5 Things You Can Do To Transform Your Montessori Marketing Strategy

A digital marketing strategy can help your Montessori school grow enrollment and reach the right prospective families...
but where do you start?

Having a digital marketing strategy is essential nowadays. Regardless of what business you are running, consumers spend a lot of time connected to their mobile devices, computers, or tablets. If you want to reach them, you have to have a game plan in place.

Whether you are just starting out on your Montessori Marketing journey, or you are just looking for new creative digital marketing approaches, there are five things you can start implementing now if you want to transform your digital marketing strategy! 

1: Have A Great School Website

If you only have the bandwidth to do one thing on this list... it should definitely be this one! Having an excellent school website is ESSENTIAL. Your school website is your most powerful digital marketing tool. You own it, you can create a seamless user experience, and you can educate prospective families on your mission, community, and the unique benefits of Montessori. 

If you have an outdated school website, you run the risk of leaving prospective families and website visitors with a poor first impression. You are also missing out on time-saving automations that will make your overall school operations much easier. Your school website should be an informative and frictionless experience for all visitors.

Investing in your school website is the most important piece of your digital marketing strategy. Think of it like a foundation of a house, if it's not strong, the whole house could lose its integrity. It's important to focus on improving your school website before you consider running digital ads, otherwise you risk losing conversions and not getting a good return on your investment. So, what makes a good school website? 

A great website should have:

• Beautiful pictures and graphics
• An easy to navigate design (across devices!)
• Purposeful content that informs families
• Opportunities for interaction and engagement (calls to action, tour scheduling, and lead generators)
• Logical organization
• ADA compliance options
• Fast loading times
• An updated school blog
• Testimonials
• Automations!

If you need some inspiration for your Montessori school website, we've got you covered. You can watch our YouTube video on our ideal School website. You can also visit our sample site here! 

2: Provide Relevant Content

When it comes to Marketing In the Montessori space, creating compelling content is essential. This is because in order to sell Montessori, we need prospective parents to understand the unique benefits we have to offer. We need to guide... luckily, we are already good at that!

We don’t have the same luxury that more traditional forms of education have in relying on people’s expectations. In fact, we often have to help parents new to the Montessori method unlearn what they think they know before we can even begin truly articulating the value of Montessori. We have to smash misconceptions and show them what Montessori is and why we feel that it's a great option for their family. 

You can provide informative content throughout your digital marketing strategy! The best part is, once you create content, you can repurpose it again and again and the benefits will continue to come your way. Here are a few steps you can take in order to up your content strategy and nurture, inspire, and encourage future Montessori families:

1. Produce informative blogs: If you don't already have a school blog, start one! This is an effective and accessible way for prospective families to learn about Montessori directly from you, build trust in your school, and understand the benefits of Montessori. 
2. Post on your socials: These are free platforms where you can connect with your community, show off the work that you do, and educate families on Montessori. 
3. Have relevant content directly on your website: Your website should have content that helps families understand more about Montessori. Hold their hand as they explore your school website, learn about your mission and philosophy, and get some insight into your programs. 
4. Share videos: If you have the time, resources, and capacity, videos can be an engaging way to get valuable content out there. Include some videos on your school website or on ad copy. 
5. Email nurtures: Email marketing can be super effective in the Montessori space. You can send a series of emails to families who have shown interest in your school and need that final nudge to convince them to come in for a tour!
6. Photography: Montessori classrooms are uniquely suited for photos. Show off your beautiful classrooms and materials!

Want to learn more about the benefits of content marketing in the Montessori space? Watch our Town Hall on Content Marketing!

3: Run Digital Ads

Once you have a great website and well-curated content, you can start thinking about running digital ads. Digital ads are going to help you target and reach the right prospective families so that they can check out your website, make a conversion, and hopefully enroll at your school! Think of digital ads as a bridge that bring the right audience to your website so that they can get to know you and take the next step!

We'll be upfront: running Google Ads is time-consuming and complex... but they are very effective in increasing your leads and reaching the right families in your community. Google is the most used search engine, and we can almost guarantee that if there is a parent looking for a program in your area... they are checking their options on Google. This means that if you run effective Google Ads, it can be an incredible return on your investment and an effective way to grow your enrollment. If you want to learn more about the basics of Google Ads and how they work, you can check out our Google Ads guide blogpost here. 

What you should know before you get started with Google Ads is:

• You'll need to practice using Google Ads Manager
• It's a long game: patience is key
• There will be a lot of trialing and testing
• You will need to find the right budget (this could vary on how competitive your area and market are as it works similarly to an auction)
• You have to remain consistent with it! Google's algorithms take some time to optimize.

