Why Marketing Budgeting Matters for K-12 Schools
Emmanuel Lutheran School, Asheville, NC, said after transforming our admissions process to answer parent questions before they asked, they saw an increase of 15% in students in the first year.
Identify Marketing Activities
The first step in developing a marketing budget plan is identifying all the marketing activities. These activities may include advertising, creating social media content, organizing events, and many more. For instance, the fictitious Greenfield Academy may list open houses, billboard advertisements, and social media outreach.
Accurately Forecasting Marketing Costs
- Look at costs from previous years and factor in inflation
- Get multiple vendor quotes for big expenses
- Pad estimates for unforeseen costs
- Avoid guesstimating without concrete data
Estimate Activity Costs
Once all the activities have been identified, it’s time to estimate their costs. These cost estimates should include direct costs, such as design and printing fees, advertisement charges, and indirect costs, like staff time required for various activities.
As an example, let’s say Greenfield Academy wants to host an open house event. They will need to account for the cost of food, decorations, venue, and the staff required to organize the event.
Prioritize Activities
After the costs have been estimated, it is essential to prioritize these activities based on their potential impact and alignment with your school objectives. This will enable you to allocate resources to the most effective marketing activities. For instance, Valleyview Prep may prioritize its open house event and use its budget to increase the advertisement expenditure and social media promotions, while Greenfield Academy may prioritize search engine optimization and digital marketing to drive traffic to their website.
Allocate Budget by School Size
The next step in developing a budget plan is allocating an appropriate proportion of your revenue to marketing based on your school size. This step ensures that you set aside enough resources to execute your marketing campaigns effectively. It is vital to note that digital marketing provides an excellent return on investment (ROI) for K-12 schools. Therefore, consider allocating a significant portion of your budget to digital marketing activities, such as search engine optimization (SEO) and social media outreach.
Monitor Spending and Results
To monitor spending, review budget versus actuals on a monthly basis, and make adjustments to allocations quarterly or semiannually as needed. This step helps ensure that all activities are performed correctly and your budget is not exhausted before achieving the desired results. For example, Greenfield Academy may realize that their social media campaigns are not producing the desired impact. Therefore, they will reallocate the budget to more impactful marketing activities.
Budget Real Number Calculation
According to HubSpot, the general rule of thumb for a marketing budget in a business-to-consumer market is typically between 5-10% of your goal annual revenue. Translating that to a private school budget, your total marketing budget should be 5-10% of the total amount of tuition revenue you want to collect. If your goal for next year is 100 students and your average annual tuition per student is $6,500, your total marketing budget should be between $32,500 and $65,000.
In a real-world scenario, many private schools under 200 students cannot afford that budget. But, striving for the minimum percentage will pay off in bringing in students. If you bring in five new students at $6,500 each for next year, your marketing budget will be covered. Extrapolate that out over the average number of years a student stays at your school, and you will find the lifetime value of that student.
Common K-12 Budgeting Mistakes:
- Not Tracking Spending: Failing to keep a detailed record of expenditures can lead to financial inefficiency. To avoid this, implement a robust expense tracking system and regularly review spending reports. This helps identify areas where budget adjustments are needed.
- Setting Unrealistic Budgeting Goals: Overestimating revenue or underestimating expenses can result in budget shortfalls. Schools should base their budgets on realistic projections, factoring in potential variations in income and expenses.
- Spending at the End of the Year: Rushing to spend leftover funds at the end of the fiscal year is a common mistake. Instead, plan for year-end spending well in advance, focusing on strategic investments that benefit the school.
- Not Prioritizing Education Goals: Failing to align the budget with the school's educational objectives can lead to misallocated resources. It's essential to prioritize budget allocations to support the school's mission and student needs.
- Ignoring Emergency Expenses: Neglecting to allocate funds for unforeseen emergencies can disrupt the budget. Schools should maintain an emergency reserve to cover unexpected costs, ensuring financial stability.
- Being Overly Restrictive: Overly rigid budgets can hinder necessary spending. Find a balance between fiscal discipline and flexibility, allowing for adjustments when circumstances change.
- Leaving Out Savings: Schools often forget to allocate funds for long-term savings and investments. Establish a savings plan for future capital projects or financial contingencies.
- Not Involving Stakeholders: Failing to engage teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders in the budgeting process can result in decisions that do not align with educational goals. Ensure transparency and collaboration in budget planning.
By avoiding these common budgeting mistakes and implementing sound financial practices, schools can better manage their resources and allocate funds effectively to support educational objectives.
Budgeting and Resource Allocation
Creating a budget is a critical step in your marketing plan. It ensures you have the financial resources to execute your strategy and achieve your objectives.
- Identify Your Marketing Activities: These include online advertising, social media campaigns, content creation, email marketing, SEO, and more. For a K-12 private school, digital marketing techniques often provide the best return on investment (ROI) because they're cost-effective and reach a broad audience.
- Estimate Costs: Some costs are straightforward, like the fees for running Google Ads or hiring a social media manager. Others, like the time it takes to create engaging content or manage online communities, are harder to quantify but should still be considered.
- Small School (up to 50 students): Allocate around 7-10% of your tuition revenue or the tuition for one student per year for marketing.
- Medium School (51-250 students): Allocate around 5-7% of your tuition revenue for marketing.
- Large School (more than 250 students): Allocate around 3-5% of your tuition revenue for marketing. Consider having a dedicated admission coordinator.
- Prioritize: If your budget is limited, prioritize activities based on their potential impact and alignment with your objectives. For example, investing in a well-designed, SEO-optimized website may be more effective than print advertising if your goal is to boost enrollment.
- Monitor and Adjust: Regularly review your spending and adjust as needed. If an activity isn't delivering the expected results, consider reallocating funds to another tactic.
Example of Greenfield Academy Digital Marketing Budget for 2024-2025
Digital Marketing Goals:
- Increase student enrollment
- Enhance the school's online presence
- Improve communication with parents and students
Budget Categories:
Digital Advertising:
- Google Ads
- Facebook Ads
- Instagram Ads
- Other PPC platforms
Content Creation:
- Blog posts
- Social media content
- Videos
- Graphics and visuals
Website Management:
- Website hosting and maintenance
- Landing page development
- SEO optimization
Email Marketing:
- Email marketing platform subscription
- Email content creation
Social Media Management:
- Social media scheduling tools
- Social media manager's salary (if applicable)
Analytics and Tracking:
- Tools for measuring ROI
- Data analysis services
Training and Education:
- Digital marketing workshops
- Skill development programs for staff
Miscellaneous:
- Unforeseen expenses
- Contingency fund
Conclusion
Developing an effective marketing budget plan is paramount for K-12 private schools to manage their resources and measure ROI. By following the tips outlined above, schools can create a detailed budget plan that is tailored to their specific objectives and priorities. Importantly, closely monitoring spending and results ensures that the school's marketing campaigns remain on track and produce the desired outcomes. When appropriately executed, developing a marketing budget plan will enable K-12 private schools to excel at marketing despite limited resources.
Want to take the first step in developing an effective marketing budget for your school? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with me to discuss your school's unique needs and goals, or get access to our free digital marketing budgeting Google Sheet here.
