School open day marketing that reaches families
How do you plan an open day campaign?
You work backwards from the open day: first the goal and the middle schools, then the artwork and QR code, then handing out at home time, and finally the sign-ups that come in through the QR code. The pack is the same as our custom branded water, dressed in the school's colours.
- Preparation and artwork
- Distribution
- Sign-ups via QR code
- Open day
Indicative calendar: we set the real dates and production times with you in the proposal.
Weeks before
Goal and middle schools
We fix the open day date, how many families you want to reach and outside which middle schools to hand out. Meanwhile, you check each school's and the council's rules for standing at the gates.
Before printing
Artwork and QR code
The school's logo on the front, the open day date and a QR code on the side that opens the sign-up page. We design the artwork, you approve it, then it goes into production.
Distribution days
Outside the middle schools
Refreesh promoters hand out the packs at home time, outside the buildings and without asking pupils for any data. The water gets drunk, and the pack with its QR code can travel home in a school bag.
After distribution
The QR code does the work
At home, the family scans the QR code and finds the date, the programme and the sign-up form. An adult leaves their details, on the school's page, under the school's privacy notice.
Open day
Families through the door
Sign-ups from the QR code can be counted: that's the figure that tells you how hard the distribution worked, and it goes into the final KPI report.
Case study
How did Scuola Freud promote its open days?
Scuola Freud, a state-recognised independent school in Milan offering upper secondary diplomas, had 10,000 carton water packs handed out over two days outside local middle schools. The goal: more enquiries from families interested in its open days.
The pack was light blue, with the school's logo on the front, the website QR code on the side and its social handles.
10,000 packs2 days of distribution
- School
- Scuola Freud, state-recognised independent school, Milan
- Where
- Outside local middle schools
- Goal
- More enquiries for its open days
- On the pack
- Front logo, website QR code on the side, social handles
How many sign-ups came in is the school's own figure: we don't publish it and we don't estimate it.
Why hand out outside middle schools?
Because that's where the choice of upper secondary school is made: pupils in their last year of middle school and their families compare schools in the very months of the open days.
It reaches the people choosing
A pack handed out at home time reaches the pupils and, via the school bag, the family: the people comparing schools right now.
Used, not binned
A flyer gets a glance. A pack of water gets drunk, stays in the hand and shows the logo and the open day date all the while.
It leads to a sign-up
The QR code on the side links the object to the action: anyone interested opens the school's page and signs up for the open day.
It suits a school
Free water, in carton rather than a plastic bottle: for a school, it's a message in line with what it teaches. Read more about our sustainable promotional products.
Pupils, privacy and permissions
How do you hand out outside a school and stay within the rules?
You speak to families, you collect no data from pupils, and you first ask permission from whoever has to give it. Those are the rules we work by outside schools.
- Pupils' data
- Outside middle schools we never ask pupils for names, contacts or photos. On-site surveys and forms are for adults only.
- Sign-ups
- The QR code opens the school's own page: a parent signs up for the open day there, under the school's privacy notice.
- Where we stand
- Outside the buildings, without blocking the way out, with promoters who are easy to recognise.
- Permissions
- Every school and every council has its own rules, for example on using public space. Check them before fixing the dates: we'll help you work out what to ask, and whom.
- Photos
- If we document the distribution, no pupil's face is recognisable.
This isn't legal advice: for questions on permits and privacy, talk to the school, the council or a professional.
Questions about open day promotion
Can you hand out water outside a middle school?
It depends on each school's and each council's rules, for example on using public space: check them before fixing the dates. We only work outside the buildings and help you work out what to ask, and whom.
Do you collect any data from pupils?
No. Outside middle schools we hand out the packs and that's it: no names, contacts or photos of pupils. Contact details come later, when a parent signs up for the open day on the school's page.
How many packs do you need for an open day?
It depends on how many middle schools you want to reach and for how many days. Scuola Freud handed out 10,000 in two days; we'll propose the right quantity for your school, together with prices and timings.
How long before the open day should you hand out?
Early enough for families to have time to sign up, but not so early that they forget. We set the dates together, working back from the open day and from the production times you'll find in the proposal.
How do you measure the result?
Through open day sign-ups that come in via the QR code, thanks to a tracked link, visits to the page and interactions on the school's social accounts. It all goes into the final KPI report: write to us to set it up.
Does your next open day have a date yet?
Tell us the dates and the area. In the form, choose the branded water marketing topic.
Write to us