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All businesses need to invest in marketing if they’re to generate customers. That goes for pretty much any company in any industry, including education.
If you don’t advertise your school, how will people find out about it? How will they discover and engage with your school’s values, ethos and reputation?
The reality is, they won’t.
Putting your “brand” out there is essential, but how do you market a school effectively? It’s hard to consistently attract interest from the right kind of families, especially if you’re on a tight budget.
Glossy brochures and regular open days are useful tools, but they’re not a strategy.
Word of mouth is great, but it’s not a reliable option for sustained growth.
Using local estate agents is often effective, but the best results happen when you combine traditional advertising methods with a modern marketing strategy that makes the most of the digital tools at your disposal.
It’s time to unlock the potential for your school by targeting a very specific audience, very early on in their home-moving journey.
First, let’s focus on your audience.
Families who decide to move home and relocate to new suburbs, cities and towns across Great Britain are a very attractive target audience for independent schools.
These parents will need to find a new school for their child at some stage and will be proactively sussing out their options ahead of any move.
Finding the right school is a top priority for relocating parents with children, so we’re talking about warm leads here. Marketing your school to relocating parents will make their lives easier, so they’ll appreciate hearing from you.
Plus, this is a large audience.
Lots of people relocate to different areas of the UK.
In fact, according to the ISC Census and Annual Report 2023, around 20 per cent of all pupils are new to the independent schools sector every year.
And Rightmove data also shows that 55 per cent of all enquiries for properties around Britain’s independent schools were sent from more than five miles away (excluding London).
Let’s now look at when to market to this audience.
When someone is considering relocating to a new area, they have a million things to think about. Moving to any new home is an intense experience, but relocating means even more decisions and impactful choices to make.
From assessing moving costs and arranging valuations, to getting removal quotes and sussing out local amenities, there’s a lot to organise.
And although examining catchment areas and registering for schools is a priority, it’s easy for parents to get distracted by a myriad of other issues.
As a result, the timing of when a relocating family hears about your school is crucial when it comes to effective messaging.
When you’re targeting relocators, you want to reach them right at the start of the whole relocation process.
Some families will already know where they want to move to and need a school to convince them. Others will be considering their options and enjoying having a nose around different areas. For them, seeing an advert for the right school can sway their decision.
Either way, this audience is most excited, most engaged, and most receptive to information about your school right at the start of their adventure.
That’s before they’ve contacted estate agents or gone to viewings. Maybe even before they’ve fully committed to any move.
The big question is, how do you reach relocators before anyone else?
This is where Rightmove can help, because we can connect independent schools with the largest possible home-moving audience in the UK.
Many potential relocators turn to our website before they do anything else to check out the largest range of properties for sale and rent. And you can leverage Rightmove’s position as the UK’s number one property site.
Almost half the population of the UK use Rightmove every year.
Around 15 per cent of the Rightmove audience are independent school parents. There were 345 million visits to Rightmove by independent school parents in 2022, so we’re talking huge numbers of potential people to reach.
Imagine combining a carefully targeted audience of families with impactful ads for your school. You’ve got the option of targeting families by property type and price band.
You can also run ads in specific areas, whether that’s a certain radius around your school or a particular postcode. Either way, Rightmove will give your school the largest and most relevant audience possible.
And it’ll give your school valuable exposure right before anyone else. Rightmove has been connecting parents with schools since 2022, with schools being able to excite and inspire parents and prospective pupils like never before.
“Advertising with Rightmove has clearly given us a boost in terms of Open Event registrations and applications to the school, but it has also increased our visibility to those both in and looking to move into the local area.” –Daniella Harrison Sutton High School GDST
From increasing brand awareness to generating leads, Rightmove can help your school reach its goals and stand out from the competition.
You’ll even get a dedicated account manager who can give you all the advice and help you need. It’s a competitive landscape out there – can you afford not to get involved?
It’s time to tell your story to the very people who want to hear it.
Schedule a call with the Education Team at Rightmove and discuss your advertising strategy: