What are the Best Digital Marketing Tactics to Promote My School?

If you're a school looking to increase enrollment, you need to be where parents' eyes are — digitally. So if you're not doing any digital marketing, you're not making the grade.

Schools are catching on. In the past year, 56% of preK-12 schools increased spending on digital marketing. That's according to the latest report by Niche, a platform that connects families with schools. Yet 31% of schools still don't have dedicated funds for it.

Part of the challenge is there are so many options. It can feel overwhelming to figure out the best tactics. That's where Zoe Marketing & Communications can help. In working with schools for the past 35+ years, we've observed key digital marketing tools that can drive higher results.

In this blog, you'll get to know these digital approaches as we answer:

• What types of digital ads should I use?

• How about social media? Where should I focus my attention?

• Is content marketing right for my school?

• What about email marketing? How impactful is that?

• How can I boost the odds parents will find us organically with SEO?

After learning these tactics, you'll feel more grounded and have a good grip on top marketing tactics for school — and why they work. And we'll give you some next steps to get your school’s marketing up and running.

Free Guide

Download Your School Marketing Strategies Toolkit

Discover effective strategies to attract and engage prospective students and their families.

What types of digital ads should schools use?

Let's start with casting the broadest net — "search engine marketing," or SEM. This is advertising on search engines. Primarily, that's Google Ads, along with Bing Ads. 

Simply put, you're paying to show up in the results when people search. And, when folks click these ads, they land on a crucial webpage for your school.

These ads appear at the tops or margins of a search engine's results page. The word "Ad" appears above each one.

Generally speaking, these ads fall into four camps:

1. Search (text-only ads)

2. Display (image-based ads)

3. Video (ads most often served on YouTube)

4. Local (ads that show up in Google Business Profile results)

In each case, you can target these ads to certain people, which is called "geofencing." You're "fencing" the folks most likely to have an interest in your school by things like:

• General location: filter by state, ZIP code, city or metro areas

• Radius: set a custom radius around your school and reach parents in that area

• Affinity segments: target people by their search interests (for instance, "Education" or "Primary & Secondary Schools (K-12)")

• Demographics: sort by specific ages, household incomes and other data

In particular, three types of ad tactics can drive results for schools:

1. CPM ads

These ads are accessible and a sensible place to start. “CPM” stands for cost per mille (that's Latin for "thousand") impressions. So, you get a charge every 1,000 times Google loads your ad, for instance.

They're relatively straightfoward to set up within Google Ads. And they’re cost-effective at only $0.50 to $4 per 1,000.

2. Retargeting ads

Once someone visits the landing page you're promoting, you can "retarget" them with even more specific ads. These ads follow them around as they're browsing the web. It's a crucial way to stay top of mind. Google's rates are about $0.70-$1.25/click. It's a bit more expensive, but worth it because you're reaching people who've already expressed interest in you.

3. PPC ads

This one is short for "pay-per-click." It's third on the list because you guessed it: It's pricier. You can get super targeted, but you're also facing a lot of competition. Costs here average $1-$2/click on Google, but can escalate depending on the keywords you're targeting.

How about social media? Where should I focus my attention?

Of course, being active on social media generally is smart. Make sure you regularly post to your Facebook and Instagram accounts, for example. That's called "organic" posting.

But, as you might've already caught on, getting more eyeballs requires money. And that means ads.

Like search engine ads, social media ads let you hone in on geography, demographics and interests. You can also retarget ads on social media.

Focus your efforts on:

Facebook and Instagram

Since they're both run by the same company, Meta, you can place your ads on both platforms at once. Plus, it's where moms are — and they're essential school decision-makers.

81% of moms are on Facebook and 53% are on Instagram, according to the Moms in Media 2022 report by Edison Research. That's excellent audience alignment.

Minimum budgets are $1-$2/day for impressions and $5/day for clicks or views.

Pinterest

Surprised? This platform has skyrocketed with moms (63% are on it, Edison reports). It might seem a bit atypical for schools. But Pinteresters are looking to discover new things. So ads here can help boost brand awareness and deliver traffic to your page, which you can later retarget.

Costs can range $2-$5 for 1,000 impressions, or 10 cents to $1.50 per engagement.

Is content marketing right for my school?

Content marketing can be a game changer for schools. It's a powerful way to build your role as an education leader — and parents' trust in you.

The idea is to write thoughtful articles (about 600-900 words) that resonate with your future students' guardians. They want to understand what's unique about your school and how it creates a bright future for their child. They want to hear from teachers and other parents.

Schools should consider two types of content marketing:

Sponsored content articles with media partners

This involves teaming up with a media company that aligns with your mission — and can reach your target audience. They create the articles for you, using your experts, and promote them on their website and social media. They tap their readers' interest, and it's an implied endorsement.

"Spon con" is a deeper investment and strategy. Costs range $250-$2,500/article (on the higher side for higher quality). And it takes at least four consecutive pieces to build results.

General content on your school's own website

Here, you're creating articles — and even special guides or checklists people can download — on your own site. Bear these few factors in mind:

• Consistency is key if you want Google to find your articles (and you do). You'll need someone on your staff dedicated to writing them, or you might need to hire it out. (Rates can range $50-$2,000/piece; hiring a marketing firm is another option.)

• It'll take marketing dollars to promote this content in ads and on social.

• Offering "downloads" is also savvy because browsers must enter their email addresses to receive them. That helps build your list of potential enrollees to retarget or email.

What about email marketing? How impactful is that?

In marketing, email is still a powerhouse. In fact, almost 60% of people say marketing emails influence what they buy, SalesCycle notes. And 99% of us check our inboxes daily.

For schools looking to boost enrollment and engagement, there are two tactics to consider:

Leveraging another email list

Commonly, these lists come from a media influencer partner or a marketing firm. They have an aligned audience or access to third-party subscribers, which can connect you with the right parents living in the right places. That's a boon for promoting anything from enrollment opportunities to sponsored content articles.

Tapping into your own email lists

Have you gathered emails from parents who might enroll? Maybe it was a "form fill" on your website or a physical event you hosted, like an open house. Either way, they're interested in you but still undecided. Create more personal emails for this group. Keep yourself in front of them — and remind them what you have to offer.

How can I boost the odds parents will find us organically with SEO?

This might not be a question you thought to ask, but it's foundational. SEO stands for "search engine optimization." This means people "googling "for a school like yours will actually find you.

It's a sad thing when someone searches for your school specifically — and you're not on the first page of results. How is that possible? It's your proper name! Yet it happens.

Avoid this plight with healthy SEO practices on your website. These include, but aren't limited to:

• Having excellent content that answers people's questions

• Optimizing your content for keywords

• Ensuring your page loading speed is fast and user experience is smooth

• Finessing page titles, URLs, descriptions and snippets

• Making sure search engines can index your site (aka "technical SEO")

I'm ready to market my school. What are my next steps?

Marketing your school in the digital world is an A+ move. You just discovered some of the best ways to do it in this blog. Search engine ads should be your first stop: primarily CPM, a low-cost option to get lots of eyeballs, and retargeting, which keeps you top of mind. And, if the competition isn't too fierce, PPC might also be an option.

From there, go where the moms are on social: Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. For a deeper investment, content marketing packs a punch. Don't forget the power of email marketing to reach parents, too — and the importance of good SEO "hygiene" on your website.

Feeling overwhelmed and looking for some guidance? Connect with Zoe Marketing & Communications. We specialize in school marketing, and we can customize tactics to meet your enrollment goals.

Or, if you're puzzling just how much to invest, be sure to read our blog on how much to spend on your school marketing budget. 

Remember, the parents you're seeking hang out in online places that are easy to target. Use a mix of digital marketing tactics to meet them right where they are.