Do you feel like you need some help when it comes to Google Ads Management? We can help! Learn more about our Google Ads Management services for Montessori Schools here. 

What about Facebook Ads?

Facebook is the world’s largest social media network, with over 2.89 billion monthly active users worldwide. When you think about that for a moment, it’s no wonder roughly 5 million businesses choose to advertise on the social media site. With a little time and effort, Facebook can be a powerful advertising tool for your Montessori school—one that can help you increase enrollment by reaching even more potential families.

Similarly to Google Ads, you will need to learn how to use Facebook Ads management platform: Facebook Business Manager. Here you can describe your business, what demographics you'd like to reach, and set up paid campaigns. Here are a few things to remember when it comes to running effective Facebook Ads:

• Go beyond the "Boost": Don't just pay to boost a post. This won't always guarantee the right audience... and if the content is not purposeful, the post might not be worth boosting. 
• Take the time to learn the software: Understanding how Facebook Business Manager works is important. Take your time to understand how to run effective campaigns so that you can maximize your ROI. 
• Put your best content forward: Create ads that are attractive, relevant, and interesting. Include a beautiful picture and make sure you have a compelling call to action. 
• Re-market: This is an effective way to reach families who have already shown an interest in your school by visiting your website. Facebook takes this information and can show your website visitors ads for your school so that you can stay top of mind. 
• Understand your target audience: Targeting effectively is essential with digital and social ads. You need to tweak your settings so that you are reaching the appropriate audience. You don't want to be paying to reach the wrong people!

Do you want to learn more about Facebook Ads? Watch our Town Hall on Facebook Ad Strategy!

4: Develop A Communication Strategy

A big element of any good digital marketing strategy is how you're going to communicate with your prospective families. In Montessori schools, we need to do a lot of communicating... checking in, informing, touring, following up, etc. Developing a strategy that will help you reach your audience, nurture them, and convert them into enrolled families will help to make your overall digital marketing strategy stronger!

Ultimately, automation is going to set your communication strategy apart from the rest. Automation helps your business look more professional and it decreases your workload! A recommended option for adding automation to your communication strategy is to use a CRM (Client Relationship Manager). We've got one specifically for Montessori schools! Learn about the Montessori CRM here. 

Here are our favorite tips for better communication with prospective families:

• Use automation: using a CRM to send automated emails and SMS can help reduce your workload and ensure that you stay in touch with families
• Utilize email nurtures: when you get a new email contact on your email list... it means you have another interested prospective parent. This is your opportunity to reach out to them, share the unique benefits of Montessori, and encourage them to come in for a tour. 
• Send regular newsletters: Invite prospective families and current families to stay informed about what's happening at your school. 
• Post Announcements: Social media platforms and your website are great places to post school updates. 

5: Invest In Your Community

It takes a village to raise a child, and as a Montessori school, you are an integral part of that village! Your community is so valuable. It is full of potential advocates and ambassadors for Montessori. It is important to invest some time to cultivate connectivity amongst families in your school and keep them connected to your community for years to come. There are several ways you can build stronger communities as part of your digital marketing strategy. Let's take a look at some our favorite community building strategies: 

• Utilize Facebook Groups: Facebook groups are a great way to get groups of people together. You can build Facebook groups for all sorts of reasons. To educate families and provide workshops, to keep alumni connected to the school years beyond their time with you, to get families to volunteer... there are many possibilities!
• Find your advocates: Create forms on your website or in an email nurture to invite families to be school ambassadors by giving a testimonial or keeping in touch with your school. Testimonials are highly effective for recruiting new families!
• Offer parent workshops: Advertise your parent workshops on social media, your website, and on Google. Invite the public community to come in and learn about parenting and Montessori. 
• Send out invites to your events and open houses: You never know who might want to come!
• Connect with other Montessorians: Utilize digital spaces to connect with other schools. It's always nice to connect with other Montessorians who can offer advice and ideas. 

Digital Marketing Is Going To Help You Grow Your Enrollment!

Ultimately, we want every Montessori school out there to have an effective digital marketing strategy... because we know it will help them reach the right families and grow their schools. We are passionate about helping schools reach their full digital marketing potential. We hope this blog was helpful, and we are happy to help you even more. If you want to talk to a Montessori Marketing professional today, you can schedule a free consultation call, no strings attached! We'd love to discuss what's possible for your Montessori school!

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