Acing Your School Open House
With Strategic Marketing
In the competitive world of private education, a school's open house is a great opportunity for marketing professionals. It's a unique opportunity to showcase what makes their school special.
But making a lasting impression on prospective students and setting the stage for successful enrollments isn't easy. In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore creative and practical school open house ideas, from planning to post-event engagement.
WHAT THIS ARTICLE COVERS:
How to Plan an Open Day
Success starts with thorough preparation. Many school marketers prepare their events calendar at the start of the school year. However, planning an open house event usually starts a few months ahead of the event. Here are our top tips for a considered approach:
Defining Objectives
Before you can roll out the red carpet for your school's open house, it's crucial to clearly define your objectives to maximize event impact. What do you hope to achieve with this event? Ask yourself:
- Are you looking to boost enrollment numbers at specific entry points?
- Perhaps you’re introducing new programs that you'd like to showcase?
- Or maybe you're working on reputation building?
By establishing your goals early on, you can tailor the open house experience to meet these targets effectively.
Setting clear objectives helps streamline the planning process, ensuring that every aspect of the event serves a purpose. It also gives you measurable outcomes to evaluate the success of the open house, guiding future improvements. Remember, a well-defined objective not only aligns your team but also enhances the experience for attendees.
Once your goals are set, organizing tasks and responsibilities becomes more straightforward. You’ll also be in a better position to segment your audiences effectively.
Identifying your Ideal Customer Profile
Audience segmentation and identifying your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) are crucial. Knowing who you want to attract to your school will affect many aspects of your open house. This includes your messaging and event activities. Consider factors such as:
- The age group of prospective students
- Specific academic or extracurricular preferences
- The interests of their families
- Parent demographics
By honing in on your ICP, you can create a more targeted and personalized experience. This could include:
- Custom presentations
- Personal meetings with department heads
- Tours of facilities that appeal to your ideal families
An ICP-focused approach ensures that your open house resonates with the right audience, increasing the likelihood of conversions.
Timing Your Open House Right
Once you’ve set your objectives and defined your ICP, it’s time to focus on logistics. Timing plays a key role in boosting attendance at open house events. Choose a date and time that’s convenient for your target audience. Be sure to consider major holidays or local events that might compete for attention.
Working parents may appreciate evening sessions or weekends. Those with young families will likely be more flexible during the working week.
Make sure to balance this with the staff and ambassadors available. This will help create a smooth and engaging experience for visitors.
Consider Alternative Formats
To help cater to the needs of as many prospective families as possible, consider virtual open house events.
For long-distance families, an online tour might be the best first introduction to the school. Or small-group Q&A sessions have been popular. By making recordings available post-event, you can extend the reach and return on investment of these sessions.
Create a Budget
If you have not hosted an open house before, start by looking at what marketing materials you can reuse. Past that, key areas to budget for include:
- Marketing, which could include flyers, digital advertising to promote the event, event booking system fees, and swag
- Refreshments for your visitors, staff, and volunteers
- Signage
- And any extras that will make your event stand out, such as props and activities for the prospective pupils.
Marketing and Driving
Open House Attendance
No matter if you are at a world-famous school or a small prep school, just relying on word of mouth won't fill seats at your open house.
In an increasingly competitive landscape, effective marketing is essential. It will attract the right students and families, showcase your school’s strengths, and ensure a successful event.
Advertising Your Private School Open House
As a seasoned school marketer, you'll know how powerful online advertising is to promote your school. But there are nuances to running burst-campaigns for open house compared to your typical brand awareness plays.
Utilize platforms like Google Ads, Facebook, and Instagram to spread the word about your event. These platforms allow you to target specific demographics, ensuring that your ads reach the right audience.
Craft compelling ad copy that highlights the unique selling points of your school and the benefits of attending the open house. Use eye-catching visuals and engaging call-to-action phrases to entice potential attendees to learn more. Monitor the performance of your ads regularly, making adjustments as needed to maximize their effectiveness.
Open Day Campaign Tips
Here are our top tips to keep you organised and drive attendance:
- Design compelling promotional material
Ensure your school's open house flyers, banners, and digital ads are visually appealing and designed to drive conversion. And don’t forget to update your school’s website with all the necessary event details. - Advertise online
Leverage the power of digital advertising and social media to reach your target audience effectively. Open day advertisement is especially important for younger entry points. Parents of these cohorts may not be familiar with open house events or your school. With proper segmentation, a little ad spend can go a long way. - Driving attendance with multiple touchpoints
Reminders and follow-ups are critical, especially right before the big day. More personal channels like emails, text messages, and phone calls are powerful tools. Remind and encourage registrants to attend and build hype at multiple intervals. - Personalize your invitations
Leverage any data you have from existing inquiries. Advanced content management systems such as AMAISTM can then personalise your email communications and landing pages. - Use word of mouth
Leverage current happy families to share the word and encourage other local families to see the school.
During the School
Open House
Attracting families to your open house is just the first step—now it’s time to make a lasting impression.
A well-executed event goes beyond basic logistics. It should showcase the school’s culture, engage visitors, and leave them excited about becoming part of the community. From creating a welcoming atmosphere to leveraging student ambassadors and social media. Every detail plays a role in turning prospective families into future enrollments.
First Impressions Count
A clean and well-organized school is a given for any open event. But first impressions go beyond tidiness.
Think about how you can immediately immerse visitors in your school’s atmosphere and values from the moment they enter.
