Communicating and Marketing Your School’s Opening Plan

It’s hard to believe that it is already July. In just a few shorts weeks, schools will begin to re-open next month for the 2020-21 school year.

Never before in our lifetime have we experienced so much uncertainty over a new school year as a result of COVID-19. It would have been advantageous to have a manual on how to deal with the crisis of a pandemic. Unfortunately, we have to create it as we go through it.

As you work to finalize your plans for re-opening, it is critical that you clearly communicate with your current and prospective parents.

Your decisions, your plans, and when you choose to communicate could have an impact on enrollment—either positively or negatively.

Do you have a re-opening plan in place?

Many schools have had a task force in place working on their re-opening plan for several weeks and months. While you still may not know every detail about what your school re-opening will look like, it is critical to have a plan with options in place.

Several schools that I have had the opportunity to partner with through my Enrollment Catalyst Program in the past few years have been on the leading edge of communicating their plans.

The Village School of Naples – Check out the TVS Re-entry Plan and Standard of Care.

The First Academy, Orlando – Check out the Royal Re-opening Portal and the Steps to Success, Volume 1.

In addition, Finalsite has several examples of school communication re-opening plans in their COVID-19 resource section.

I believe that you have the opportunity to use this timeframe to reach your current parents. Time is of the essence as parents are looking to their current school to communicate confidence in their re-opening plan. Even if you don’t know for sure how everything will work, you must communicate your plan and the options that may be implemented.

A back-to-school campaign to reach current and prospective parents

This is also a golden opportunity to reach prospective parents as well as those that were dissatisfied with the pivot to distance learning in their child’s school. This is a specific pain point that leads parents in their search and you must take advantage of this concern in your marketing strategy. Again, the timing is critical as you work to capitalize on their concerns as they search for a new school over the next several weeks.

North Star Marketing has created a turnkey solution for your back-to-school campaign. Knowing that it is critical for you to communicate to your current parents and to market to prospective parents your plans for the upcoming school year in light of COVID-19, this comprehensive program can make a difference for you in your school’s marketing effort.

This complete package will provide you with the right marketing tools as well as a social media ad campaign that will reach your audience. This campaign includes a customizable back-to-school guide that is the key piece to your communication. In order to maximize the guide, a set of social media ads, a landing page, website banner, and flier have been created. North Star Marketing can manage your social media campaign and leverage your back-to-school plans.

Take the next step to learn more about how this back-to-school campaign can be implemented at your school.

 

 

 

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