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The digital enrollment funnel of today is more than just SEO optimizations and Facebook ads periodically during enrollment season. There needs to be a multi-channel holistic approach that adapts the traditional stages of the buyer’s journey to encompass a fully digital annual campaign.
Through our experience, the RACE digital marketing framework is best suited to meet the marketing needs of independent schools, with slight modifications of course.
Created by Dr. Dave Chaffey, the RACE framework simplifies the funnel into four stages, Reach, Act, Convert, and Engage, to create a practical and easy to plan digital marketing strategy that has clear metrics for success for both individual stages and overall campaign results.
Before we jump into the RACE framework, it’s important to take the time to plan your approach and answer some overarching questions about your upcoming campaigns.
What are your enrollment goals for the upcoming school year?
Who are the families you most want to attract, and what is the best way to reach them?
What unique offerings or values does your school have that will resonate with that audience?
Defining what you want to achieve, understanding your audience, and designing a cohesive marketing strategy to attract them is critical to reaching your goals and turning prospective families into excited members of the school community that are happy to spread the word about your institution.
It all starts with the Reach Stage which is your brand awareness or consideration stage. Here is where your focus needs to be on reaching the maximum amount of your targeted prospective families engaging them with ads or content that introduce or reintroduces your school to the community you’re trying to reach. Broad messaging, captivating graphics, and informative content on the “why” of your school is paramount here.
After interested families click an ad, read a blog post, or visit your website, they are now placed in the Act Stage. The Act Stage represents the normal “decision making” stage and is where you want to get the prospective family to take a small action such as filling out an inquiry form, downloading a viewbook, or registering for an open house event. The goal is to motivate a stronger commitment from just browsing your site moving them further down the funnel, typically by getting them to give you their name, email, phone number, interests, etc..
From here, our modified RACE framework for independent schools utilizes both the Convert Stage and the Engage Stage congruently. In the Convert Stage its all about the family completing an application or at the very least, scheduling an on-campus or virtual tour. Both actions are strong conversions that conclude the funnel on the marketing side of the campaign.
Our modified Engage Stage encompasses the general purpose of this stage which is “advocacy” or “repeat customers” by using the normal processes once a lead has come to the admissions office. Once that lead is received, the admissions office now can “engage” or foster that prospective family through the enrollment process typically seen done through emails, phone calls, or on-campus or virtual meetings/tours. Furthermore, once enrolled, creating the smooth and informative transition from enrolled student to the first day of school, essentially the first steps in your retention efforts later in the year.
With this strategy and understanding of the stages of the digital enrollment funnel you are equipped to map out relevant content, messaging, and creative designs to match each stage goal for a successful digital marketing campaign. Gauging success at each stage can vary by your school’s unique enrollment goals but generally speaking you can measure success by how many targeted prospective families you were able to reach, get an action from, and of course have apply and enroll in your school.
The parents of today fortunately or not, expect a smooth digital process that allows them to become aware, research, and have easy ways of taking an action all the way to the acceptance decision, and this modified digital strategy has produced that journey time and time again.
Want to learn more about this framework or specific metrics of success for each stage? Schoolcraft Digital is here to help. As independent school natives, Schoolcraft Digital’s holistic digital marketing experts are equipped to help your school Reach, Act, Convert, and Engage, attracting new families who will become advocates for your institution. Schoolcraft Digital will conduct market research, spread advertisements across multiple digital platforms, devise a comprehensive digital strategy for your school, create dynamic landing pages, and more. Schedule a 30-minute consultation with Schoolcraft Digital today to learn how you can achieve success at each stage of the RACE planning framework.
The digital enrollment funnel of today is more than just SEO optimizations and Facebook ads periodically during enrollment season.
There needs to be a multi-channel holistic approach that adapts the traditional stages of the buyer’s journey to encompass a fully digital annual campaign.
Through our experience, the RACE digital marketing framework is best suited to meet the marketing needs of independent schools, with slight modifications of course.
Created by Dr. Dave Chaffey, the RACE framework simplifies the funnel into four stages, Reach, Act, Convert, and Engage, to create a practical and easy to plan digital marketing strategy that has clear metrics for success for both individual stages and overall campaign results.
Before we jump into the RACE framework, it’s important to take the time to plan your approach and answer some overarching questions about your upcoming campaigns.
What are your enrollment goals for the upcoming school year?
Who are the families you most want to attract, and what is the best way to reach them?
What unique offerings or values does your school have that will resonate with that audience?
Defining what you want to achieve, understanding your audience, and designing a cohesive marketing strategy to attract them is critical to reaching your goals and turning prospective families into excited members of the school community that are happy to spread the word about your institution.
It all starts with the Reach Stage which is your brand awareness or consideration stage. Here is where your focus needs to be on reaching the maximum amount of your targeted prospective families engaging them with ads or content that introduce or reintroduces your school to the community you’re trying to reach. Broad messaging, captivating graphics, and informative content on the “why” of your school is paramount here.
After interested families click an ad, read a blog post, or visit your website, they are now placed in the Act Stage. The Act Stage represents the normal “decision making” stage and is where you want to get the prospective family to take a small action such as filling out an inquiry form, downloading a viewbook, or registering for an open house event. The goal is to motivate a stronger commitment from just browsing your site moving them further down the funnel, typically by getting them to give you their name, email, phone number, interests, etc..
