K-12

Auditing Your Digital Experience: Put Your Money Where the Parents Are

April 25, 2024

Have you ever felt like trying to grab the attention of busy parents feels kind of like throwing a glass of water into the ocean? You know how great your school is, so why don’t prospective families?

What if your school became the hot topic in every parent group chat, the star of Starbucks meet-ups and the buzz at every birthday party, all thanks to some savvy digital strategies? Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

More than ever, parents are doing a lot of research online before making a list of where to inquire, visit or apply. What are people saying about you? What can they find on Niche and on your website? What’s the story in your local Facebook groups? We know that parents who are searching for schools prefer online channels, so let’s make sure that you’ve built a strategy that prioritizes them.

Make your website both easy to find and easy to use
Expand your brand—be where the parents are
Encourage school reviews
Make social media a social place
Optimize your emails for maximum parent engagement
Final thoughts

Make your website both easy to find and easy to use

With 60% of K-12 parents reporting that schools’ websites influence their enrollment decisions, you want your website to be the digital equivalent of a warm, welcoming smile that greets parents on your campus.

Invest in making your website a sleek, information-packed haven with easy navigation. The easier it is to find information, the happier parents will be, and the more likely they will be to take the next steps.

Here are three tips for optimizing your site for today’s parents:

1. Use logical keywords

Think like a parent. What are they typing into Google when they’re searching for the perfect school? Is it “best schools near me”? Or maybe “STEM-focused elementary schools”? There are great tools out there to do keyword research, but you can also do some work for free by seeing what Google suggests when you start typing phrases or looking at the “People also ask” section for related searches.

Once you’ve got those golden phrases, sprinkle them throughout your site like fairy dust in these key areas:

Website title tags: This is the main indicator to Google that what a parent searched for can be found on your website. Keep it simple. For example, “K-8 Catholic School in Baltimore, MD” is perfect because it will align almost exactly with what a parent would search for.
Meta descriptions: While meta descriptions don’t impact your ranking on Google, they can increase your click-through rates from the search engine by explaining to searches exactly what to expect when they land on your page.
On-page headings: With a keen focus on the H1 and H2 areas, like your title tag, these headings tell Google “This page is about tuition” or “This page is about Christian school differentiators”. Do your best to stay consistent between your title tags, meta description and on-page headings.

2. Focus on speed over bells and whistles

Nobody likes waiting for a slow website to load. If your site takes longer than a few seconds to show up, data suggests you’ve lost a potential visitor. Work with your web developer to optimize image sizes, streamline coding and fix errors. You can check your page load times in Google Analytics or on individual pages in the Developer Tools under Lighthouse. Remember, speed wins races and parent consideration.

3. Mobile-friendly is non-negotiable

It’s 2024: if your site isn’t easy to use on a smartphone, you’re living in the dark ages. Parents should be able to easily browse your site while they’re waiting in the pickup line at school, during halftime at a soccer game or at the dentist’s office. So take a look at your website from a smartphone and fix any oddities you find. And if you want parents to take action from their phones, your forms need to be responsive and brief.

Expand your brand—be where the parents are

When it comes to investing time and budget in your digital strategy, it’s not necessarily about spending more; it’s about spending smarter. Take a look at where parents are actually spending time, and focus your budget accordingly.

The most common ways parents discover schools are:

Google searches: Statistically, this is where most parents begin their journey, so paid and organic search matter here. Organic optimization is a long play and it can take months before you see any real benefit from on-site optimization. Ads can help your school earn a top rank in the searches that matter, but can also come at a (sometimes steep) cost.
Word of mouth: This is often when families end up on your website directly. Word of mouth can cover in-person relationships as well as online reviews and social media. In our 2023 K-12 Parent Survey, 67% of searchers said current parents influenced their enrollment decisions, so these are important groups to nurture!
School search platforms like Niche: Families often end up on school search platforms organically from a Google search for phrases like “best schools near me.” On school search platforms, parents get a more authentic take on the school, so it’s important to keep tabs on your presence on Niche and similar platforms.

Encourage school reviews

Seventy percent of parents said negative feedback from current parents—or difficulty finding reviews—would cause them to remove a school from consideration. While you don’t have the same control over reviews that you have over your website or advertising channels, getting more reviews is easier than you might think.

