Enrollment and Marketing Strategies for Schools – A Year in Review

One year ago, we had no idea that in just a few months, our world would be affected by a pandemic.

And now, as we begin 2021, we are glad to see 2020 come to an end. Hopefully, 2021 will be a much better year.

It’s hard to believe that just over 10 years ago, I launched Enrollment Catalyst. My goal has been to partner with leaders to help them grow their school’s enrollment. I have always been focused on school growth.

While all of us had to pivot in our strategies last year, I continued to help school leaders adjust and adapt through my enrollment and marketing coaching. 2020 forced me to adjust my own strategies as I actually offered more options to school leaders than I had in the past. The pandemic hasn’t slowed me down. In fact, many schools that I have partnered with have experienced enrollment growth. The following are some key stats and resources from 2020:

59 School Clients – I worked with 59 schools in 2020 through a variety of projects including my Enrollment Catalyst Program (either on-site or virtual) and survey solutions. In the last few months, I have traveled to conduct two-day site visits at seven schools in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas and Utah. I have worked with schools with an enrollment as small as 30 students to as large as 2,000. I am pictured with the Seacrest Country Day School leadership team (Naples, FL) during my last site visit of 2020 in December.

9 Virtual School Clients – For the first time, I offered my Enrollment Catalyst Program virtually for schools. Through a series of virtual assessment meetings or pre-recorded training videos, I provided recommendations and ongoing coaching for school leaders. (I am pictured with the leadership team from Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy in McDonough, GA, as we began our virtual assessment meetings in April).

School Survey Solutions – For many years, I have conducted surveys for schools. In 2020, I packaged five surveys together in my School Survey Solutions program. These surveys include a New Parent Survey, Net Promoter Score Survey, Parent Satisfaction Survey, Employee Satisfaction Survey and Exit Survey for Non-Returning Parents. School leaders can purchase any or all of the surveys.

School Ambassador Program – In 2020, I launched my new comprehensive School Ambassador Program as a stand-alone training solution for leaders. Through this program, I show you how to effectively inspire your ambassadors to tell their story and to reach their friends in the community. This is the same coaching that I provide school leaders through my Enrollment Catalyst Program.

20 Facebook Live Shows – In April, I launched my Live Show on my Enrollment Catalyst Facebook page. You can check out the recordings of these shows on my YouTube Channel. In my interview style format, I discussed enrollment and marketing strategies with school leaders from around the world. Some of my most popular shows included:

• 12 Growth Mindsets for the Enrollment Crisis
• Interview with the Portsmouth Christian Academy Team
• Interview with the Ben Lippen School Team
• Admissions, Ambassadors & Word of Mouth
• Marketing to Millennials

Blog Posts – I continued to provide relevant insight and examples through my blog. Some of my most popular articles from 2020 include, which are all relevant for 2021:

• 5 Steps to Launch Your School’s Virtual Admissions Open House
• Creating your School’s Facebook Live Show in 6 Steps
• Creating Your School’s Virtual Admissions Center
• Inbound Marketing: Are You All In?
• 6 Lessons from the Car Wash
• New Family Retention Strategies to Begin Now
• 5 Key Roles for Private School Admissions

E-Book – I also launched my new e-book, 9 Drivers of Word of Mouth at Your School. By understanding these nine drivers, you will know how to better increase word of mouth in your community.

Podcast – Rob Norman, from InspirED School Marketers, interviewed me in one of his podcasts. According to his recent Daily Jolt email, my podcast was in the top five of downloaded Sparkcast recordings from this past year. You can listen to and download this Podcast on “How you can build positive word of mouth for your private school.”

Conference and Webinars – I continued to provide workshops at conferences and webinars including the AISAP Summer Institute, University Model Schools International, Regional ACSI Conferences and the Brotherhood Mutual Christian School Finance Summit. I also offered several webinars with the team from North Star Marketing.

As we move into 2021, I will continue to provide resources, advice, and coaching for school leaders like you. Please reach out to me directly, if there is anything I can help you with this year: Rick.Newberry@EnrollmentCatalyst.com.

And, If your school’s enrollment and marketing strategies need a jolt this year, let me know how I can help you.