Q: Creating Yield Events
/During admissions season, we provided very segmented, personalized virtual events and experiences for prospective families. Now that we're in the yield phase of the admissions funnel, we'd like to create some in-person, on-campus opportunities for those families (especially ones with younger children) to be able to build stronger relationships with them and give them a sense of our campuses and facilities in ways that we weren't able to do with new families last spring. Are there some creative ways we might be able to do this, keeping COVID safety protocols in mind? Thank you Gurus! Anonymous
A: CAYLOR
Funny, I have been thinking a lot about this audience. I just posted a conversation on LinkedIn on Generation Alpha, (the newest generation born between 2010-2025) and had a lot of great ideas about how to reach them.
Here are some ideas for you regarding yield events and tactics:
Create a coloring/activity book for the youngest siblings about your school to occupy them while families are discussing the school.
Create family scavenger hunts (hi-tech or low tech) to get them around the campus and make it fun to learn along the way.
Look for ways to use screens/apps to do some cool virtual augmentation of your school. There are some pretty amazing apps you can use and program to deliver your messaging.
Consider an "up and coming" luncheon on campus.
Create a service opportunity to fits with your mission to engage prospective families with current families.
Just a few thoughts.
A: CAIN
See some ideas below of what some of our clients and other schools have been up to.
At Ursuline Academy in New Orleans, recruitment used to rely on an Open House night, supplemented by personal tours. The challenge was not just to move this online, but to make the virtual visit more brand-driven. Instead of a “tour” as its main focus, the new microsite's videos take you into the classroom and let you see Ursuline’s academic specialty: project-based learning. There’s a mini-tour—because people want to see the school—but more attention is paid to how the students learn. They’re also able to do a limited number of face-to-face visits—something they’ve always done well—but the virtual content adds another dimension. And it certainly lets them reach more families. The agenda was similar to a standard open house, but advance registration was required and strictly enforced. Attendance was limited, with a maximum of two or three people allowed for each prospective student. The evening began in the gym, where they were able to distance, and then attendees were broken into multiple small groups to tour the school, with attention paid to keeping them out of smaller spaces. For those who weren’t able to attend, the microsite with a virtual open house was able to fill the need for those not able to be there in person.
The Ellis School in Pittsburgh has an extensive bank of virtual ways to get to know the school. These go beyond a typical visit. Webinars for parents—deep content, shows the school’s philosophy, shows off the amazing teachers. Some included activities to do with your kids. And visit options were rethought during COVID. An important step in revamping the info sessions was having students talk about their school.
Other things we’ve seen:
Private campus tours with just one family + one tour guide held on a Saturday, outdoor campus tours.
One school invited parents to an on-campus open house. They gave each family an iPad preloaded with a QR reader program and invited them to walk around the perimeter of the campus. Signs with QR codes were placed on key areas of the school, and parents could scan the code, then pull up a web page with information about that program/area of the building, along with a video tour of each space. Masked teachers and staff were stationed around the campus to greet the parents and answer questions.
A: NELSON-ISAACS
Great ideas already mentioned, many that I have seen done well.
Another idea I've seen is the actual admission "letter" being a personalized video to the student and/or family (depending on age).
One school I work with is creating on-campus play dates with two or three families at a time who were admitted, plus a teacher. The purpose here is for the families to see/meet others who are hopefully choosing the school and interact with them a little more before signing. Groups are being formed with affinity similarities (from the same neighborhood, older sibs at the same high school, etc)
Self-guided tours with parent ambassadors stationed around campus have been very successful for another school I am aware of. Like Kathy mentioned, families were given a map, and then they walked campus on their own. Instead of QR codes, this school had a lot of current parents on site stationed in different places. Families were given specific start times to ensure that not too many people were on campus at once.
Hope this helps!