Sometimes, all you have to do is ask:

Ask highly engaged parents like volunteers to leave honest reviews on platforms like Niche, Google or Facebook. Positive experiences shared by real parents—and students!—carry a lot of weight.
While some people will be glad to write a review of their own volition, other times you’ll have to incentivize it. This is perfectly fine, just make sure that the incentive isn’t so desirable that you get junk reviews. Small things such as a thank you note, stickers, small swag, bumper stickers or other items that fit your brand and culture can go a long way in helping people remember to do something they might’ve done anyway, but didn’t prioritize.

We can’t all be viral TikTok dancers—nor should you try to be, it’s likely off-brand—but that doesn’t mean you should shy away from social media altogether. Own those platforms like the last cookie in the staff lounge. Share stories and event highlights, and celebrate student successes. Be that school that parents have to follow because your posts make them smile, think or share with pride.

It might feel like a daunting task, but you can give yourself a solid start with these three strategies:

1. Prioritize your platforms

In our most recent Parent Survey, we learned that Facebook groups, organic Facebook posts, Instagram and YouTube were the platforms parents used most to research and compare schools. If you’re focused on driving enrollment, you should focus on those channels. Once you’ve mastered those, you can expand from there if you have the bandwidth.

Start by observing which platforms garner the most interaction from your school community. Are current parents tagging your school in proud posts on Instagram? Are students posting videos to TikTok or YouTube Shorts from campus? Prioritize these platforms and curate content that resonates with those audiences. It’s not about being everywhere— it’s about getting the most impact out of where you choose to invest your time.

2. Incorporate video into your marketing mix

Parents don’t have time to sift through a lengthy email to get to the point about why you’re great. What’s better? Video. Use video content in your emails, on your website and across social platforms to present parents with personal stories from staff, peeks into the classroom and relevant updates that feel like a friendly wave from their favorite teacher.

A visual story can pack an emotional punch that no text wall can match. It’s all about creating that personal connection. You’re not just a school to prospective parents—you’re part of their family’s story.

3. Have a parent influencer strategy

This is a double helping of word of mouth. Find those key parent voices who are already trusted within your community, and get them to share their authentic school stories. Consider asking a handful of current parents to engage in local Facebook groups to answer questions about your community and surface red-flag conversations to leadership.

Optimize your emails for maximum parent engagement

Now that we’ve got the basics down with your website and social media, let’s get into something more direct for engaging with prospective parents: email marketing. You don’t just want to send emails—you want to send emails that people want to open, read and act on. Here are three ways you can do just that.

1. Create subject lines that make parents want to learn more

Your email’s subject line is your first impression in the inbox, so take the same level of care you would on a first date or meeting your potential in-laws. Make it count by being concise, engaging and informative. Your first step should be to evaluate the open rates for your existing emails. While open rates aren’t as meaningful as they used to be, comparing open rates in your comm flows will provide direction in terms of which subject lines might be more enticing than others.

As a rule of thumb, avoid generic phrases that could be easily overlooked. Instead, pose a question, tease a solution to a common problem or hint at the valuable information contained within the email. If there isn’t valuable information inside, that should be a flag to revise the email. Phrases like “Susie, discover why parents love Niche Academy” or “Your Personal Guide to Navigating School Choices” can entice opens because they promise value and relevance.

2. Include clear and compelling calls to action (CTAs)

Every email should have a purpose, leading the reader to take a specific action. Think of the call to action (CTA) as the “So what?” or “What next?” moment. Whether it’s to schedule a tour, attend an open house, apply or simply learn more about your programs, make sure your CTA is clear and compelling. Use buttons or links with action-oriented words like “Join Us,” “Discover,” or “Get Started” to guide parents toward the next step in engaging with your school.

3. Use images and videos wisely

We mentioned the impact that video can have earlier, but be mindful of their size and relevance. Too many images or overly large files in an email can slow down loading times, which can lead to frustrated recipients and unopened messages. They also are more likely to be flagged by spam filters and not be responsive on mobile.

Final thoughts

Engaging parents online is kind of like hosting the best open house ever. You’ve got to put up the nice signs (SEO), offer the tastiest snacks (engaging content) and make sure you’re giving out the warmest welcomes (personalization and relevance). Great content that’s hidden is wasted. It’s all about finding those special moments that make parents feel part of your school community—even before they are.

This isn’t about splurging on the flashiest tech toys or buying billboard space on the moon. It’s about connecting where and when it counts. Use your budget to strengthen those bonds with parents, and soon, you’ll see them becoming your biggest fans—both online and off.