Key facts
- Most independent schools run a fixed admissions cycle, open houses in the fall, applications due in winter, decisions in spring, and a marketing plan needs to hit families before the application deadline, not spread spend evenly across a calendar year that does not match how the school actually enrolls.
- In the US, student information is protected under FERPA, which affects what a school can publish about a specific student, even in a positive story, without a parent or guardian's consent, and Canadian schools face equivalent constraints under provincial privacy legislation.
- A family choosing a private school is usually comparing a small number of specific schools by name, not searching a generic category term, so branded search terms and direct comparisons matter more here than in most local business marketing.
- Tuition represents a five-figure or higher annual commitment for most families, which makes the decision cycle long and research-heavy, often stretching across a full school year with campus visits, and a marketing plan built around a single quick conversion misreads how the decision actually happens.
- Financial aid and scholarship information is frequently the detail that determines whether a family even considers applying, so a school's marketing and website need to surface that information clearly rather than burying it, since its absence quietly filters out families who would otherwise apply.
Scope boundaries
Name the channels in scope: website, local SEO, and Google Ads, or a subset. State the admissions cycle dates explicitly, open house dates, application deadline, decision date, so the vendor can build a campaign calendar around real dates rather than a generic monthly retainer.
Out of scope unless separately priced: any content or photography involving a specific, identifiable student without documented parental consent, and any claim about outcomes, such as college acceptance rates, the school cannot verify with its own records. Confirm the vendor understands the difference between marketing to a family already familiar with the school and marketing to a family that has never heard of it.
What the vendor must be given
Grant the vendor manager access to the school's Google Business Profile, Google Ads, and analytics, keeping ownership with the school. The exact admissions calendar for the current cycle, along with the admissions team's capacity, since a campaign that generates more inquiries than the admissions office can personally follow up with is not actually helping enrollment.
Documented consent processes for using student photos or stories, or a plan to build one before any campaign uses student material. Clear, current information on tuition, financial aid, and scholarships, since vague or missing information here is a common reason interested families quietly drop off.
Ownership and exit clauses
State that the school owns its Google Business Profile, Google Ads account, website, and domain outright, with the vendor added as a manager. This matters at schools where admissions or marketing staff turn over between cycles, since the accounts need to survive a staffing change cleanly.
On exit, require full handover within a set number of days, and confirm any student consent documentation used in past campaigns transfers with the school's records rather than staying with a departing vendor.
Milestones and acceptance tests
A campaign calendar built around the actual admissions cycle dates, agreed before the cycle starts. Website and Google Business Profile audit within two weeks, including a check that tuition and financial aid information is easy to find, not buried. Inquiry volume targets set against the admissions team's actual follow-up capacity, not an arbitrary number.
Acceptance test at the end of the cycle: can the vendor show inquiries and applications by source, tied to actual applications submitted where the admissions office can confirm it, not just website form fills counted as a result on their own.
Scoring rubric
Weight bidders on admissions-specific understanding, not general marketing polish.
Understanding of the admissions cycle and campaign timing around it, 25 percent.
Handling of student privacy and consent for photos or stories, 20 percent.
Clarity of tuition and financial aid presentation in proposed website changes, 20 percent.
Price and contract terms, 20 percent.
References from other independent or private schools, called directly, 15 percent.
A bidder proposing a flat, year-round campaign with no reference to the school's actual admissions dates should lose points here.
Questions every bidder must answer
Require written answers.
Have you run marketing for a private or independent school before, and how did you time the campaign around the admissions cycle?
What is your process for getting consent before using a student's photo or story?
How will you make tuition and financial aid information easier to find without overwhelming the page?
How do you track an inquiry through to an actual submitted application?
Who retains ownership of the Google Ads account, the Business Profile, and the website once the school signs?
If the school switches agencies, what happens to our accounts and any consent records already on file?
Related questions
Before the admissions cycle's key dates, open houses, application deadline, and decision date, not spread as a flat year-round budget. A campaign that ramps up ahead of the application deadline and open house season reaches families when they are actually deciding, rather than treating every month the same.
Only with documented consent from a parent or guardian, and this needs to hold up under FERPA in the US or the equivalent provincial privacy legislation in Canada. A marketing vendor should ask for proof of consent before using any identifiable student image or story, not assume a smiling photo is automatically fine to publish.
It can be decisive. For many families, tuition is a five-figure or higher annual commitment, and unclear or hard-to-find financial aid and scholarship information quietly filters out families who might otherwise apply. Surfacing this clearly, rather than burying it, tends to widen the pool of realistic applicants.
Usually both, but with different messaging. Families already familiar with the school respond to specific reminders, like an open house date or a deadline, while unfamiliar families need to be introduced to what makes the school distinct first. A campaign built for only one group underserves the other.
Track inquiries through to actual submitted applications, confirmed against the admissions office's own records, by source, rather than counting website form fills as a result on their own. A campaign that generates inquiries the admissions team cannot follow up with is not moving enrollment forward.
SearchPod is a vendor for this kind of work and would answer this RFP; the acceptance tests here are the ones we agree to.
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