Enrollment Marketing Plan: How to Perfectly Time Your Campaigns

Updated: March 2025 - We’ve refreshed this article with the latest enrollment marketing strategies to help schools time campaigns and boost enrollment.

How to Perfectly Time Your Campaigns

At this point, it doesn't come as a surprise that you need strategic enrollment marketing to have the best chance of meeting your institution’s enrollment goals. There are multiple elements that impact your plan’s success and need to be considered when developing your recruitment marketing plan. 

Take timing as an example. To truly optimize your enrollment marketing efforts, you need more than a hunch at when your campaigns and messaging will be most successful. You need a strategy to ensure that will be the case.

That means you must understand the optimal time frame for targeting prospective students, depending on their stage in the student journey. 

Table of Contents:

• The Advantages of Early Targeting in the Student Recruitment Journey Stages

• Prioritizing Campaigns Throughout the Enrollment Marketing Funnel

• Timing Your Enrollment Marketing Strategies to Align With Student Needs and Preferences

• How to Optimize Timing with Analytics in Your Enrollment Marketing Plan

• Optimize Your Timing to Enhance the Success of Your Enrollment Marketing Plan

The Advantages of Early Targeting in the Student Recruitment Journey Stages

Let's begin with the most fundamental piece of the timing puzzle: you need to start early.

Most college application guides now tell high school students to begin looking at potential colleges during their junior year. But in reality, many of them start even earlier. Many students begin their college search as early as their sophomore or freshman year of high school.

That's an undeniable opportunity for your enrollment marketing. Most colleges and universities still focus their campaigns around the most immediate outcome -- the application, which usually cannot happen until prospective students' senior year in high school. If you can begin your campaigns earlier, you can get out in front of a crowded field.

Research also shows that students' first impressions of an institution significantly impact their later decisions. Suppose you target at least some of your enrollment marketing strategies toward high school juniors and sophomores. In that case, you have a higher likelihood of an untarnished first impression that will lead to significant brand equity and recognition down the road. 

Additionally, early engagement creates the foundation for a relationship-driven recruitment strategy. Lead nurturing campaigns initiated during a student’s sophomore year can evolve into personalized communications by senior year, supported by marketing automation tools such as HubSpot. This long-view approach not only keeps your institution top of mind, but also builds trust and familiarity, which are key factors in enrollment decisions.

Prioritizing Campaigns Throughout the Enrollment Marketing Funnel

Of course, early engagement campaigns are just some of the pieces to pay attention to as you plan your enrollment marketing strategy. To truly build a long-term relationship with potential students, building your campaigns around key milestones that matter to them can be immensely effective. 

For example: 

• As the application process opens for high school seniors, campaigns with a heavy call-to-action focus make the most sense.
• Campaigns heavily focused on financial aid and support work well in the weeks leading up to the annual FAFSA deadline.
• Yield campaigns can kick in after students have been admitted, driving toward the deposit and admitted student day visit.
• In the summer before their college journey begins, a melt campaign can focus on the engagement and excitement of campus life.

Of course, these are just some of the countless examples at your disposal. The key remains the same. Once you understand the admissions funnel for your target audience, you can time your campaigns accordingly to build more relevant messaging and more closely connect with prospective students as they sort through their college journey.

Another consideration is audience segmentation within the funnel. Different audiences, such as first-generation students or adult learners, respond to different milestones and incentives. For instance, first-gen students may benefit from earlier awareness of support services, while adult learners may require flexible program start dates communicated later in the funnel.

Timing Your Enrollment Marketing Strategies to Align With Student Needs and Preferences

Enrollment marketing campaigns work only as well as the engagement they generate among your target audience. Getting that engagement can be tricky, but one guidepost will always lead you to the right end goal: the ability to align your messaging with student needs and preferences.

Take the above-mentioned FAFSA deadline as an example. Studies repeatedly show that most students don't know what the FAFSA means. And yet, finances are among the most important consideration points for students when choosing their future college. 

