A school marketing plan sets a goal in open seats, works out how many inquiries and tours that takes, chooses the channels that reach those families, and puts it all on a 12-month calendar with a budget. Keep it to two pages. Use the template below, fill it in with last year's numbers, and read the results every week.
Key takeaways
- State the goal in seats by grade or program, and count back to the inquiries you need.
- Use your own conversion rates, because no public benchmark fits every school.
- Fix your weakest funnel stage before you add ad spend.
- Plan re-enrollment first, since every family who stays is a seat you don't have to fill.
- Report one number to your board: cost per enrolled student, by source.
The template
Copy these seven sections into a document and fill them in.
| Section | What to write | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Goal | Open seats by grade or program, and the date they need to fill | 20 new students in K-8 by August 15 |
| 2. Funnel | Last year's inquiries, tours, applications and enrollments | 110 inquiries, 36 tours, 20 applications, 14 enrolled |
| 3. Families | Who you want and what they care about | Dual-income families within 20 minutes, worried about class size |
| 4. Message | One reason to choose you, in their words, with proof | "Your child is known by name," with two parent stories |
| 5. Channels | Where you will reach them, and why | Google search, Meta, parent referrals, open houses |
| 6. Calendar | What happens each month, and who owns it | See the 12-month example below |
| 7. Budget and report | What you will spend, and the numbers you will read weekly | $18,000 a year, reported by channel |
Turn the goal into a number of inquiries
Divide your seat goal by your own rates, working backward. These figures are invented to show the math:
- Goal: 20 new students
- Tour to enrollment: 40%, so you need 50 tours
- Inquiry to tour: 33%, so you need about 150 inquiries
- Current inquiries: 110 a year, so you are 40 short
Now you have choices. You could buy 40 more inquiries, or lift inquiry to tour from 33% to 45% with faster replies and on-page booking, which reaches the same 50 tours from the inquiries you already get. The second option is often the cheaper one, so test it first.
Set the budget from what an enrollment is worth
Start with what you can afford to pay to enroll one student. Tuition, how long families stay and your margin set that number, so it differs for every school. Multiply by your open seats, and that total needs to cover ads, agency or staff time, creative and tools.
If you don't yet know your cost per enrollment, spend a smaller test budget for one season and measure it. The cost per enrollment guide shows how, and this guide to agency costs helps if you are pricing outside help.
A 12-month example
This calendar suits a school with a fall start and an enrollment push in winter and spring. Shift the months to match your own deadlines.
| Month | Focus | Main work |
|---|---|---|
| September | Review | Count last season's funnel by source, and write this plan |
| October | Foundations | Fix your website, Google profile and reply process, and ask new families for reviews |
| November | Awareness | Start search ads and publish pages for your top programs |
| December | Re-enrollment prep | Check in with current families and identify who may leave |
| January | Open houses | Promote open houses and tours, and open re-enrollment |
| February | Applications | Run deadline reminders and application help |
| March | Decisions | Follow up after tours, and send acceptance and contract reminders |
| April | Yield | Run personal outreach to accepted families who haven't signed |
| May | Fill gaps | Aim ads at grades with open seats, and open a waitlist where you are full |
| June | Referrals | Ask happy families for referrals and reviews |
| July | Late enrollments | Reach families who moved or changed plans, and reply quickly |
| August | Start strong | Welcome new families, and collect stories for next year |
For a deeper private school version, see the 12-month plan in our private school strategies guide. Charter schools can build theirs backward from the lottery with the charter school marketing guide.
The one-page report
Your board and your team need the same short report. Track these weekly in season and monthly otherwise:
| Number | How to calculate it | What a slip tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Inquiries by source | Count from your CRM or tracking sheet | A channel has weakened |
| Inquiry to tour | Tours ÷ inquiries | Replies are slow, or booking is hard |
| Tour to enrollment | Enrollments ÷ tours | The tour or the follow-up needs work |
| Cost per enrollment | Total spend ÷ enrollments | The number that decides next month's budget |
| Re-enrollment rate | Returning students ÷ eligible students | Current families need attention |
Related guides: what is enrollment marketing, school marketing ideas and how to increase school enrollment.
How we fix this for schools
Working with Bloom Enrollment starts with the same exercise: a map of each step from the first ad to the enrolled family, with a dollar value on each leak. You then get a plan with dates and owners, campaigns judged on enrollments, and reporting your admissions and marketing teams can both read.
KLA Schools, a national preschool network, moved to this kind of plan with audited vendors, restructured Google and Meta campaigns and parent-focused messaging. Lead flow rose 38% year over year, and spend scaled to $20k+ a month while cost per lead fell 20%. The KLA Schools case study has the steps.
Start with your seat goal and last year's counts. If you'd like a second set of eyes on the plan, request a 30-minute enrollment review.
