Your school newsletter offers past, present, and prospective parents—all subscribers, in fact—a chance to be part of the day-to-day school life, even though they’re not in the classrooms on a daily basis. Each segment of your potential audience values your newsletter in a different way. By knowing your audience’s various interests, you can leverage your newsletter to your school’s greatest advantage.
Prospective Parents
Why important: Newsletters give prospective parents a relatively unscripted glimpse into the daily life of the school, showing them what it would be like if their children were enrolled. The newsletter can also be a tangible demonstration of the school’s values at work through various articles and featured content.
Targeted content: Current class features, student and teacher showcases (awards, art, stories, etc.), column from the School Head, external articles featuring the school
Current Parents
Why important: Regular newsletters are a wellspring of vital information for parents of currently enrolled students. By including pertinent information for upcoming events or contact information for relevant staff members, parents start turning to newsletters as their immediate go-to resource if they have questions. With one publication, you simultaneously generate an audience eager for re-enrollment messaging and create a repository of easily accessible, important information!
Targeted content: Timelines with important dates (e.g., re-enrollment contract fees and field trip permission slips), featured staff columns with contact information, volunteer opportunities, external articles featuring the school
Past Parents
Why important: While the parents of graduated students—and the alumni themselves—are no longer intimately involved with the daily activities of your school, they are still important members of your school community. They encourage new families to apply and make donations in memory of the experiences they had. The newsletter is an unobtrusive way to keep the lines of communication open and your school in the forefront of memory.
Targeted content: Development opportunities (e.g., auctions, ticketed dinners, and golf tournaments), current class features, external articles featuring the school
If your retention and recruitment efforts need a kick-start, take the booster workshop Marketing for Admission to supplement your coursework in Admission 101 or 201 during the Summer Institute workshop series. You'll gain marketing techniques and tools that will give your school a high impact, low cost advantage. Sign up today before Early Bird pricing expires!
Additional ISM resources:
ISM Monthly Update for Admission Officers Vol. 10 No. 1 Crafting Your School's Newsletter
ISM Monthly Update for Admission Officers Vol. 13 No. 6 Re-enrollment Communication 101
ISM Monthly Update for Admission Officers Vol. 12 No. 7 “Welcome!" Now What?—What You Send to Accepted Students
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 39 No. 13 Capitalizing on Word-of-Mouth Marketing
I&P Vol. 25 No. 15 Defining Your School's 'Competitive Advantage'
I&P Vol. 27 No. 11 Cyber News: Designing Your Online Newsletter
