Your prospective families want more than fact after fact about your school. They’re looking for personal stories, real experiences, and authentic connections that can help them better understand your school from an insider’s perspective.

In-person events, like tours or open houses, are still great starting points, but they can be limited by timing, busy schedules, or even just the weather. After these admission events, families often have lingering questions or want more details about the school community.

Communication tools help ambassadors fill in the gap by keeping the conversation going, offering families a chance to stay connected, ask follow-up questions, and feel more involved.

Plus, personal recommendations and authentic stories often outweigh traditional marketing efforts nowadays—more than 90% of consumers report that word-of-mouth recommendations from people they know are the leading influence on their purchase behavior.

A successful ambassador program thrives on more than just occasional, one-off interactions. It's the ongoing, consistent communication that builds trust and deeper relationships with prospective families.

Whether it’s a quick message in a chat group or a personalized email newsletter, when your school combines its ambassadors' efforts with modern communication tools, it creates a steady flow of information that helps maintain engagement long after the first touchpoint.

Beyond the Surface-Level Connections

When your school can combine the influence of its ambassadors with the convenience and efficiency of your school’s communication tools, it has the power to create a strong, seamless way to connect with prospective families. 

With communication tools that allow for personal, meaningful interactions that support the voices and experiences of parent ambassadors, you open a whole new method of communicating your value—one that amplifies authentic stories and meaningful connections with families.

Amplifying Authentic Voices

Your ambassador program already thrives on authenticity—real stories from real people who've experienced your school firsthand. Communication tools like email newsletters, chat groups, and two-way messaging can boost these voices even more, making it easier for ambassadors to reach more families more frequently, regardless of time or location.

Keep Reading: Student Ambassadors: What They Do & Why You Need Them

Instead of relying solely on in-person events (what if it rains?) or scheduled phone calls (what if the call goes to voicemail?), ambassadors can quickly respond to inquiries, share their personal stories, and offer advice on a flexible schedule through chat and email campaigns. This means prospective families aren’t left waiting for answers and trust from the start.

For inspiration, check out The Brooks School's parent ambassador page on its website, which highlights its parent ambassadors and provides a form for new parents to connect with an ambassador of their choice. 

Scalable, Personalized Engagement

Automated email workflows, messages, and chats allow ambassadors to have multiple touchpoints with families without overwhelming them. For instance, a parent ambassador can send a personalized email newsletter to hundreds of families at once but still include personal insights that make the communication feel one-on-one.

Wingate has quarterly parent newsletters tailored to help families stay informed about career opportunities, news, upcoming events, and deadlines.

Reducing Barriers to Connect

Parents are busy, and so are ambassadors. Making the most of their efforts means using tools that not only streamline their communication but also amplify their reach. Chat for schools, automated email workflows, and group messaging platforms let ambassadors and prospects choose how and when to connect.

Saving Time with Automated Workflows

Instead of writing and sending individual emails to each prospective family, ambassadors can use automated workflows to distribute their personalized messages. These tools allow ambassadors to create one message that feels personal but reaches a larger audience. Automated tools also help with timing, ensuring emails are sent at optimal times without requiring the ambassador’s constant attention.

Flexible, On-Demand Engagement

Chat apps allow ambassadors to respond to inquiries on their own time, making it easier to balance their volunteer role with their personal schedules. Whether they’re responding to a question during a lunch break or after school hours, the flexibility of these tools helps ambassadors stay engaged without feeling stressed.

Amplifying Reach and Engagement

Chat platforms allow ambassadors to reach multiple families at once without sacrificing the personal touch, too. For example, a parent ambassador can create a group chat for incoming parents interested in a particular program, allowing for collective group discussions while also answering individual questions.

Breaking Language Barriers with Translated Chat Apps

Language barriers are one of the biggest challenges in connecting with non-English-speaking families considering a school. Today, more than 21% of schoolchildren speak a language other than English at home. Still, even the most passionate and knowledgeable parent ambassadors are limited if they can’t speak the same language as the families they’re trying to reach. 

With automatic translation tools built into chat apps, parent ambassadors don’t need to be fluent in every language to make non-English-speaking families feel welcome and included.

When ambassadors can communicate in real time with prospective families, regardless of language, it opens up a new level of engagement and connection: Parents can answer questions, provide insights, and share personal stories with families who might otherwise feel disconnected or unsure about the school.

Peck School introduces its parent ambassadors and provides a short form to connect prospective families with their ambassadors, putting the power in the prospective parents' hands for scheduling calls, texts, chats, or email chains. 

Key Takeaway

Personal stories and authentic connections from ambassadors, such as parents and alumni, play a crucial role in influencing prospective families. By integrating modern communication tools like chat apps and email workflows, your school can amplify these voices, making it easier for ambassadors to engage with more families.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

As the Social Media and Content Specialist, Hailey oversees Finalsite's social media accounts and helps grow its online community. Following her time at the University of Kansas, where she took up rowing, Hailey is a fitness enthusiast who enjoys playing soccer and running.