Remember, most attendees will be navigating the campus for the first time. Be sure to provide:
- Directions and parking information
- Clear branded signage
- A campus map for larger schools
- Consider offering transportation between campuses if necessary
- Warm welcomes from friendly staff and students. These go a long way in setting a positive tone for the visit
- Offer refreshments. Provide light snacks and beverages to make families feel at home
These details are particularly important if you’re an international school or offer boarding.
An easily accessible open house makes families feel comfortable and helps make the experience as smooth as possible.
Make It Interactive
Make your event memorable and encourage attendee engagement with hands-on experiences.
Workshops, student performances, Q&A's and classroom visits allow families to step into the daily life of your students.
If your school follows a unique teaching approach, find ways to bring it to life. This could be through live demonstrations or student-led activities. For example, if you have a strong arts program, showcase it with dynamic displays of student work. Or consider live performances to highlight student achievements.
Make It Personal
Giving families a sense of belonging at an open house can be challenging. But personalizing their experience makes a lasting impression. Where possible, tailor interactions to visitors’ interests.
Staff and faculty should be well-prepared with key talking points to communicate your school’s values effectively. Arranging 1-on-1 time can make families feel truly valued and increase your inquiry-to-enrollment ratio.
If a prospective student is passionate about sports, connect them with a coach. If a family is curious about academic pathways, pair them with a faculty member who can provide in-depth insights. These small touches create a more meaningful and memorable experience.
Leverage Social Media
Social media can extend the impact of your open house beyond the event itself. Creating photo opportunities is a great way to get families excited and helps build online hype. Encourage sharing on major platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or Snapchat. Consider:
- Creating a custom event hashtag and running a competition or raffle for those who use it.
- Designing Snapchat filters featuring your school’s branding.
- Hosting live Q&A sessions on Instagram or Facebook for prospective families who couldn’t attend in person.
Not only does this boost online visibility, but it also gets students involved in showcasing their school pride.
Utilize Parent and Pupil Ambassadors
Hearing directly from current students and parents can be one of the most powerful ways to engage prospective families. Parent and pupil ambassadors can:
- Share personal experiences that make your school feel more relatable.
- Answer questions from a firsthand perspective.
- Help visitors feel welcome and comfortable by guiding them through the event.
By involving ambassadors, you create an authentic, trustworthy environment that resonates with potential students and their families.
Key Faculty Presentations
A well-executed faculty presentation offers families a clear and inspiring window into your school’s values and strengths.
To make the most of this opportunity, keep presentations concise and focused. Highlight what sets your school apart without overwhelming your audience with information.
Engage attendees by varying your presentation styles. Consider opening with a brief keynote from the head of school or a notable alum who can share a compelling personal story. Use visuals such as photos and short videos to bring your narrative to life and showcase the school’s culture in an authentic way. Incorporating music or student performances at the beginning can also help set a welcoming and energetic tone.
Encourage presenters to rehearse their talks in advance, ideally in front of colleagues, to refine delivery and ensure clarity. This preparation not only boosts confidence but also helps presenters stay within the allotted time, keeping the event running smoothly.
Post-Event
Follow-Up
The relationship doesn’t end when the open house does. Following up with your attendees promptly is a great opportunity to build on your hard work. It sends a clear signal about how your school values its community. And it can significantly impact the inquiry-to-enrollment ratio.
Some thoughtful post-event follow-up includes:
- Personalized thank-you emails
- Social posts of the event itself
- Feedback surveys to refine and improve future open houses
- Telephone comms
Use this opportunity to invite them for further engagement, such as private tours or special program introductions. Make sure to record any feedback you receive. This includes both qualitative and quantitative feedback. Doing this will help you see what worked and what didn’t. You can then pivot your strategies as needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
| What are the Best email workflow tools for schools? |
|---|
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A great email automation tool for schools combines several key features. It should seamlessly integrate with your admissions platform, whilst being intuitive to use. Some tools we can recommend include:
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| Do I need New Landing Pages For My Open House Marketing Campaigns? |
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You may already have pages on your 'front-facing' website that allow users to sign up for your open house events. But it's often beneficial to create dedicated landing pages for your ad campaigns. Campaign-specific landing pages are great for driving traffic from Social media, paid search ads, and offline ads alike. That's because you can tailor the page by removing any distractions. They can be entirely focused on driving conversions (i.e. sign-ups). You might be wondering if this could lead to any SEO issues. To avoid duplicate content issues, it's a good idea to hide these landing pages from your website's menu. You can also 'no-index' them to prevent search engines from crawling them separately. If you need advice on what the right choice is for your school, reach out to our friendly team who will be happy to help. |
| What is an open house in school? |
| A school open house (also referred to as an open day for UK schools) is an event where schools invite prospective students and their families to visit. Families can learn more about how the school is run, look around its facilities, and meet key members of the faculty. The events are often only held once or twice a year, with the aim of increasing enrollment. |
| When are school open houses typically held? |
| In the USA, school open houses are usually held in the fall or the first quarter of the year. They are often hosted on weekends to ensure prospective parents can attend. That being said, many schools choose to hold several throughout the year. |
| How long should a school open house last? |
|
Most open houses are run for around 2 hours, but it varies. Larger K-12 schools in particular might stagger times for different age ranges. Or choose to put on performances/displays and more throughout the day. |
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Meet The Author Gretlin has spent the last 15 years in marketing, both agency and client-side, and has a rich understanding of content marketing, SEO and digital advertising. With significant experience in the education sector, Gretlin joined Amplify in May 2024 as Director of Services. She now supports schools worldwide in amplifying their enrollment strategy. |
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