Best Tips for School Marketing to Millennial Parents & Gen Z Students

School marketing practices have changed drastically over the years. Engaging digital content creation is slowly taking centre stage as the preferred form of marketing for schools looking to attract millennial parents and Gen Z students. If you are intending on maximizing your marketing efforts, the marketing team at your school should be able to make recommendations on what you can do to attract Gen Z students and millennial parents who will wear your school’s badge proudly.

School Marketing to Millennial Parents & Gen Z Students – Beyond Web

This article will provide a comprehensive guide to marketing your school to parents. In particular, millennial parents and Gen Z students. Stay with us to learn all about it.

First Things First: Who Are the Millennial Parents?

There is no consensus regarding whether millennials were born during 1980-1996. Still, as they grew up experiencing financial crises, globalisation, and technological advancements, millennial parents developed different values, behaviours, and purchasing patterns than their predecessors.

A reported 39% of millennials have at least a bachelor’s degree, which created grounds for comparatively higher student loans and debt than previous generations. They placed a higher value on education, and expectations for their children’s education heightened. The tension this created ended up being the cause of either postponing or eliminating the idea of having families. And for those who went forward with it regardless, acquiring a whole new way of choosing their kids’ schools became a must.

How Does a Millennial Parent Differ From a Traditional One?

There isn’t one side to parenting anymore. It’s not just mothers but also fathers who can be equally or even more involved in their children’s education. Millennial dads are proud to be dads; some even write it on their social media bio for the entire world to see! They also consume more parental training content, and most turn to YouTube videos for the best guidance.

Millennial parents involve their children in household decisions more than previous generations. Why? This means that school marketing shouldn’t focus on parents but on the children who enrol. This isn’t dependent on whether the child is in elementary or high school.

School Marketing to Millennial Parents & Gen Z Students – Beyond Web

The Inseparable Duo: Millennials and Their Smartphones

Not surprisingly, with the ease of reach and advances in the tech world, recent data says that more than 85% of parents are smartphone owners. And they don’t just own them but also rely heavily on them daily. Whether online shopping, banking, or searching for information, smartphones provide instant access to every millennial parent’s needs.

In light of what makes millennial parents unique and their specific preferences and expectations when choosing a school for their children, let’s look at the best private school marketing practices you should consider when creating a marketing plan.

Traditional Advertising Is Out

No one checks their P.O. box for a private school brochure or gets behind their wheel to scout a billboard for the next institution where they will pay hefty tuition. The marketing world will eat you up and spit you out if you try to market a school without creating quality content for social media first.

In a time when digital advertising is at the helm, people disregard the old way of doing things. Rethink your marketing strategy and emphasise your online reviews first to ensure you manage how your institution looks from the outside.

Reputation management is vital when creating the image of a highly acclaimed educational institution, and online comments and reviews need to be addressed. For this, prioritise keeping track of the reviews your school receives.

School Marketing to Millennial Parents & Gen Z Students – Beyond Web

You Can’t Do Without a Social Media Presence

Things might have been different 10+ years ago, but a reported 90% of millennials are active on at least one social media platform nowadays. Although we hear the names of some more than others, Facebook and YouTube take the more significant piece of the “most used social media channels” cake.

Appealing to the parents will need content creation on Facebook and YouTube, while connecting with students will need an Instagram and TikTok digital presence. Make your content creation plan with these points in mind, and you will have a higher ROI rate regarding your school marketing practices.

Best School Marketing Strategies to Attract Busy Parents

The new, post-Covid pandemic world has come with unique challenges when creating an effective marketing plan to promote your school to millennial parents. Even though marketing practices had to adapt to these changes fast, we should acknowledge some of the biggest pros of these new living conditions… The first prize goes to parents becoming more engaged in their children’s learning! An entirely new direction was introduced into the educational system, and parents were now a part of the classrooms, sitting beside their children. And this may not change anytime soon.

Although this new world allows parents to be more involved in their children’s education, it wouldn’t take long for everyone to adapt to this new reality and fall into a rut. So, it became essential that schools provided more diverse approaches to families. And for that, your marketing strategy can benefit immensely from the following tips we will be sharing:

School Marketing to Millennial Parents & Gen Z Students – Beyond Web

Start a Blog

Believe us when we say search engine optimisation (SEO) might be here to stay.

Starting a blog for your school on subjects parents must search for to help them decide their children’s futures can put you further in the marketing game.

