From Inquiry to Campus Tour: Strategies to Guide Families to Your School
Engaged Right-Fit Families
An inquiry comes through from a family who (on paper) looks like the right fit. Your follow-up email goes out, encouraging them to schedule a campus tour. You think, “They’d love it here if they would just come see it for themselves.”
But the visit never happens.
This is one of the most frustrating disconnects in school admissions: families express interest online but never make it to campus. You know your campus is a powerful part of your story. Once families walk your halls, meet your teachers, and feel your culture, the decision often becomes clear. So why is it so hard to get them through the doors?
Frequently, the issue is that schools are viewing the admissions process from their own perspective, not the family’s. And despite well-intentioned efforts to promote campus visits — something that would benefit the prospective family — the invitation can feel out of sync with where the parent actually is in their decision-making process.
In this blog, we’ll take a look at why families hesitate to visit, how the campus tour fits into the Family Journey™, and what strategies your team can use to increase campus visits with the right families at the right time.
Why families don’t show up: common barriers
Families usually aren’t ignoring your invitation to tour out of apathy. More often, they’re feeling uncertain, or even overwhelmed, and unsure of what to do next. Without realizing it, schools add to that uncertainty by structuring their process around internal goals or calendars, rather than the way parents make decisions.
Here are a few of the most common barriers we see:
- Misaligned Timing
Many schools extend the tour invitation before the family has had a chance to build trust or gather enough information. From the school’s perspective, it makes sense to move things along. But from the parent’s side, it can feel like too much, too soon.
This doesn’t mean you should hide your campus visit opportunities. In fact, we encourage schools to make them visible and easy to find, especially on your website. The key is in how you frame and follow up on that invitation. For families early in their decision-making, a tour link might serve as an open door they can walk through when they’re ready, while your personal outreach focuses first on answering questions. Timing matters — and so does the family’s emotional readiness to take the next step. - Information Overload… or Underload
Some websites overwhelm families with too much information. Others leave them with too little. In either case, the result is the same: families don’t feel confident or equipped to schedule a visit. They’re unsure what to expect, what the school stands for, or if they’re the kind of family the school is looking for. In some cases, it’s not even clear how to schedule a tour.
Is your Admissions page helping or hindering families from getting on campus? Schedule a free assessment with a Tassel solutions advisor to find out. - Vague or Impersonal Follow-up
A generic “Thanks for your interest, click here to book a tour” email doesn’t meet today’s parents where they are. If the messaging feels templated, confusing, or disconnected from their context, they’re likely to put off the visit (or never follow through at all). Families need clear guidance, personal relevance, and an invitation that feels like it was written for them.
The campus tour in the context of the Family Journey™
Before a family sets foot on your campus, they’ve already made progress in their decision-making process. Understanding that journey, and knowing where the campus tour fits into it, is essential to guiding the right families from online inquiry to in-person visit.
At Tassel, we use a framework called the Family Journey™, which breaks recruitment into three phases:
- Awareness: The family becomes aware of your school, often through a Google search, social media, or recommendation from a friend. They’re forming initial impressions but likely haven’t engaged directly. This is where your visibility matters. Optimizing for search — especially with strategies like AI-SEO for faith-based and private K-12 schools — can help ensure the right families find you early in their journey.
- Consideration: They’re actively evaluating whether your school could be a good fit. This is often when an inquiry is submitted, and where most families begin comparing their options more seriously.
- Decision: The family has narrowed their list and is preparing to make a final choice. This is when applications, financial aid conversations, and other enrollment steps typically occur.
While campus visits typically happen during the Consideration phase, families inquire at different points. Some are early in their process and just beginning to explore. Others are further along and hope the visit will confirm what they already suspect — that your school might be the right one.
Rather than aiming for more inquiries just to boost campus visits, focus on attracting Right-Fit Families™ from the start. Then, nurture them toward a visit when the timing feels right for them, based on where they are in the Family Journey™. Not just for your internal calendar.
School spotlight: Bradford Christian Academy
In Summer 2024, Bradford Christian Academy (BCA), an independent K–12 school in Massachusetts, knew they needed more families on campus. Inquiries were coming in, but too few families were making it to their doors.
With support from Tassel, BCA launched seven targeted strategies to improve conversion, leading to:
- 80% increase in tours year-over-year
- 26.5% inquiry-to-tour rate (an 11.5% increase)
- 15% increase in applications
Four strategies to help families say “yes” to a campus tour
If you’re looking to increase your inquiry-to-campus tour conversion rate, start by implementing these four strategies:
- Map your admissions process to the Family Journey™
Your admissions process should align with where families actually are in their decision-making. Not where you wish they were. Start by asking: What does this family need to feel ready for a visit? Then build your messaging to meet that moment. - Use your website to build confidence
Your school website is often a family’s first real impression, and their first opportunity to feel understood. Make sure it answers the questions parents are asking in the early stages:
• What makes this school different from other options in my area?
• How will my child be supported and challenged here?
• What does a campus visit look like?
Consider using tools like Tassel AI-Convert™ to create a more personalized and responsive website experience. Families who feel more informed before they scheduling a tour, are more likely to follow through. - Create purposeful follow-up communication
A generic auto-reply won’t build trust. Instead, use your follow-up as an opportunity to reassure families that their interest matters — and that you’re eager to welcome them to campus when they’re ready.
Consider sharing:
• A quick note about what stood out in their inquiry
• A link to a blog, story, or FAQ that speaks to a question they might have, based on their child’s grade level
• A visit-related resource that outlines how to take the next step when they’re ready
These thoughtful touches signal that you see the family, not just the form they fill out. - Make the visit invitation clear, relevant, and low-friction
When the time is right to invite a family for a tour, make the next step easy and compelling. Avoid vague phrases like “We’d love to have you visit sometime,” or giving too many scheduling options that overwhelm busy parents.
Instead, clearly communicate:
- What the visit includes
- Why it’s worth their time
- How to schedule quickly and easily — ideally through an online tool like Calendly, Google Appointment Scheduling, or another platform that lets families choose a time without the back-and-forth emails.
- Sharing a direct scheduling link allows parents to book on their own terms while freeing your team from the tedious “Does Tuesday work?” exchanges.
For families who’ve never toured a school before, even small details (like where to park or what to expect during the visit) can make a big difference. When you remove uncertainty, you create anticipation — and even excitement.
Ready to improve your inquiry-to-tour conversion?
Schedule a call with a Tassel Solutions advisor. We’ll ask questions to understand your current enrollment goals and challenges, and help you evaluate what’s working — along with how you can get more right-fit families™ through your doors.
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