If you’re a private or independent school marketer, do you sometimes utter the admissions department name through clenched teeth? If you’re on the admissions team do you sometimes wish the marketing department could deliver better leads or wonder what they’re even doing?

It’s no secret that even the most well-intentioned private school marketing and admissions teams can sometimes be at odds. Today, I’m going to explain the importance of marketing and admissions working in unison to achieve your private or independent school’s enrollment goals.

Having worked with nearly 100 private and independent schools, I can tell you that a common theme in growing and thriving private and independent schools is that the marketing and admissions departments are so tightly woven together that an outsider may not be able to tell the difference between the two departments.

What are we REALLY doing here?

First things first, while the marketing leader and admissions leader at your school will likely have a commitment to their own teams, at the end of the day both teams are working towards the same goal. Keeping that big-picture goal and purpose alive in your day-to-day is huge for team morale and keeps your efforts focused. Both of these teams are constantly working to keep several balls in the air and this juggling can easily cloud the bigger picture. Making sure that both leaders and their respective teams can keep that big-picture goal of maintaining and growing enrollment will add clarity to your tactics and offer a common cause that your entire organization can rally behind.

“If you just communicate, you can get by. But if you communicate skillfully, you can work miracles.” – Jim Rohn

As a private or independent school marketer, you must embrace the fact that the admissions team possesses critical information that will drive successful strategy and tactics. 

As a private or independent school admissions leader, you must embrace the fact that you possess this highly relevant information and you must provide guidance to the marketing team. 

Here’s an example of how great communication can deliver massive returns:

For the past 2 weeks, the admissions team has been fielding a ton of inquiries from parents whose children have been attending a direct competitor school in your city. Through initial parent interviews and conversations, the admissions team has found out the sad news that this competitor is unfortunately shutting down for good. Immediately, the admissions leader reaches out to the marketing leader to share the news. Along with this breaking news, the admissions leader provides a grade-by-grade breakdown of how many open spaces are available and the addresses of where these new inquiries are coming from along with some great anecdotal information about how most of these new inquiries love hearing about the STEM and athletics program of your school, Mind Meld Academy.

The marketing team in turn launches several hyper-local campaigns focused on the areas provided by the admissions team. Within a few days, the marketing team has new campaigns launched with pointed copy like “Are you searching for a new Private/Independent School? Mind Meld Academy can make your transition seamless for the 2025-2026 school year” or “Visit our STEM lab and tour our brand new field house”.

*You can find a great copywriting strategy for your next advertising campaign here.*

The already high interest in your school from your now-defunct competitor shoots through the roof and the admissions team fills every open spot and has every grade wait-listed in the coming months. 

“The more specific we are, the more universal something can become. Life is in the details. If you generalize, it doesn’t resonate. The specificity of it is what resonates.” – Jacqueline Woodson

The details here matter a ton! The admissions team didn’t just let the marketing team know that there is an opportunity due to the unfortunate closing of their competitor, they also provided an update on where enrollment stands today and where the marketing team should press harder with their advertising. The admissions leader, through sharing all of this information up front, streamlines communication so that the marketing team doesn’t have to ask the question and can move forward as quickly as possible. 

Now the above scenario is probably pretty rare (but if have seen it before, more than once!) and there are usually a few things that marketers will always want to know from the admissions team. 

First, hard numbers on inquiries, applications, and enrollment and how many enrollees are needed per grade. This is important because it gives an overall picture of where marketing and admissions stand as a team and where opportunity lies. 

Second, what are parents and students saying to you? What benefits of the school light up a prospective parent or student’s eyes? Is it the amount of scholarship money awarded each year to colleges through your emphasis on STEM/STEAM? The team-building skills and camaraderie built through your intramural sports programs? The incredible sense of community you feel through interacting with current students and faculty? Ultimately, a marketing team should be crafting a story throughout all of their content, advertising, and digital presence. These details are important in crafting a great story about your school that will both communicate what your school offers and compel parents to reach out to book a tour or take the next steps in your admissions process. 

Third is open communication between admissions and marketing (is there an echo in here?). I suggest a standing meeting where both teams meet and brainstorm on the latest data beyond day-to-day communication. During this meeting, marketing will bring reports on how their campaigns are performing and how many form fills or conversions they are seeing. Admissions should be able to verify that they spoke to or at least reached out to every lead that has been captured through marketing efforts. Admissions can also take this time to share the details of those interactions. A weekly or every-other-week hourly meeting is a great way to regroup, refocus, adjust strategy if needed, and plan tactics.

You may be thinking: “Did he really just suggest I tack on another meeting to my schedule?”

I know, I know but as long as you stay organized and on task, your teams will streamline the process and you’ll find a ton of time to really develop your marketing and admissions funnel. I promise there will be issues that arise and knowing that you’re going to have to talk about them in a few days reduces fire drills and will hopefully become a creative and collaborative incubator for both teams.

Through efficient collaboration between your marketing and admissions teams great things can be accomplished when it comes to your private or independent school’s enrollment goals. A main pillar of success when it comes to managing this relationship is honest and open communication. Private and independent school marketers know that the admissions team acts as a scouting team, providing inside information on best fit students and families, while marketing is raring to go when it comes to execution and getting the team up to the finish line where admissions again steps in to take families on tours, work with them through the admissions process, and finally enroll new students.

I hope that these tips help you gain clarity and develop a successful plan of action for your private or independent school’s marketing and admission departments synergy. If you have questions or would like to discuss how Mind Meld Marketing can help your school, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at Jeremy@mmmarketing.io.