When your school’s website has a blog, Google will favour you, and so will the parents. Before you know it, these parents will contact your school to get further information on what you can do for their children. You should never pass on utilising the power of digital marketing, and a blog with high-quality content can help you exponentially by driving organic traffic.

Plus, we have a great article on what you need to know when it comes to best SEO practices in school marketing. Check it out from here: SEO For Schools: What You Need To Know.

And to get the best tips on making your school blog stand out, check out our blog post 5 Creative Ways to Make Your School Blog Stand Out.

Prioritise Simplicity in Communication

Today’s parents are busier and more highly distracted than ever, with tons of content thrown their way. What is music to the ears of a weary soul? Simplicity, for sure.

A digital channel is a one-stop shop for information. Suppose you feel like your school is behind the communication curb. This channel will pack everything needed and reassure you that your marketing plan doesn’t come with a considerable gap.

This platform will also create a much more eco-friendly experience by making paper print notices a thing of the past. Plus, it won’t make parents or students wait for ages for announcements that are better received instantly.

Build an App for Your School

School marketing agencies with software developers can help a school a lot.

Creating an app that will serve as one virtual platform to find and get things done will show potential enrollers that they know how to utilise technological developments and use them to provide their community with a much smoother experience.

Knowing that a parent can contact a representative to inquire about their child can relieve parents who want to stay updated on their children’s learning. Creating an app for the school will put you ahead of the marketing game.

Now that we have listed the best tips to market your school, let’s see what you can do to attract Gen Z students and convert them into registrations for your marketing school.

School Marketing to Millennial Parents & Gen Z Students – Beyond Web

How to Provide Gen Z Students With a Place in Your School’s Digital Presence

School marketing jobs can be highly diverse, but every so often, you might not want to deal with many formalities and longer processes like hiring people to create content for you. If this is the case, and you want to get the most out of your school’s online presence, utilising the power of user-generated content created by your students can be highly rewarding.

Our times are all about inclusivity, and digital media provides us with a tremendous and incredibly accessible means to create experiences in which everyone can feel involved. Provide the opportunity to engage Gen Z students, keep them posted as they post content showcasing their school, and you have a winning formula regarding school marketing.

Some specific tips we’d like to share can be listed as follows:

Make Sure You Are on the Right Social Media Platforms

Who’d want to sit in misery and sulk all day? No one, but especially not Gen Z. 

Associating TikTok with happiness and joy, 47% of Gen Z students create original content, and 60% participate in content creation trends. Having already taken their place in one of the biggest and world-dominating social media platforms, Gen Z students want to see you involved in their digital environment, so they can quickly feel drawn to you.

Instagram is the second most used app by Gen Z; a reported 62% log in daily. As they create and share short forms of engaging video content, your potential students will form a stronger bond and relationship with your school through marketing methods that interest them.

Want to dive deep into impactful content marketing for schools? Check out our blog post on the 3 Ways School Content Marketing Can Boost Your Enrolments

Make Them Feel Seen by Sharing User-Generated Content

Gen Z is exposed to online content and is more drawn to approachable brands. When your students share their school experiences and tag their school accounts on social media, make them feel seen and appreciated by reposting the fun and uplifting content they create.

Use social media trends and encourage your followers to create content, reframing it to fit the school’s image. This will create a chain effect where the students will design, share, and spread joy!

Don’t Lose Time on Platforms They Aren’t Interested In

Data suggests that the past decade has seen a 39% decline in Facebook use, while Twitter dropped from 33% to 23%. This doesn’t mean that these platforms are a lost cause, but investing time to create content for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube can create a much higher ROI. And as time is of the essence, you wouldn’t want to waste it on practices that won’t increase your school’s brand awareness, growth, and engagement.

Now, You Are Ready to Rock Those School Marketing Skills

Now that you know much more than you did before reading this, you are ready to market your school more effectively. You are prepared to help Gen Z students and millennial parents get the most out of their and their child’s educational experience by becoming more relatable and providing a human touch.

Browse through our other articles to learn more about best education marketing practices.

As Beyond Web, we put our 10+ years of expertise into creating high-quality school websites that best showcase what your school is all about. We provide services in:

  • School website design,
  • School website development,
  • Education marketing and education website designing.

We create award winning designs for our clients and guide them thoroughly on their education marketing journey for them to best utilize their digital presence.

o have your own school website designed and to learn about all that we can do for you, contact us today.