Quick takeaway: Grow enrollment by expanding your audience, improving parent experience, strengthening social + email marketing, and automating operations with a modern school management system.
You’ve meticulously planned every little detail. You’ve done the hard work and finally opened the doors to your school.
You’re doing well, but there is certainly room for improvement, and you might find yourself wondering how you can make your school grow.
While running a school can be profitable when done right, many schools struggle with a low number of admissions.
It may feel like you’ve got everything in place, but some crucial aspects of how to make a school grow are often neglected.
Now is the perfect time to consider: What is my school missing out on?
Tip #1: Expand your audience
Before growing your school and expanding your audience, you need to know exactly who your current target market is.
Take a minute to analyze what you know about the current student population you serve.
You can get started by asking yourself:
- How old are my students?
- Why have they enrolled in my school?
- What makes my school attractive to them?
Without the answers to these questions, you won’t be able to grow your audience or find ways to make your school stand out from the rest.
The next step is to figure out exactly what target audience you are aiming to reach. Who are the students you want to teach? How do you deliver your message to their parents?
From there, you can start to define the audiences you could work with to grow the number of students enrolled at your school.
Zero in on reporting
To analyze your audience so that you can make more informed decisions about reaching new students, you need to be able to collect and use data to your advantage.
Using smart school management software like Teach ’n Go gives you access to powerful reports on your current students.
With robust reporting features, you can track enrollments and spot trends that give you further insight.
New programs
You can design new programs that cater to different age groups than your current students.
For example, if your existing student body comprises mainly young children, you could consider designing after-hours learning programs for adults.
Varying backgrounds
Age groups aren’t the only thing you can diversify when it comes to growing your school’s reach.
Consider trying to attract students from different cultural backgrounds (for example, offering language learning services to foreign students in your area).
Tip #2: Improve your customer service
When it comes to running a private school — and especially when you’re working towards growing one — maintaining world-class customer service is crucial.
Ensuring that you create an outstanding experience for current or prospective students and their parents will help improve your school’s reputation and referrals.
Have a plan
It’s critical that you have a reliable customer service system and plan in place to better serve students and parents.
Your plan should also include your turnaround time for responding to queries — which should always be as soon as possible.
Maintaining relationships
Having a plan in place is the first step. The second is to nurture your existing relationships with students and parents and foster new relationships with potential families.
Ultimately, good customer service establishes your school as a trusted platform that cares about students’ needs.
Tip #3: Broaden your social media strategy
If your school isn’t present on social media, you’re missing out on a powerful way to market your business.
When leveraged correctly, social media can play a pivotal role in increasing enrollment by boosting brand awareness and building trust.
Develop a social media marketing strategy
Your strategy should be informed by research into where your ideal audience is online and should include:
- Who you want to reach
- What and how regularly you want to post
- How you will handle queries, concerns, and complaints
- How you will provide value to your followers
Facebook advertising
You can run Facebook and Instagram ads during critical times throughout the year, especially when admissions are open.
Elevate your content
Publish consistent, high-quality content and repurpose relevant long-form assets into bite-sized social posts.
Tip #4: Build a portfolio of powerful testimonials
Testimonials are a quick and effective way to convince prospective parents and students that your programs are what they’re looking for.
Collect testimonials from current students and families and publish them on your website and social channels.
Tip #5: Automate your processes
Automating processes can make the world of difference when it comes to growing your school and reaching your full potential.
Using a reliable school management system, you can automate pricing, invoicing, online payments, and communications — reducing human error and saving time.
Tip #6: Determine your unique value proposition
If parents have several schools to choose from, your marketing needs to communicate why your school is the right choice.
What is a unique value proposition (UVP)?
Your UVP outlines what makes your school different. Examples include:
- Competitive fees
- Smart classrooms
- Private tutoring
- Smaller group sizes
- World-class facilities
How to develop a unique value proposition
Speak to parents and students you currently serve. Learn what stood out to them, then turn those insights into testimonials, case studies, and marketing messages.
Tip #7: Improve communication with existing parents
Nurture your brand ambassadors
Parents are more likely to recommend your school when they feel valued. Word of mouth remains one of the strongest channels for growth.
Use technology for communication
Use tools that let you communicate quickly and consistently — like SMS and email broadcasts — so parents always feel informed.
Tip #8: Nurture your current customer base
Prospective families need to see your school regularly across different touchpoints. Lead nurturing is reaching out at the right time, with the right message, on the right platform.
With a system like Teach ’n Go, lead nurturing can be done via automated communications and scheduled follow-ups.
Tip #9: Utilize email marketing
Nurturing new leads
Email is effective for both current families and new audiences. Use it to share testimonials, your UVP, and helpful content.
Getting email marketing right
Some tips include:
- Write subject lines that create interest
- Use preview text to increase opens
- Apply consistent branding
- Include clear CTAs
Tip #10: Pay attention to your school website
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization helps your website appear earlier in search results when families look for schools online.
Tips for school websites
- Add clear CTAs
- Make your UVP obvious near the top
- Include testimonials
- Keep navigation simple and pages fast
- Make contact details visible immediately
You can also use platforms like WordPress or Wix if you’re building it yourself.
Time to grow
Whether your school is performing well or could improve its student enrollment, we hope these steps help you grow effectively.
Growing your school and increasing student enrollment has never been easier than with Teach ’n Go.
Teach ’n Go supports many school types, including:
