114 Qualified Leads in 90 Days for a Brand-New NYC Preschool
Association for Financial Executives
How targeted campaigns and rapid optimization generated parent inquiries at a low cost per lead
The Problem
A new trilingual arts preschool opened in Union Square. Zero name recognition. No referrals. They needed parents interested now—not after six months of “building awareness.”
What We Did
We started with Meta and Google Ads. Meta worked immediately—lead forms captured parents at $16-40 each. Simple ads showing kids doing art. No fancy branding, just what actually happens there.
Google Ads needed refinement. Initial targeting was too broad—reaching parents in wrong neighborhoods, searching for wrong grade levels, focused on price over fit.
We rebuilt the Google strategy around three adjustments:
Tightened the geography
Narrowed from citywide to a 3-mile radius around Union Square. In Manhattan, nobody’s commuting from the Upper West Side to Union Square for preschool.
Got specific with the keywords
Stopped bidding on generic “preschool” and focused on “trilingual preschool,” “art classes for toddlers,” “summer camp Union Square”—parents searching for what they actually offered.
Added aggressive negative keywords
Blocked “cheap,” “free,” grades 6-12, outer boroughs, “virtual”—anything indicating wrong fit.
What performed best:
- Instagram Reels and Stories (younger parents, visual program)
- "Summer camp" messaging over "fall enrollment" (immediate need vs. future decision) Lead forms over website contact pages (one tap vs. multi-step form)
- Program-specific positioning ("trilingual arts enrichment") over generic claims ("quality preschool")
The Results
Parent Inquiries in 90 Days
Average Cost Per Lead
Google Ads CPL (Month 3)
Meta Leads
Google Ads Leads
90 days: 114 parent inquiries for $8,700 total spend. Google brought 33 leads after optimization. Meta brought 81 consistently.
When you’re starting from zero against established competitors, you don’t have time to be precious about your initial strategy. Our first Google setup didn’t work. We scrapped it after a month and rebuilt based on what the data showed.
Most agencies would spend three months “optimizing” something that’s fundamentally broken. We’d rather admit it’s not working and try something different.
Ready to build your enrollment pipeline?
See how we can help your school generate qualified parent inquiries.