From here, our modified RACE framework for independent schools utilizes both the Convert Stage and the Engage Stage congruently. In the Convert Stage its all about the family completing an application or at the very least, scheduling an on-campus or virtual tour. Both actions are strong conversions that conclude the funnel on the marketing side of the campaign.
Our modified Engage Stage encompasses the general purpose of this stage which is “advocacy” or “repeat customers” by using the normal processes once a lead has come to the admissions office. Once that lead is received, the admissions office now can “engage” or foster that prospective family through the enrollment process typically seen done through emails, phone calls, or on-campus or virtual meetings/tours. Furthermore, once enrolled, creating the smooth and informative transition from enrolled student to the first day of school, essentially the first steps in your retention efforts later in the year.
With this strategy and understanding of the stages of the digital enrollment funnel you are equipped to map out relevant content, messaging, and creative designs to match each stage goal for a successful digital marketing campaign. Gauging success at each stage can vary by your school’s unique enrollment goals but generally speaking you can measure success by how many targeted prospective families you were able to reach, get an action from, and of course have apply and enroll in your school.
The parents of today fortunately or not, expect a smooth digital process that allows them to become aware, research, and have easy ways of taking an action all the way to the acceptance decision, and this modified digital strategy has produced that journey time and time again.
Want to learn more about this framework or specific metrics of success for each stage?
Schoolcraft Digital is here to help. As independent school natives, Schoolcraft Digital’s holistic digital marketing experts are equipped to help your school Reach, Act, Convert, and Engage, attracting new families who will become advocates for your institution.
Schoolcraft Digital will conduct market research, spread advertisements across multiple digital platforms, devise a comprehensive digital strategy for your school, create dynamic landing pages, and more.
Schedule a 30-minute consultation with Schoolcraft Digital today to learn how you can achieve success at each stage of the RACE planning framework.
The digital enrollment funnel of today is more than just SEO optimizations and Facebook ads periodically during enrollment season.
There needs to be a multi-channel holistic approach that adapts the traditional stages of the buyer’s journey to encompass a fully digital annual campaign.
Through our experience, the RACE digital marketing framework is best suited to meet the marketing needs of independent schools, with slight modifications of course.
Created by Dr. Dave Chaffey, the RACE framework simplifies the funnel into four stages, Reach, Act, Convert, and Engage, to create a practical and easy to plan digital marketing strategy that has clear metrics for success for both individual stages and overall campaign results.
Before we jump into the RACE framework, it’s important to take the time to plan your approach and answer some overarching questions about your upcoming campaigns.
What are your enrollment goals for the upcoming school year?
Who are the families you most want to attract, and what is the best way to reach them?
What unique offerings or values does your school have that will resonate with that audience?
Defining what you want to achieve, understanding your audience, and designing a cohesive marketing strategy to attract them is critical to reaching your goals and turning prospective families into excited members of the school community that are happy to spread the word about your institution.
It all starts with the Reach Stage which is your brand awareness or consideration stage. Here is where your focus needs to be on reaching the maximum amount of your targeted prospective families engaging them with ads or content that introduce or reintroduces your school to the community you’re trying to reach. Broad messaging, captivating graphics, and informative content on the “why” of your school is paramount here.
After interested families click an ad, read a blog post, or visit your website, they are now placed in the Act Stage. The Act Stage represents the normal “decision making” stage and is where you want to get the prospective family to take a small action such as filling out an inquiry form, downloading a viewbook, or registering for an open house event. The goal is to motivate a stronger commitment from just browsing your site moving them further down the funnel, typically by getting them to give you their name, email, phone number, interests, etc..
From here, our modified RACE framework for independent schools utilizes both the Convert Stage and the Engage Stage congruently. In the Convert Stage its all about the family completing an application or at the very least, scheduling an on-campus or virtual tour. Both actions are strong conversions that conclude the funnel on the marketing side of the campaign.
Our modified Engage Stage encompasses the general purpose of this stage which is “advocacy” or “repeat customers” by using the normal processes once a lead has come to the admissions office. Once that lead is received, the admissions office now can “engage” or foster that prospective family through the enrollment process typically seen done through emails, phone calls, or on-campus or virtual meetings/tours. Furthermore, once enrolled, creating the smooth and informative transition from enrolled student to the first day of school, essentially the first steps in your retention efforts later in the year.
With this strategy and understanding of the stages of the digital enrollment funnel you are equipped to map out relevant content, messaging, and creative designs to match each stage goal for a successful digital marketing campaign. Gauging success at each stage can vary by your school’s unique enrollment goals but generally speaking you can measure success by how many targeted prospective families you were able to reach, get an action from, and of course have apply and enroll in your school.
The parents of today fortunately or not, expect a smooth digital process that allows them to become aware, research, and have easy ways of taking an action all the way to the acceptance decision, and this modified digital strategy has produced that journey time and time again.
Want to learn more about this framework or specific metrics of success for each stage?
Schoolcraft Digital is here to help. As independent school natives, Schoolcraft Digital’s holistic digital marketing experts are equipped to help your school Reach, Act, Convert, and Engage, attracting new families who will become advocates for your institution.
Schoolcraft Digital will conduct market research, spread advertisements across multiple digital platforms, devise a comprehensive digital strategy for your school, create dynamic landing pages, and more.
Schedule a 30-minute consultation with Schoolcraft Digital today to learn how you can achieve success at each stage of the RACE planning framework.
