8 Compelling Reasons to Continue Marketing When Your School is Thriving

In the fast-paced world of school life, it’s a common misconception that once enrollment is full, there’s less need for ongoing marketing efforts. However, the reality is quite the opposite.

Recently, some school leaders in which I have coached and connected with, mentioned that they have backed off from their marketing efforts. For example, read the following paraphrased comment:

“We have more than enough inquiries and applications to fill our empty seats. Because of this, we aren’t going to invest in marketing, open houses, online lead generation, and other strategies. We don’t need to. And besides, its hard to let people down when we can’t offer their child a seat”

Continuing marketing efforts, even during times of exponential growth, is pivotal for sustaining and elevating the success of your school. Just because your enrollment is full this year does not mean that this trend will continue next year. There are no guarantees.

It is critical for your school to stay on top of your game and to maintain your position of strength. There are many external and internal environmental factors that could affect your school’s enrollment, including a recession, another pandemic, a world war, a poor hire, a scandal, and some other scenario. We don’t know what’s coming down the road, so we must be prepared and proactive.

Here are eight compelling reasons why you should keep marketing, even when school is full (as well as if your school isn’t full):

1—Maintain Brand Presence and Recognition

A consistent marketing strategy ensures that your school’s brand remains visible and top-of-mind among your target parent audience. Maintaining this presence prevents your school’s brand from fading  or being overshadowed by competitors. Keep in mind, that you must recruit new families to your school every year.

2—Foster Brand Loyalty and Retention

Ongoing marketing efforts reinforce your school’s brand values and identity. By engaging with your existing parent and alumni base, you nurture loyalty and retention, keeping them connected and committed to your brand. This also helps to generate new brand loyalty from prospective parents who become tuition payers.

3—Stay Competitive and Relevant

School markets evolve, and so do parent preferences. Continuous marketing helps you adapt, ensuring that your educational experience remains relevant and competitive in an ever-changing landscape. Consistent marketing helps your school stay on top in your market.

4—Adapt to Shifting Parent Needs

Parent needs and preferences change over time. Regular marketing efforts enable you to stay in tune with these changes, helping you adapt your offerings to better meet your parent’s evolving needs. If you decrease or stop marketing, you lose out on the opportunity to best understand the parents you are trying to reach.

5—Sustain Momentum and Avoid Stagnation

A hiatus in marketing can lead to a loss of momentum for your school, potentially resulting in stagnation or decline. Continuous marketing efforts maintain a steady pace of growth and a position of strength in your community.

6—Embrace Marketing Advancements

The digital landscape is ever-changing. Just think of how school marketing changed with social media and Google! By having a continual marketing effort, this will allow you to adapt and leverage new technologies and platforms to engage with your prospective audience more effectively.

7—Prevent Loss of Market Share

Even a momentary pause in marketing can result in a loss of your school’s market share. Consistent engagement helps to prevent competitors from taking advantage of your absence, ensuring that you maintain your place in the market.

8—Proactive Annual Focus

This is the most important reason to continue marketing. Your school’s enrollment needs follow an annual cycle. Every year you must bring in a new group of new students to replace your graduates, as well as to offset any attrition. You must be proactive and intentional in your marketing every year to accomplish this goal.

Continual marketing efforts are the lifeblood of maintaining and furthering the success of your school. Don’t let the wave of increased or full enrollment trap you into thinking that it will always be this way. Things could change. In fact they will. Don’t take your foot off the gas.

Remember, don’t stop doing what you did to get your school here.

Marketing from a position of strength is always better.

Never stop marketing.