For years, many charter schools could count on the waitlist to do the marketing. But with shrinking school-aged populations, that era is ending. The schools that fill seats in the coming years will be the ones that treat prospective families as a year-round funnel, not a spring lottery list.
The marketing funnel, translated for enrollment
We use the traditional marketing funnel to describe the process leading up to a purchase, or in the case of schools, an application. Many families enter at the top of the funnel with an introduction to your brand then move through the process of considering you (along with other schools) and ultimately choosing to enroll. Of course, some fall out along the way. Each stage calls for a different approach for turning these strangers into students.
Awareness: get on the list of options
At the top of the funnel, families take the first step toward choosing you. They are hearing your name for the first time and/or learning a public charter like yours is an option for them. Leveraging paid advertising like TV commercials and social media ads to build awareness of what you can offer their child is key. Explain the basics; many parents need to hear that you’re public, tuition-free and open to any family before any other message lands.
Consideration: win the comparison
Curating useful content on owned platforms like your website and organic social media channels will get families one step closer to applying. This is where you drive discovery, build trust, and provide the deep-dive information needed to finalize a decision. By this part of the funnel, families are weighing you against other schools, and most do that research before ever contacting you. 3 out of 4 parents check school websites, and 1 out of 3 scroll a school’s social media before reaching out (Niche, 2025).
Over the past 2 years, we’ve partnered with a TK-12 charter school to tell their story to potential families on both their website and organic social media channels. The website does the heavy lifting of explaining what they do and how they do it better than other local options while their social media channels give timely snapshots of campus life, bringing the differentiators described on the website to life.
Make the website do the first interview.
When parents rated the school, they chose against the ones they rejected, 74% praised the website of their chosen school, compared to only 42% for the schools they rejected (Niche, 2025). The most successful sites tell the brand story to potential families while being a useful tool to enrolled families.
As we approached web development for our TK-12 client, we started with seemingly simple questions: What does a parent need to know about our school? How does that differ if they are the parent of a kindergarten student or the parent of a rising 9th grader?
Our content audit process uncovered that there is, in fact, a lot they need to know, and the information varies greatly from one phase of school to the next.
So we organized the site around each stage of a child’s journey. Elementary, middle and high school each got its own promise (“It all starts here,” “What’s in the middle matters,” “Preparing for college and beyond”) and the same clear next steps: apply, explore academics and find the resources families use every day. Testimonials from students, parents and staff do the persuading in real voices, and “Apply” is never more than a click away.
Click here to see the site for yourself.
Meet parents where they are: on social. 71% of adults use Facebook and 62% use Instagram (Pew Research Center, 2025), making these channels natural extensions of your website for parents doing their research.
The Commerce House approach to organic social media starts with the construction of a Content House, an organizational plan that ladders all content across social platforms up to a singular brand promise. While prescriptive, it leans into authentic, platform-specific insights to make content as engaging and relevant as possible. Right message, with the right look, on the right platform.
We capture content on-site and build monthly content calendars for client social media channels. Community engagement ensures a lively conversation rather than a one-way communication. We want to hear from our client’s student families!
The consideration phase is long; it most often starts six months to a year ahead of time, and 64% of families evaluate three or more schools (Niche, 2023). Of course, a school visit is key, with 56% of parents saying a visit influenced their choice. But you can’t make a second first impression. Keeping your website useful and your social presence engaging is how you win the comparison.
Conversion: from decision to first day
Unclear communication costs you families. 70% of parents unlikely to recommend their school said they’d missed a deadline because of poor communication, compared with 26% of satisfied parents (GreatSchools, Dec 2025). Mobile-friendly applications that can be saved and finished later, email reminders that align with other branded communications and personal in-person help ensure that applications are in on time.
While an application submission may feel like a win, it’s not the end of the road. Even an accepted offer isn’t the end. Nurturing families post-enrollment, through the first day of school and beyond ensures that those seats are, in fact, filled on the first day.
Keep the list warm all year
Families who decline or don’t show up are warm leads for next year, which is what turns a one-time waitlist into a year-round warm list.
Families who declined an offer, didn’t finish an application or didn’t show up already know your school. While their decision may feel like a let down the moment it happens, it’s really keeping you a step ahead of next year’s enrollment rush. Tag each one in your CRM with a reason and entry grade, and move them back into consideration for the next cycle. A timely email in the next application season may spark their interest and bring them back into the funnel a bit closer to enrollment the next time around.