurate location data. School marketers can now identify relevant locations and specifically send ads to the devices of people in their target audiences who have been there recently. If you want to target families in a certain proximity to your school, that can be part of your geofencing plan as well.

Programmatic Advertising

It’s technically called “behavioral display targeting,” but in simple terms, this digital advertising tactic allows you to target users based on specific online interests and activities. The data is acquired from page content they viewed, search queries, ad clicks, etc. You can use this info to target your ideal student candidate. Want to reach parents who have recently Googled “private school,” who have children aged 10-15, and who might have also spent money on STEM activities or private sports lessons? Done. Take the persona you have created for your ideal student, and market directly to that segment.

SEO

It may seem like the obvious, but many schools do not leverage search engine optimization effectively. It takes a well-trained and skilled team to truly increase the quantity and quality of traffic to your website. In order to have high rankings and ever-increasing site visits through organic website searches, this needs to be top-of-mind. Once prospective families have heard of your school, we want them to find you easily.

TikTok

Shift your audience focus. Many schools miss this. Parents make the ultimate decision, but students need to have a desire to attend your school, too. To spark their interest, meet them where they are. Create a TikTok account and start uploading quick (15- to 30-second) video snapshots. Give them a campus tour. Peek in on a science lab. Show them inside someone’s locker. Make it fun, different and unexpected. Or have a social media manager take over your channels to do this seamlessly, effectively (and believably).

Social Cards and Videos

Catch them on all their platforms. Both students and parents use social media, probably more than they’d like to admit! Capturing your audience’s attention is critical, and repeating messages builds increased awareness and eventual conversion. Videos get a much higher engagement rate than text. Start sponsoring some posts with exciting graphics, creative typography and well-produced videos.

At AMF Media Group, we always have fresh ideas and stay ahead of industry trends. Connect with us today and let’s chat about reaching your ideal students. Together, we can increase enrollment and bring efficiency to your recruitment efforts.