Admission season is the hotspot where schools put insane efforts into paid marketing. Schools observe this period only once a year. In this period, the pressure on the digital marketing team is surreal. They need to bring in high-quality leads in volume and increase the school’s online visibility—all in a few months. More often than not, this leads to failures that are not the team’s or platform’s fault. The issue lies in the school’s approach to strategy, timing, and execution during admission season. In this blog, let’s explore the most common mistakes — and more importantly, how to avoid them.
- Starting Paid Campaigns Too Late
What most schools do is start paid lead-generation campaigns when they’re closest to peak admission season. As a school, you should be aware that parents start the shortlisting process very soon. By the time you start your marketing efforts, parents have already considered their choices, and you are signing up for a cold rejection.
There’s a reason that paid campaign platforms offer various campaign types to select from. Definitely, lead generation comes later in the admission season. But schools should start awareness campaigns 2-3 months before the season begins. At this time, you should use all available content to build trust in your brand among parents.
- Using Generic Messaging Like “Admissions Open”
Advertisements need to be emotionally structured to make an impact on the target audience. But most school ads use generic messaging like “Admissions Open,” “Enroll Now,” and “Best School in the City.” But these statements hold no significance for a good parent-targeted advertising campaign. Instead, start answering specific questions about safety, results, and teaching approaches that actually matter and bring attention.
- Sending Traffic to the Homepage Instead of a Dedicated Landing Page
It is among the top lessons for educational marketing. An ad that sends parents to the homepage opens their vision to endless distractions, leading to lost quality audiences. A homepage has multiple menus, too much information, and nudges visitors towards unclear next steps. Landing pages take better control of the parent journey and mention only the details that encourage conversion.
- Targeting The Wrong Audience
Schools target complete geographic regions without much thought. They should dive deeper into parent intent and behaviour, and what brings the best results. Target small but strong. Use smarter targeting strategies:
- geographic radius around the school location,
- parent demographics,
- education-related interests,
- retargeting website visitors or social media engagers.
It ensures that ads reach only the right audience and saves schools significant marketing budgets.
- Ignoring Mobile Experience
Most of the parents you are targeting access information about your school on mobile devices. If you have optimized only your landing page and other marketing collateral for desktop screens, you’ll provide a poor experience for mobile-first audiences. Ensure your landing page load speeds are optimized for mobile devices by keeping forms simple, using clear CTA buttons, and minimizing distractions.
- Tracking The Wrong Metrics
Ask any marketing agency for schools, and they’ll tell you that metrics such as impressions or reach don’t matter a bit. While you can have huge numbers on these metrics, there’s no sense in tracking them for monitoring achievements. Instead, start tracking metrics like:
- Cost per enquiry,
- Lead-to-visit ratio,
- Visit-to-admission conversion,
- Cost per admission.
Better tracking gives better data for better decision-making.
- Lack of Lead Nurturing Systems
Marketing doesn’t end at lead generation. It is only the first step. If you don’t have counselling streamlined, you’ll lose leads that could have been conversions. You should automate and structure lead nurturing. It would include setting up CRM tools, automating WhatsApp responses after lead generation, and providing your counselling team with a structured plan for following up with the leads.
Conclusion
Paid marketing can be the most potent weapon in your digital marketing arsenal when used correctly. But understand that cracking the right strategy, timing, and systems is most important. In this blog, we list seven mistakes that schools generally make during their admission seasons that cost them a fortune. By acknowledging these mistakes and working to address them, you can build a sustainable admissions cycle that drives continuous growth. If you don’t want to handle the headache of all this, consider hiring an educational marketing agency like Mediagarh that implements best practices for your account and delivers unprecedented growth.
