Phase I: Interest
Introducing potential families to your school
1- Set your target audience for digital ads
- Age: Consider the age range parents of the students in your school would be. For example, if your school starts in Kindergarten, parents will likely be at least 25. And if you only have up to 6th grade, parents won't likely be older than 47.
- Gender: Traditionally, mothers are the primary decision-makers when it comes to selecting a school for their children.
- Location: Families will drive on average about 10 minutes to take their child to school. Setting a geolocation for your digital ads can target families within that 10-minute radius of your school.
2- Invoke emotion in website visitors in the first 90 seconds
New website visitors need a reason to stay on your site: Tell them your story! Use picture and video of actual students engaging in activities that highlight what your school is about. Highlight video testimonials and other promo videos from the homepage.
3- First impressions matter
Your homepage is your introduction to potential new families. Focus on what they can learn without leaving your homepage. Send your website to someone, ideally similar to your target audience, who knows little to nothing about your school and ask them what stood out to them, what they liked, what didn't make sense. Then make it easy to learn more with your menus. Scheduling a tour should be easy and prominent.
Phase II: Enrollment
Getting families to accept their offer and complete registration
1- Check your messaging!
It's important that interested potential families receive accurate, clear information. The myLottery sales funnel will automatically send messages to interested potential families. Send yourself all sales funnel messages yearly to check for accuracy, clarity, and to check links. See what messages (email, SMS) look like on the receiving end. Contact Frogtummy for help with your myLottery sales funnel.
2- Invite new families into the school before back-to-school activities
Make as many connections as possible with new families: the more the better. From the myLottery Dashboard or Applications tab, select groups to send invites to. This can include those enrolled, offered, on the waitlist, and even those who didn't complete an application, depending on the event. It's great to hold New Family Orientation and invite families to that; however, don't leave them out of other events. Consider inviting them to a school carnival, Literacy Night, or any other appropriate school-wide event held towards the end of the school year.
3- Message families during the process at the point you see them dropping off
Using the myLottery Dashboard, look at the number of students offered versus the number accepted. If the percentage of those accepted is low, you'll want to reach out to families another time after they are offered. Or, if the number that accept is okay but the percentage of those that enroll is low, you'll want to reach out after they have accepted. When reaching out to families in these groups, focus on making connections. Do they have questions you can answer? Ask them about their child(ren). Would they like to meet with someone at the school (aka, take a tour)?
4- Remove registration roadblocks
If the percentage of students that enroll is low, look at what roadblocks could be preventing them from completing registration. Is there a language barrier? Are they finding it difficult to turn in registration documents? Do they think the lottery application is the registration? To learn where your potential new families are struggling you may need to call them. Let them know they haven't completed registration and ask them about the process, where they are struggling, and how you can help.
Phase III: Attendance
Getting new students to show up on day 1
1- Focus on creating connections with new families
Inviting new families into your school as many times as you can helps create a connection with them. Encourage all new families to take a tour. Limit how many families can tour at once, to keep it more personal. Have a dedicated staff member give tours and show up to events where new families may be, so they see a familiar face. Consider holding community events and invite potential new families.
2- Continue communication after new students have completed registration
Use myLottery to send messages to new families after they have completed registration. This could include inviting them to events, hyping them up for the new school year, sending the school calendar, information on uniforms, back-to-school information, highlights of special programs available to their student. The key is to stay in contact but not to overwhelm. Sending emails to these families once or twice a month is great. Send a text if the information is time-sensitive, like an event invite. Be careful not to over-text your families.
Phase I: Interest
Introducing potential families to your school
1- Set your target audience for digital ads
- Age: Consider the age range parents of the students in your school would be. For example, if your school starts in Kindergarten, parents will likely be at least 25. And if you only have up to 6th grade, parents won't likely be older than 47.
- Gender: Traditionally, mothers are the primary decision-makers when it comes to selecting a school for their children.
- Location: Families will drive on average about 10 minutes to take their child to school. Setting a geolocation for your digital ads can target families within that 10-minute radius of your school.
2- Invoke emotion in website visitors in the first 90 seconds
New website visitors need a reason to stay on your site: Tell them your story! Use picture and video of actual students engaging in activities that highlight what your school is about. Highlight video testimonials and other promo videos from the homepage.
3- First impressions matter
Your homepage is your introduction to potential new families. Focus on what they can learn without leaving your homepage. Send your website to someone, ideally similar to your target audience, who knows little to nothing about your school and ask them what stood out to them, what they liked, what didn't make sense. Then make it easy to learn more with your menus. Scheduling a tour should be easy and prominent.
Phase II: Enrollment
Getting families to accept their offer and complete registration
1- Check your messaging!
It's important that interested potential families receive accurate, clear information. The myLottery sales funnel will automatically send messages to interested potential families. Send yourself all sales funnel messages yearly to check for accuracy, clarity, and to check links. See what messages (email, SMS) look like on the receiving end. Contact Frogtummy for help with your myLottery sales funnel.
2- Invite new families into the school before back-to-school activities
Make as many connections as possible with new families: the more the better. From the myLottery Dashboard or Applications tab, select groups to send invites to. This can include those enrolled, offered, on the waitlist, and even those who didn't complete an application, depending on the event. It's great to hold New Family Orientation and invite families to that; however, don't leave them out of other events. Consider inviting them to a school carnival, Literacy Night, or any other appropriate school-wide event held towards the end of the school year.
3- Message families during the process at the point you see them dropping off
Using the myLottery Dashboard, look at the number of students offered versus the number accepted. If the percentage of those accepted is low, you'll want to reach out to families another time after they are offered. Or, if the number that accept is okay but the percentage of those that enroll is low, you'll want to reach out after they have accepted. When reaching out to families in these groups, focus on making connections. Do they have questions you can answer? Ask them about their child(ren). Would they like to meet with someone at the school (aka, take a tour)?
4- Remove registration roadblocks
If the percentage of students that enroll is low, look at what roadblocks could be preventing them from completing registration. Is there a language barrier? Are they finding it difficult to turn in registration documents? Do they think the lottery application is the registration? To learn where your potential new families are struggling you may need to call them. Let them know they haven't completed registration and ask them about the process, where they are struggling, and how you can help.
Phase III: Attendance
Getting new students to show up on day 1
1- Focus on creating connections with new families
Inviting new families into your school as many times as you can helps create a connection with them. Encourage all new families to take a tour. Limit how many families can tour at once, to keep it more personal. Have a dedicated staff member give tours and show up to events where new families may be, so they see a familiar face. Consider holding community events and invite potential new families.
2- Continue communication after new students have completed registration
Use myLottery to send messages to new families after they have completed registration. This could include inviting them to events, hyping them up for the new school year, sending the school calendar, information on uniforms, back-to-school information, highlights of special programs available to their student. The key is to stay in contact but not to overwhelm. Sending emails to these families once or twice a month is great. Send a text if the information is time-sensitive, like an event invite. Be careful not to over-text your families.
Watch Recording
56:25 length
