by Dawn Doerr, Marketing Consultant

Many Catholic schools face uncertain futures and tighter budgets, with marketing being one of the first expenses to be set aside when funds are limited. Yet, marketing is a necessity, especially now, when enrollment is threatened by the unknown path forward in the coming school year. The good news  Even without a robust marketing budget, you can take affordable and effective measures to promote your. Some of these ideas won't cost a thing!

The Audience
Focusing on families with school-age children who already are registered in your parish is the most effective strategy now. Simply increasing the number of registered parishioners who enroll their children in the parish school by two or three families could make a significant difference. 

The Message
After the chaotic and unexpected end of the last school year, your school’s strong community, excellent academics, and Christ-centered environment may hold a new appeal for the coming year. 

• Remind families how quickly and successfully you set up your distance learning program.
• Acknowledge that you aren’t sure what will happen next, but you will provide a quality, faith-based education for students in a caring environment – whether that is in school, at home, or a hybrid of both.
• Showcase your community — online and in any marketing materials. Catholic school communities are always strong and caring and have proven even more so during these uncertain times. 

The Messenger
Here are a few creative, low-cost ways to deliver more good news to the families who already call your parish home:

• Get a snail-mail or email list from your Director of Religious Education, nursery director, First Communion coordinator, etc. 
• Send out letters or simple postcards to families who were or are attending religious ed classes but not attending your school. Tell families whose children are preparing for reconciliation, First Communion, and confirmation about the thorough ways in which sacrament preparation is handled in your school curriculum.
• Build your relationships with parish priests to encourage them to promote your school. 
• As Masses start back up, encourage priests to make an announcement at every mass (even online ones) that your school is accepting registrations all summer long.
• Create a digital graphic to include at the end of your parish’s online Mass video.
• Ask your parish to include an advertisement for your school in ira printed/online bulletin.
• Put up a “Now Enrolling” banner with a phone number and website outside of your parish, letting people who are driving by know that you’re still in business. 
• Provide photos and content for your parish web site or Facebook page. 
• Encourage your parish to post social media messages about your school, telling families how well your distance learning went, and reminding families you are accepting registrations for next year. 
• Include the words “Now Enrolling” on your website and all your social media outlets with a phone number and email address for info.
• Create a social media graphic for current families to share on their own social media pages. 
• Ask your parents to pray for your school!

By Betsy Hicks, Marketing Consultant

​You've created exciting new messaging to share with potential families. You've scheduled a Virtual Open House to showcase your incredible faculty, staff, and students. But how can you get folks to sign up for your Zoom event so they can consider enrolling in your school for 2020-21?

Put Facebook advertising to work for your school enrollment campaign! While the list of benefits of Facebook ads is long, three major advantages stand out:

• Facebook ads are inexpensive: Cost isn’t a barrier to getting started with Facebook ads. With budgets starting at $1.00 per day, you don’t have to worry that all advertising is prohibitively expensive. 
• Facebook ads are fast: You can build and launch a simple ad in just a few clicks of the mouse (more on that in a minute!) and Facebook will approve and launch your ad on the very same day.
• Your audience lives on social media: It’s more than likely that your intended advertising target has a Facebook page, as 80% of Internet users are on the platform. Because its reach is so extensive, Facebook has collected a great deal of relevant information about users and can help route your ads to the audiences you want and need to see your posts. 

Ready to advertise with Facebook? Here are the five simple clicks it takes to launch your first ad.

1. Choose your advertising objective.
Navigate to your business page from your computer and click the blue button on the lower left. Then choose what you want your ad to help you do. The Facebook ad objectives are pretty straight-forward, but some common choices include:

• Boost an event: This ad can either drive traffic to your event page on Facebook, or to an external page on your website where people can sign up for your Virtual Open House or other event. Be sure the sign up includes email addresses and phone numbers so you can follow up afterward.
• Get more website visitors: This ad will push people off Facebook and over to your website, so be sure you’re sending them to a specific webpage that will be relevant to what they’re looking at.
• Boost a post: This is a great way to ensure that more eyes see your page’s recent activity. Choose this ad to promote a recent post, photo, or video that needs more engagement and attention.
• Promote your page: Choose to promote your page if you’re looking to grow your Facebook following. When choosing this objective, be sure to update your page with unpaid content on a regular basis so that new followers will stick around. 

2. Add images and text to your ad.
Next, add images and text for your ad. Facebook might suggest an image and text, but you’re free to change them to the most relevant and interesting photos and headlines. Keep in mind that text for your ad should be short, simple and catchy.

3. Create your audience. 
In this step, you tell Facebook who you want to reach. Be sure to think about things like age, location, and interests that are common in your audience. For example, if you’re promoting a Catholic elementary school, target a 10-mile radius from your school’s location, younger parents ages 28-45, etc.

4. Choose your budget and duration.
The next step is your budget. Facebook ads can be successful with a modest budget, so don’t feel pressured to spend a ton of money right away. In fact, if it’s your first ad, try a smaller budget as a test. You'll never be charged more than the budget you choose, and you can even see an estimate of how many people your ad may reach. Then, select how you want to pay.

You’ll also need to choose an ad duration. For boosted posts, try a 7-day duration; if you’re running a event or page promotion, or going for website clicks, you might want to consider something that runs a little longer.

5. Launch your ad.
Once you complete your ad and press “Promote,” it will go through a review process to assure that it doesn't violate any Facebook ad policies. If it's approved, it should start running right away.

Be sure to check back once it’s live to see how your ad is performing. Remember that if you're not happy with the results, you can pause and edit it.

The Facebook ad process can be used in very sophisticated ways, but it can also be a simple and effective tool for your school or parish. Just be brave, get into the platform, and give it a try -- you’ll be surprised by who your ad can reach and what it can inspire!