DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR MONARCH ACADEMY BALTIMORE PUBLIC

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY FOR MONARCH ACADEMY BALTIMORE PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL PRESENTED BY APRIL KRUEGER

AGENDA MABC Overview Business Model Objective and KPI Target Audience Tactics/Channels Campaign Results Optimization

WHAT IS MONARCH ACADEMY BALTIMORE CHARTER SCHOOL (MABC) ? MABC is a publically-funded charter school that is open to all students in Baltimore City serving over 900 Kindergarteners through 8 th graders. All students attend tuition-free and unlike other charter schools, it provides free city-wide bussing.

MISSION OF MABC Provides a school culture that results in students who think critically, problem solve creatively, become self-disciplined and know how to learn. Provide quality education and social and emotional development for students living in inner-city Baltimore. The goal is to be a school of influence within the neighborhood and the City.

EDUCATIONAL APPROACH Only charter school in Baltimore using the Whole Brain Teaching system. Whole Brain Teaching uses cutting-edge research that gives teachers innovative methods to get students attention, engage their students, direct instruction and create a collaborative learning environment while building character.

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMING AT MABC In addition to the standard academic curriculum, MABC offers classes in robotics, debate, and entrepreneurship. Before and after school programs that include homework help, dedicated computer lab time, sports, dance, art , and music activities in a safe setting.

SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT Support services to help deal with trauma in children at no cost to students. Can meet the needs of students with special needs and/or those who suffer from traumatic life experiences. Provide behavior/student support coaches, licensed clinicians and social work interns through partnerships with the University of Maryland, University of Baltimore, and Morgan State University. Food Pantry support for students on the weekends with offerings of half-priced fresh produce.

BUSINESS MODEL STUDENTS = FUNDING Monarch Academy Baltimore is a public charter school that receives part of its funding on a flat perstudent basis from Baltimore City Public Schools. The State of Maryland is the authority that gives MABC its Charter Status.

CHALLENGE MABC FACES Maryland State Legislators will reassess MABC’s re-charter in May. State legislators will want to see the Communities’ interest in MABC as part of their decision. • There is no way of anticipating how many pupils the school will receive, or gauging the communities’ interest in MABC until after the applications are counted. • Outside of ”word of mouth” from community influencers, there is no acquisition strategy to recruit prospective parents for the upcoming year, therefore increasing applications.

Objective: OBJECTIVE & KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR (KPI) ACQUISITION STRATEGY– “GETTING PAID CUSTOMERS IN THE DOOR” • Our marketing goal is to increase school enrollment applications to the Monarch Academy Baltimore Charter Public School website by 10% by May of this year to show legislators and community influencers positive and increased interest in MABC. KPI: • We are going to measure Conversions to the “Apply Now” button.

LANDING PAGE

THREE INFLUENTIAL AUDIENCES ESSENTIAL TO RE-CHARTER • Maryland State and Local Legislators that are a part of the Renewal Committee • Community Influencers such as parents, grandparents, and guardians of current students at MABC, as well as ministers and community business leaders • Parents/Guardians of potential students at MABC

WHY POTENTIAL PARENTS/ GUARDIANS? • More applications = Great MABC Narrative = Harder for the legislators to deny the charter renewal. • Targeting parents and guardians will lead to an increase in the number of applications to MABC. • The more parents and guardians are willing to apply to MABC, the more MABC is perceived by influencers as a positive Baltimore institution.

DONNA CHARLES • Donna is a 25 -year-old African-American woman who is a single mother of a nine-year-old boy who has learning challenges. • Baltimore City Resident. • Full-time Nurse’s Aide at Med. Star Memorial Hospital ($25, 000 -$45, 000 a year). • Socially active both in the community and on social media. • Uses i. Phone as her primary social media device. • Has concerns about the quality of her son’s education and the state of Baltimore City Public Schools in her area.

Organic Search • Content Strategy- Add videos Paid Search • Buy Google Ads Social Media • Increase engagement on Facebook TACTICS THAT WILL BE USED TO HELP MEET OBJECTIVE

GOOGLE ANALYTICS: INSIGHTS • People are finding MABC site through organic search. • Currently, users are NOT going to the “Apply Now” page. Even for the pages that users do go to, the bounce rate is 50% and users are spending an average of a minute on the pages they go to. • Going forward, we want to apply SEO techniques to our content such as video to drive more users to the “Apply Now” landing page.

GOOGLE ANALYTICS

TACTIC #1: ORGANIC SEARCH CONTENT STRATEGY Goal: Conversions- We want to increase search rankings in search engines. This will help increase conversions KPI: Sessions/visits, Pageviews, Avg. time on website, bounce rate

• Generate quality videos to embed on site and add interactive elements such as captions. Generate • Split the video into shorter clips so that viewers can select which video to watch based on interest. Split ORGANIC SEARCH: CONTENT STRATEGYVIDEO • Use SEO on video including a short descriptive title, description (with keywords) to boost rankings, and Use great thumbnail. Include relevant name for the file name of the video that describes content for search engines. • Include a call to action to drive people to the “Apply Now” page. Include social media sharing buttons. Include Repurpose

ORGANIC SEARCH: CONTENT STRATEGYVIDEO Goal: Conversions KPI: number of clicks and sign-ups

TACTIC #2: PAID SEARCH • Currently MABC does not use a paid search. • Inexpensive. • Measurable return on investment. Tons of pay-per-click metrics at a level of granularity that is not available in Google Analytics. • Easy to target audience by location, time of day, and demographic. • Piggy back on partner sites such as You. Tube. • You don’t have to wait long to see results in comparison to SEO.

TACTIC #2: PAID SEARCH-ADWORDS Goal: Conversions KPIs: Measure Conversions and Click thru Rate

KEYWORDS RESEARCH

Influencer connections: Friends of friends referrals “Apply Now” button on MABC Facebook page will drive parents and guardians of potential students to the MABC landing page. Least direct tactic, however our potential target audience is on Facebook, therefore, it is important that we have this tactic as an option. TACTIC #3: SOCIAL MEDIA

TACTIC # 3: SOCIAL MEDIAFACEBOOK

CAMPAIGN RESULTS Organic Search/Reach- Expect to get more users to our site because every piece of content on our site has its own unique title tag that describes the page and it will have more relevant keywords. Our content is optimized so we expect people to come to the site via video and go to the “Apply Now” page to sign an application. Google Ads – Hope to drive people to the landing page to enroll their child in our school. Social Media- Hope to drive Facebook users to the “Apply Now” link on the Facebook page to increase applications.

Landing Page: Going to test the disclaimer on the application form that we will contact you within 24 hours of completing the application. OPTIMIZATION Google Ads: I’m going to test various headlines based on keyword research. Content: Test the video with the call to action button. Social Media: Add the ”Apply Now” link to the MABC Facebook page.