What if I told you that packaging existing expertise and materials into a compelling gated content offer could create an admission pipeline that yields a collective thumbs up from your school’s board?

 

What if the offer produced stats this:

 

628 downloads -> 194 admissions leads -> 27 enrolled students

 

Am I correct to assume you’d say, “sign me up, teach me how to do that!”?

 

If I’ve guessed right (and I certainly hope that’s the case), then let me introduce you to Tannika Wester, Director of Communications, and Luke Chaffin, Content Manager, at , a co-ed boarding & day school in Darlington, GA.

 

In episode 25 of Blackbaud K-12’s Get Connected podcast, they joined me to share how through the use of content offers, they’ve generated more leads and enrolled students for their school (Note: the stats above are direct results of Darlington campaigns run in 2014-2015).

 

Before we dive into the episode, let's break down the idea of the “content offer” by starting with these two questions.

 

While creating content is something many of us do on a daily basis, are you packaging it into a bigger, gated offer (say an e-book or how-to guide) that answers the fundamental questions that families are asking as they are searching for the perfect private school. After a parent raises their hand, enters their information to acquire your offer, are you nurturing them with additional helpful content as they work their way through the admission process?

 

Tannika & Luke explain how adopting this approach has become a critical piece of the school’s overall approach to inbound marketing and student recruitment. For any school concerned with new student enrollment, take 30 minutes to hear the Darlington story. You’ll walk away with ideas that you can fold into your marketing strategy.