Building Demand in a Highly Localized Market
I created a data-informed acquisition and retention strategy for a highly localized, competitive product.
The Situation
YMCA Afterschool operates in a uniquely localized market: families can only enroll if their child attends a school where the YMCA offers programming. That meant the audience was inherently limited, while competition varied significantly from campus to campus.
At many schools, families could choose from district-funded programs, other nonprofit providers, and specialized enrichment programs where their children could attend alongside friends. Competitors included Boys & Girls Clubs, Crew, iKids, Creative Action, City of Austin Parks & Recreation, and specialized providers offering dance, gymnastics, sports and other enrichment.
The marketing challenge was compounded by limited access to parents. Schools did not provide parent contact information or permit the YMCA to directly market to families, making traditional recruitment difficult.
The Solution
I developed a PESO (Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned) media strategy, with an emphasis on Paid and Owned channels that we could control and optimize.
Paid Digital
I developed a highly localized digital acquisition strategy targeting parents within approximately two miles of YMCA Afterschool locations. This allowed us to focus media investment on families who were geographically positioned to use the product rather than broadly marketing to parents across the Austin area.
To expand beyond the immediate geographic audience, I incorporated lookalike audiences based on parents whose children had enrolled in YMCA Afterschool the previous year.
Primary paid channels included Meta and Google, allowing us to combine geographic, demographic and behavioral targeting.
Owned Media
I developed segmented audiences using existing YMCA customer data, including:
- Families in ZIP codes surrounding YMCA Afterschool locations
- Previous Afterschool families who had not yet re-enrolled
- Parents who had interacted with the YMCA within the previous year
The Success
With the majority of locations at capacity by the first day of school, the marketing strategy shifted from acquisition to nurture and retention.
I developed an ongoing parent newsletter strategy designed to keep families connected to the program, highlight student experiences and activities, and reinforce the broader value of being part of the YMCA community.
The result was a shift from a seasonal enrollment push to an ongoing customer relationship strategy using targeted acquisition to fill the product and owned communications to strengthen engagement after enrollment.
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