On-Demand Report

Strategies for K-12 Student Recruitment, Retention, and Reclamation

Exploring how districts use data to inform marketing strategies and respond to shifting enrollment trends

This report explores how profiled districts use marketing strategies to recruit, retain, and reclaim students. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment trends have become increasingly important for public schools. Specifically, as students and families take advantage of other enrollment options, schools must use a variety of marketing strategies to address families' needs and concerns.

Data illustrating a district's enrollment trends serve as the foundation of profiled districts' marketing strategies. Once data has been identified and analyzed, districts design marketing strategies based on data and their specific recruitment, retention, and reclamation needs. This report examines the marketing strategies of five profiled districts. Download the full report, or read the executive summary below.

Use data collection and analysis to identify the causes behind student enrollment trends

Profiled districts collect data from a variety of sources to gain insights into the enrollment decisions of current, former, and prospective students. Districts collect data from these sources using a variety of methods such as disseminating engagement surveys and purchasing market share data.

Collecting and analyzing this data allows profiled districts to not only identify the major influences on their enrollment trends, but also create appropriate responses with their marketing. To collect data from already enrolled students, District E administers both engagement and social-emotional learning surveys.

These surveys collect information on student engagement and inform the district's retention efforts and marketing. District A also uses surveys along with purchasing market share data on prospective students from marketing agencies.

Design district marketing and branding to effectively respond to specific enrollment trends and their causes

When preparing marketing strategies, districts should decide how the district will present marketing materials and branding. Specifically, districts must base their marketing and branding materials and strategies on the trends identified in data. Designing branding and marketing based on data trends requires districts to decide if their marketing will frame the district as a service providing information, or a business selling a product.

District B embodies the service-based approach as the district presents itself as an educational service with strong academic standards to offer. On the other hand, District C has transitioned its marketing to a customer service-based model. In this model, the district explicitly views itself as a product and its stakeholders as customers. These districts' strategies vary because of their specific enrollment circumstances.

Filter enrollment trend variables and identify the most relevant trends to address through marketing

The causes behind district enrollment trends vary and reflect local and national issues. Districts lack the capacity to address all these issues. Therefore, they must decide what issues are too large for the district to solve, and redirect resources to other issues.

For example, District A identified political debates as an issue affecting how stakeholders viewed curriculum and, by extension, enrollment. The district recognized it could not directly address this political debate, so instead focused its marketing efforts on issues in its locus of control such as providing more transparency regarding district decision-making. District C made a similar decision as the district based its marketing on the acknowledgment it would be unable to directly compete with the marketing budgets of private schools.

Employ multiple methods of marketing and branding to reach as many current, prospective, and former students as possible

Districts must employ multiple marketing methods as a part of their overall marketing strategy. Marketing methods should include not only mass media strategies designed at the district level but also local-level community marketing, personalized for stakeholders.

District C combines district-wide community marketing with personalized messaging sent to specific families within the district. District E similarly utilizes both district-wide social media marketing and personalized branding and marketing for each school in the district.

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