The race for the right students is more competitive than ever. For K-12 schools, attracting best-fit families goes far beyond the traditional open house or mailer. Today’s recruitment success depends on a sophisticated, multi-channel digital strategy—and two powerful new players are transforming the game: Connected Television (CTV) and Streaming Radio.
Forward-thinking schools are no longer just relying on email, social media, and search ads; they are meeting families where they spend their premium downtime: streaming content on their smart TVs and listening to ad-supported music and podcasts.
Reaching the Modern Family Through CTV Advertising
Connected TV (CTV)—which includes streaming services on smart TVs, Roku, Apple TV, and gaming consoles—and streaming radio (like Pandora, Spotify, and podcast apps) offer the high-impact, emotional storytelling of traditional broadcast media with the surgical precision of digital marketing.
Here is why they are becoming indispensable tools for K-12 student recruitment:
Household-Level Targeting
Unlike broad cable TV, CTV and streaming radio allow schools to target ads based on specific household attributes. This means schools can reach families in particular zip codes, with children of specific ages, or with demonstrated interests and income levels. Your recruitment message is delivered directly to the households most likely to apply.
A “Big Screen” Experience
CTV ads are unskippable, full-screen video commercials played on the largest screen in the home. This creates a highly engaging and immersive brand experience. Schools can show off their beautiful campus, highlight successful students, and convey their mission with the emotional weight that only high-quality video can deliver.
Engaged and Captive Audiences
Viewers of streaming content are typically more engaged than those flipping through channels. For both CTV and streaming radio, ads run during breaks in content a family has actively chosen to watch or listen to, leading to significantly higher ad completion rates.
The Essential New Element in the Digital Mix
For the past decade, the foundation of K-12 digital marketing has been the “Big Four”: Search, Social, Email, and Text marketing. Connected TV and streaming radio don’t replace these—they elevate them, creating a true omnichannel recruitment strategy.
1. Search & Social: These channels are effective for capturing existing demand and retargeting engaged users. However, they rely on families already being aware of and searching for school options.
2. Email & Text: These are crucial for the nurturing and conversion stages, moving a family from inquiry to application.
3. Connected TV & Streaming Radio (The New Awareness Layer): These channels drive massive, targeted brand awareness at the top of the funnel. They introduce your school’s unique story and value proposition to a precisely targeted audience that might not even know they need a new school yet, pushing them to eventually search for your brand, follow you on social media, or open your future emails. They give your brand the necessary “air cover” to make the rest of your digital marketing work harder and more efficiently. The combination creates a seamless experience: a family sees a compelling video ad for your school on their TV, then later sees a perfectly consistent follow-up ad on Facebook or a dedicated email in their inbox.
iMission: Creating Compelling CTV Ads and Securing Critical Placement
At iMission, we understand that great content and smart placement are the keys to successful recruitment with streaming media. As a digital marketing agency specializing in K-12 student recruitment, our approach ensures your message resonates and reaches enough families to move your enrollment numbers.
We specialize in creating compelling, short video ads that cut through the noise. These ads are crafted to lead with a powerful emotional connection—showcasing your school’s transformative moments, student successes, and faculty passion. We leverage authentic testimonials and high-quality production to encapsulate your brand’s unique value in 15 or 30 seconds.
Critically, we don’t just create the ad; we are experts in securing strategic placement. Using advanced programmatic advertising platforms, we pinpoint the exact streaming services, apps, and listener demographics (based on geography, household data, and behavior) that align with your ideal family profile. This precision ensures that your budget is spent efficiently, and your compelling ad is seen and heard by enough families to not only matter for your brand visibility but to directly drive your recruitment numbers, transforming passive streamers into active applicants.
