If you’re in the role of developing, managing and delivering successful private school recruitment strategies for your institution then you know the importance of having a solid plan of execution. For most private schools they choose to go down the path of the most familiar recruitment strategies and channels, but the most successful institutions are changing it up and making their schools stand out with unique approaches to both traditional and non-traditional marketing channels to recruit students and families.

In this article, we share a number of recruitment strategies for private schools that work at getting you to stand out and keep your school top of mind for prospective students and parents. 

Direct Mail

While Direct Mail has been a long standing marketing channel for private schools it has to be stated here because of how effective it is at recruiting students. If you’ve done marketing for private schools for a while you know this, but for those that haven’t, using direct mail as a recruitment strategy is not only effective but it’s also…

• Very affordable and easy to maximize
• A channel that generate very high brand awareness and recall
• Interactive when you include URLs and QR codes

Common direct mail used in recruiting private school students are things like standard form letters, postcards, invitations, and creative die-cut or laser cut bi-folds. Like many of the other channels you’ll see listed here, including imagery that supports the culture and the environment of the school or aspirational achievements are good ways to draw attention to your direct mail and make it stand out.

Online Advertising

In today’s world, an online presence is a critical component of a private school marketing recruitment strategy. Marking this as being even more important over the past 3 years both parents and students have increased their time spent online by 53%. The perfect strategy is to market to these potential students and parents using your branded Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Google ads. A successful recruitment strategy is utilizing dual engagement. Your private school ads will not only be seen by potential students, but their parents as well which is just as important when making an impression for your school’s brand. 

Another effective marketing tactic to implement in your private school’s marketing strategy is blogging. This raises online visibility and will ensure you get found for the questions and answers students and parents have and at the same time share your vision, values, and goals. One idea is to have current students write blogs that are posted to your schools website. When a potential student sees that current students are able to share their school experience with the community, you are building trust with them and whoever they share it with. 

Recruitment Events

Getting creative with the recruiting events you host is another important way of getting new families and students to consider your private school as an option. While these are also not new, you can deliver “new thinking” on what events you throw, how you host them and what you’ll do to attract them to attend.

By hosting these exclusive private school events prospective students can see what it will be like for them if they were to become a part of the student body, organizations and future leader.

Private School Recruitment Event Ideas

• Club Showcase
• Sporting Events
• Homecoming
• Contests
• Family Days
• Meet the Teacher

Email

We can’t have a list of effective private school recruitment strategies without naming email. Using email to get in front of prospective students and their families is simple, effective and a cost effective way of communicating with the goal of engaging, nurturing and ultimately registering new students.

The more strategic you are in your marketing when it comes to the student journey the better results you will get from your email marketing strategy as long as that is integrated into the overall recruitment strategy as well.  Using account based automation and integrated marketing tactics such as triggered direct mail are ways to ensure you get in front of prospective students and families with the right message and the right time.

Streaming

One of the newest channels for private school marketing is the introduction of streaming channels to the marketing mix. With the proliferation of streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu and more you now have options to get your school in front of more prospective families cross-platform on their favorite streaming service.

Streaming Channels You Can Advertise On

• Hulu
• Paramount+
• Peacock
• HBO Max
• Sling
• Pluto TV

While there are many other tactics you can and likely will use, what we’ve listed here are the top private school recruitment strategies that are guaranteed to work for you and your institution. So if you are looking for marketing solutions and print that will help you win your moment, connect with us here at Qualprint.