Analysis of School Promotion Strategies for New Student Enrollment at SMKS YPSEI Palangka Raya

Abstract

School data shows that the number of new students at SMKS YPSEI Palangka Raya decreased from 106 students in the 2021/2022 school year to 40 students in the 2025/2026 school year. This condition encourages the research to examine promotional strategies in the admission of new students without placing promotion as the only cause of changes in the number of students. This study aims to describe the school promotion strategy in accepting new students and describe the obstacles faced by the school in its implementation. This study uses a descriptive qualitative approach. The researcher collected data through interviews, observations, and document studies with the head of SMKS YPSEI Palangka Raya and the PPDB Team as the main informants. The researcher analyzed the data through data reduction, data presentation, triangulation, and conclusion drawn. The results of the study showed that the school carried out promotion in a structured manner through environmental analysis, identification of needs and targets, planning, marketing mix, strategy formulation, implementation of promotion strategies, supervision, evaluation and improvement. The school combined direct socialization to junior high schools/MTs with TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, websites, brochures, and banners and highlighted MPLB and Culinary expertise programs, achievements, facilities, character building, graduate job opportunities, and alumni success. The study found obstacles in the form of limited promotional budgets, the breadth of the target area, and changes in the interests of prospective students. The study concluded that schools have implemented promotional strategies in a structured and multi-channel manner, but there is still a need to strengthen data-based targeting, message differentiation, follow-up of prospective students, and evaluation of promotion results.