If you can build a campaign designed to make FAFSA more approachable for students and connect it directly with your college's affordability, imagine how powerful that campaign can be at just the right time in the enrollment journey.

Student needs and preferences, of course, also enter the equation for other audiences as well. Take adult students as an example. Generally speaking, this audience makes their enrollment decision (and even applies to colleges and grad schools) much later than their traditional, full-time counterpart. 

Let's consider generational preferences. Gen Z students value personalization, social proof, and authenticity. Aligning your timing with relevant social media moments, major deadlines, and campus events while leveraging user-generated content can significantly enhance campaign impact.

If you know the preferred application timing for your prospective students, you can build campaigns designed explicitly around getting the right message into the right hands at the right time.

How to Optimize Timing with Analytics in Your Enrollment Marketing Plan

So far, we've discussed how timing can impact your marketing plan for school enrollment. But all of that is just theoretical. Through your analytics, you can determine that impact for yourself--and improve your enrollment marketing processes.

For example, you can run the same messaging simultaneously via email or paid ads, and see the difference in engagement and action impact. 

• Does brand awareness messaging make more sense toward the enrollment journey's beginning or end? 
• Would application push messages only make sense when the app first opens or does a second round around the national deposit day in May make sense?

Google Analytics, HubSpot dashboards, and CRM reports can provide clarity here. Metrics like click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and time-on-site can indicate optimal timing. A/B testing different message times and days across platforms will further refine your strategy.

And now with predictive analytics can forecast student behavior patterns. Using past engagement data, you can anticipate when specific segments are most likely to take action, enabling more precise campaign deployment.

Optimize Your Timing to Enhance the Success of Your Enrollment Marketing Plan

You can't deny the effect that timing has on the success of your enrollment marketing plan. And that's where we come in. As a dedicated enrollment marketing agency, we know the nuances of higher education marketing and how to get your school in front of the right prospective students at the right time.

Ready to get started? Let’s chat about how we can help you strategically time and optimize your campaigns for maximum impact and enrollment growth. Let's chat! 

FAQ Recap on Enrollment Marketing Plan Timing:

Why is timing crucial in optimizing an enrollment marketing plan for educational institutions?

Timing plays a critical role in ensuring the success of enrollment marketing plans. A strategic approach to timing allows institutions to target prospective students at different stages in their journey, creating relevant and effective campaigns that align with their needs and preferences.

What are the benefits of early targeting in the student journey stages for enrollment marketing?

Early targeting provides institutions with an opportunity to make a positive first impression on prospective students. Many students begin their college search as early as their sophomore or freshman year of high school, making it essential to engage them early for increased brand recognition and equity.

How can institutions prioritize different campaigns as students move through the enrollment marketing journey?

Institutions can prioritize campaigns based on key milestones in the enrollment journey. For example, campaigns focused on applications, financial aid, yield, and engagement can be timed strategically to align with the stages students go through during the admission process.

How does aligning student engagement tactics with needs and preferences contribute to enrollment marketing success?

Aligning engagement tactics with student needs and preferences ensures that campaigns resonate with the target audience. For instance, addressing financial concerns like FAFSA at the right time can enhance the effectiveness of campaigns by providing valuable information that aligns with students' considerations.

How can analytics be leveraged to understand the impact of timing in a marketing plan for school enrollment?

Analytics allow institutions to measure the impact of timing on marketing efforts. Running simultaneous campaigns with different messaging via various channels helps assess engagement and action impact. Analytics can inform decisions on when to deploy specific messages for optimal results.

What role does an enrollment marketing agency like Sonority Group play in optimizing timing for educational institutions?

As a dedicated enrollment marketing agency, Sonority Group understands the nuances of higher education marketing. Our agency assists institutions in leveraging timing effectively to reach the right prospective students at the right moments. Ready to explore how timing can enhance your enrollment marketing plan? Let's chat!