Annual Marketing Planning Done Right

For many school leaders, the school year becomes a constant cycle of reacting – responding to urgent needs, solving immediate problems, and trying to keep pace with competing priorities. By spring, strategic planning often takes a back seat to day-to-day survival. 

At the April CONNECT cohort meeting, Aubrey Bursch, Founder of Easy School Marketing, set out to change that. 

She describes annual planning as a collaborative process that aligns priorities, responsibilities, and day-to-day work around shared goals for the upcoming year. When implemented effectively, the process leads to smoother operations and stronger communication.

The "Look Back" Phase

Before building a new plan, it is essential to review the previous year’s performance to understand what actually worked. Many schools navigate challenges such as limited resources, multiple hats, and pressure to fill seats. Ask yourselves:

• Where are families finding us now?
• What seems to be working?
• What do prospective families still not understand?
• Where are we relying too heavily on one person or one tactic?

To ground your plan in reality, review metrics like the year's goals versus actual accomplishments. This includes website and social data, event attendance, inquiry/application trends, and parent survey feedback. Include financial ROI and budget spend (where available) as a key metric and review FAQs to help bridge any gaps in understanding.

Priorities, Focus and Structure

A comprehensive annual plan should organize initiatives into clear categories. Bursch identifies several "buckets" that may live inside your plan:

• Enrollment + retention: Attracting and keeping families engaged.
• Messaging + positioning: Ensuring consistent and strong communication.
• Family + community communication: Building internal and external connections.
• Visibility + outreach: Increasing awareness and managing how families find the school through word-of-mouth referrals and online search.
• Systems + ownership: Defining how work gets done and who is responsible.

A common pitfall is attempting to do too much. Rather than 25 goals, Bursch advises teams to pick 3–5 key priorities. To identify these, ask: What matters most next year? What would reduce chaos? What would help us operate more consistently?

Bursch also recommends a "Delete, Delegate, Outsource, or Automate" framework. By asking what can be removed or streamlined, leaders can ensure their teams are focused on high-impact work rather than administrative clutter.

When it comes to planning time, traditional models of one or two full-day "retreats" often lead to burnout and do not allow for necessary processing time. Bursch suggests a more effective system: several two-hour planning sessions scheduled well in advance. To make these sessions productive, assign clear roles and responsibilities, including note taker, facilitator, timer, and decision tracker. Essential data and resources should be gathered in advance of the agenda topics to maximize session time.

Timeline and Tools

While some schools begin planning as early as February, it’s never too late to build a more intentional process. Critically, schools should use summer as the primary implementation and preparation period. By using this quieter time for the "heavy lifting," teams can enter the new school year with systems already in place. But the transition from planning to implementation is critical.

Map the work month by month. Assign owners and deadlines. Then, track progress and revisit regularly. To lay the foundation for future years, clone successful documents and processes and schedule the following year's planning sessions months in advance. 

As Dale Carnegie noted, “An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing.” With planning systems in place, schools can spend less time reacting and more time focusing on sustainable growth, stronger communication, and a clearer experience for families and staff alike. 

Aubrey Bursch, founder of Easy School Marketing, is passionate about supporting schools to increase enrollment and retention and execute marketing strategies that work for them. Listen to her on the Mindful School Marketing Podcast at mindfulschoolmarketing.com. Learn more about our CONNECT cohort and join today!