Sparks fly with strategic enrollment campaign
Laura Jeffrey Academy is changing the world, one classroom at a time — and earning high marks from families and scholars along the way. A STEM-focused, charter school, Laura Jeffrey Academy develops well-rounded scholars with big hearts, bright futures and the ability to think critically. Our enrollment campaign demonstrated that at this middle school, every star has a chance to shine.
Like many public charter schools, leaders saw a dip in enrollment during the pandemic. However, they took a proactive approach to raise awareness, share the LJA story and attract prospective families to the school. By partnering with CEL, they seized the opportunity to refine key messaging, refresh branding, build ambassadors, map the enrollment journey, and increase visibility with digital integrated marketing.
The enrollment campaign result: Laura Jeffrey Academy met its goal for the 2022-23 school year and is now implementing CEL’s additional recommendations to grow enrollment over the next two school years.
Branding refresh produces eye-catching visuals
Brand refreshes allow you to reimagine your current materials and update them with visuals that pop. For Laura Jeffrey Academy, our award-winning design team:
- Developed a bright color palette
- Matched a set of consistent fonts
- Refined the school’s “burst” logo to make the details more crisp.
Once those components were approved, the designers channeled their inner-tween to create a series of vibrant templates that incorporated science elements and notebook doodles — the perfect mix for a STEM-based school that serves middle schoolers in grades 5-8.
The design team also worked with LJA’s leadership team to incorporate the refreshed branding into the school’s documents, including print and online enrollment packets.
Digital content increases audience engagement
Digital content was a key strategy in LJA’s enrollment campaign. With leadership, we boosted the school’s digital presence by implementing a multi-prong approach that included:
- Developing SEO-rich website content
- Improving website layout, design and navigation
- Creating branded social media templates and digital enrollment materials
- Sharing consistent social media posts that highlighted scholars, staff and school life
- Creating a new school hashtag — #LJArocks
- Creating a new tagline — Your future is loading. Let LJA be your launch pad to success.
- Marketing “5 Ways to Spark a Conversation with Your Middle Schooler” — gated content for prospective families to download after sharing their email address.
Combined, those changes resulted in more eyeballs on LJA’s website and social media platforms, where engagement and reach nearly doubled, and resulted in more school tours and information requests. Plus, most of the school’s selected keywords ranked on page 1 in Google searches.
Integrating web-collect forms for tours, general information and a free download — “5 Ways to Spark a Conversation with Your Middle Schooler” — we developed a lead-nurturing email list. Now, the school has a ready-to-go e-mail list to launch a drip campaign enrollment next school year.
Integrated marketing efforts boosts enrollment
Several tactics work together for an integrated marketing strategy — from branded “now enrolling” outdoor signage to digital Facebook ads and branded stickers.
We also:
- Created “Welcome To LJA” packets with a celebration certificate and swag for newly enrolled students
- Planned a STEM-centered Make-and-Take event and direct-mail invite to families with 4th and 5th grade students in targeted areas
- Developed an ambassador program and partnered with current LJA families to share information
By incorporating digital marketing, event marketing, word-of-mouth marketing and customer service/experience, LJA’s enrollment campaign increased awareness, engaged new families and exceeded expectations, while also making all stakeholders feel welcome, special and valued.
