InspirED School Marketers' 2022 Private School Marcom Survey Report was just published and the results are in! 



More than 250 respondents answered nearly 80 questions about their school’s marketing departments, budgets, staffing and salaries, initiatives, and challenges, offering key insights into the state of independent school marketing and providing a glimpse of what the future may bring.

InspirED School Marketers' survey has tracked some of the biggest trends in private school marketing since 2017, and with the goal of helping private school marketing professionals benchmark their efforts, it’s enlightening to see how schools are performing, where their efforts are focused, and how their resources are allocated.

Download the full 2022 Private School Marcom Survey Report > 

The latest 50+ page report is no different, and furthermore, the last survey hit inboxes just as the pandemic was unfolding in 2020, so it’s interesting to see how the world of school marketing and communications has evolved over the last two years.

So what’s changed, what’s stayed the same, and what are the biggest surprises? 

Let’s take a look!

School marketing offices

While the survey focused on marketing/communication (marcom) offices and their responsibilities, admission teams also provided their input — considering the overlap of goals and initiatives and the need for more collaboration between the offices, it was encouraging to see more representation from admission and enrollment professionals.

For marcom folks, forty percent of respondents have been in their current position for 3+ years, while 30 percent of participants have worked in the field of academic marketing for a total of 6-10 years. Almost three-quarters report directly to the head of school — that’s a continued trend as schools prefer to fill roles with experienced professionals from academia. 

Respondents rated themselves highest in written and verbal communication while noting improvement is needed in the areas of search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Most felt confident in their web content strategy, ranking themselves as either “very qualified” or “qualified.”

But what’s this?! Twenty-one percent of respondents said their school does not have an official marketing and communication office, which is a surprisingly high number given the importance of their roles. That number is down from 31 percent two years ago. And only 35 percent reported regularly being present at board meetings, which is equally surprising considering the importance of admissions and marketing initiatives during the pandemic. Without direct input from marketing teams, many school leaders may fail to grasp their influence on major school initiatives and marketing strategies.

On a positive note, it would seem that marcom offices are being staffed at levels closer to their counterparts in the admission and advancement offices, which have continued to benefit from having multiple members for years. That improvement hopefully lessens the burden carried by marcom directors and opens the door for those leaders to do more strategic planning.

Marcom initiatives

A modern and responsive school’s website design is still regarded as the critical component of a school’s marketing and communication structure, supported by the fact that 85 percent of respondents had websites less than five years old, with 35 percent reporting their site had been redesigned in the last two years. Finalsite leads those providers, representing more than a third of the respondents’ platforms.

It would seem the pandemic influenced schools’ decisions to offer a virtual tour of their school, with 65 percent of schools now offering another way for families to experience their campus. 

Enrollment marketing

One surprising takeaway is that only half of responding schools felt they tracked enrollment marketing results “well” or “very well,” leaving the other half feeling as though they underperform. It begs the question: What major progress is expected to occur if schools cannot successfully track their efforts and gain a better understanding of what’s working — and what's not?  

Schools were not asked what enrollment management system or methods they used to properly track and review candidates throughout their enrollment journey. Whether schools can’t correctly source or aggregate the data or they don’t know what data points to measure, it says a lot about a school’s ability to measure its enrollment marketing initiatives. InspirED’s report said it best: ”When you consider the amount of time, effort, and money that goes into enrollment marketing, tracking the results of the collective efforts should be job #1.”

When asked about the most effective digital efforts toward enrollment marketing, a school’s website was rated the most highly effective. It’s not surprising, considering that all roads lead back to your website — a school’s PPC and social ads, social presence, and inbound marketing strategy will need a website to support its efforts, or risk losing families at a critical crossroads.

Instagram and Facebook proved the most effective as far as social media channels used in enrollment marketing, while overall the top six enrollment marketing efforts that were considered “highly effective” or “somewhat effective” were the same as they were in 2020, 2018, and 2017. Those efforts include:

• Word of mouth
• Parent direct referrals
• Admissions tours
• Website
• Facebook
• Open houses/open days

School branding

More than half of the respondents have undergone formal brand development within the last seven years. With regard to school branding efforts, 84 percent of responding schools have a style guide, but nearly a third (31%) acknowledged they could be doing a better job, or are following the guide poorly. When it comes to following the style guide, faculty could improve their efforts, but two offices of particular importance were the usual culprits: the school bookstore and the athletic departments.

Offering an online school store with a cohesive visual identity for official school merchandise, swag, and other branded elements for the school community is essential when implementing a consistent brand strategy and message.

Retention strategies

When asked if schools have a formal retention strategy or program in place, 55 percent answered “yes” with 50 percent of those efforts led by a director of admissions/enrollment management. Compared to 2020, that’s a promising 14 percent increase when only 36 percent of respondents had a formal strategy. 

With retention being such an integral part of your school's enrollment strategy, it’s encouraging to see that number has risen and will hopefully continue to grow. Re-marketing and targeting existing families with constant, yet subtle reminders of why they chose your school and why they should keep choosing your school seems to be gaining the attention it deserves.

Key takeaway

InspirED’s survey is a welcomed, high-level look at the trends driving private schools’ strategies in marketing and communicating with their communities. For a more detailed look into highlights from enrollment, development, alumni relations, communications, and more, download InspirED School Marketers' 2022 Private School Marcom Survey Report and see what trends are comparable to your school’s efforts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Connor has spent the last decade within the field of marketing and communications, working with independent schools and colleges throughout New England. As Finalsite’s Senior Content Marketing Manager, Connor plans and executes marketing strategies and digital content across the web. A former photojournalist, he has a passion for digital media, storytelling, coffee, and creating content that connects.