Using CRM software in your LCMS Private School will help with your student and caregiver relationship management concerns and help manage your prospects. Thus making your K-12 private school inbound marketing efforts a prolific lead-generating machine and improving student and parent satisfaction through a streamlined admission process.

Why Education CRM Is Crucial to a Successful Lead-Generation Drive

CRM is beneficial to the education sector in tracking, storing, and managing leads – all in one platform. It speeds up the admission process, boosts enrollment, and reduces long-term marketing expenses.

CRM for education can help your private LCMS school in the following areas:

• Scheduling emails to prospective enrollees – Sending manual emails at designated times is no longer necessary.
• Setting up drip campaigns – Automated emails can be used to encourage communication with parents and students. 
• Improving response time through a CRM system – The system provides a way for your LCMS school to quickly respond to prospective student inquiries and keep transactions flowing smoothly.
• Auto-qualifying prospects based on behavior – As an experienced LCMS school marketer, you often perform research on prospects based on needs and behavior. A good CRM will help you keep track of these prospects' behavior on your website and help you auto-qualify them. 
• Tracking with 0 leakage – A CRM ensures safe tracking and storing of student data.

Note that what your LCMS school needs is a tailored solution. The ideal CRM software should allow you to customize the necessary features to match your particular needs.

The best service for you should likewise help with your other marketing strategies to generate leads, including:

• Website Design
• Search Engine Optimization
• Local SEO
• Social Media Marketing 
• Inbound or Content Marketing

Aside from lead generation, there are many more benefits that CRM software can provide for your LCMS school. 

These include:

• Student Admission Process
• Faculty and Student Attendance
• Course Management
• Faculty Management
• Publishing Student Results and Performance
• Performance and Examination Evaluation Systems
• Payroll Management
• Office Administration
• Student Fees
• Scholarship Management

You can incorporate an advanced 3rd party integration service into your LCMS school’s CRM software to make handling of your marketing tasks easier. This way, you can focus on other important tasks.

CRM for LCMS School Marketing: Effective Lead Generation Strategies

Marketing Automation

When automating your marketing tasks, the first step is to collect data in one central database. Data analysis will then be easier. This also allows you to eliminate job duplications. Without repetitive tasks, your team can focus on driving leads and building strategies.

An automated campaign allows you to assess your marketing strategies easily and compare the results versus the cost. You can determine the techniques that work and focus your resources on these strategies.

Social Media Integration

Your preferred CRM software should help you tap into the vast potential social media market. There are many tools you can use to optimize parent and student relationships. 

Other Social Media Strategies using CRM

• Enhancing Customer Support
• Tailoring Social Content
• Developing Social Advertising
• Suggesting Related Purchases

Lead Data Cleansing

Your marketing campaign will be for naught if it contains dirty data. A CRM tool can help you check and rid your database of unnecessary data. 

Why Effective Lead Management Needs CRM

Effective lead management is necessary to increase conversion by seeing leads through a complete purchase. The CRM software drives the leads you need. Your team’s job is to qualify and nurture the leads that pass the criteria. The software then forwards the prospects to the admissions reps, whose job is to turn them into students.

CRM Lead Management for LCMS Schools: 4 Steps

1. Capturing Leads

The first step involves drawing leads using the following strategies:

• Creating videos
• Publishing blog posts
• Creating digital ads
• Providing downloadable materials for leads
• Sponsoring academic contests
• Email marketing

2. Categorizing

After drawing attention from leads, you now have to categorize them into groups by demographics and buyer stage. Provide the appropriate content to retain them. The CRM software can provide more information from different sources like new parent databases, email lists, and social media platforms.

The data will allow you to do subsequent steps like student or parent segmenting, information analysis, and lead qualification to ensure a more targeted approach.

3. Scoring

This step involves ranking your leads’ readiness and identifying those that match the criteria of your ideal student, depending on the narrative of your brand. You can then come up with the list of the highest scorers, where the various departments in your LCMS school can focus their resources. 

4. Nurturing

Another capability of the CRM software is to nurture leads. This is done by sending automated messages triggered by a predetermined schedule or prospect behavior. This may involve using the following strategies:

• Targeted Content – Valuable (relevant and informative) content must be tailored for each audience segment to ensure high engagement.
• Multiple Channels – While email marketing is among the most effective methods to nurture leads, you can use other valuable channels while your leads are browsing the net or using their social media accounts.
• Multiple Touches – This involves increasing your interactions with your audience by sending personalized emails and posting fresh content on your website or social media.
• Timely Follow-Ups – Your goal is to build trust and keep your school top-of-mind. After a lead signs up, send a welcome email within 24 hours.
• Personal Emails – Personal communication is key to making students and parents know that you’re aware of their needs and preferences. 

How to Choose Your Private LCMS School’s CRM

When it comes to CRM, there’s no universal solution for all users. To determine the right product, you need to analyze your needs first.

Not all CRM systems understand how LCMS schools operate. Most can only provide data and generic reports, including delegating and rating leads and keeping track of conversions. However, your private school has specific needs.

Different CRM brands have different strengths. You need a system that you can use from the first time a student inquires until they complete the enrollment process.

You may need a system that allows customization to meet your exact needs, which may entail additional expenses. 

CRM Software for LCMS Admission and Enrollment Processes

The education CRM software streamlines the processes of student admissions and enrollment. LCMS schools can benefit from integrated enrollment, admissions, and tuition payment systems. 

Some CRM systems offer more features than others and determine which ones are useful for you. Asking for a demo might be a good idea. 

Following are some of the features to look for:

• Trouble-free Enrollment Process
• Student Information Management
• Enhanced Cross-Department Communication

Final Thoughts

The ideal CRM solution must provide superior support. This is important for all types of businesses, and in the case of a private LCMS school, CRM must help you attract new students and retain the current enrollment.