Newsletter - Test

Enrolling the Most Anxious and Depressed Generation

By Jenn Lyles

The lead pool for our schools' future enrollments has changed dramatically the past few years. We went from enrolling confident millennials to anxious-ridden Gen Z (those born 1997–2012) who grew up with phones in their hands. These prospects can be challenging to converse with and often are nervous to answer the phone or meet in person.

Shifting our enrollment strategies to meet these individuals where they're at is a must in today's climate. We can no longer rely on old-school marketing and outreach tactics. Let's dive into some of the top things we can do as massage schools to equip our teams when talking with Gen Z.

Your Website—Keep It Simple 
The average vocational school converts leads from their website at 3 percent. That means for every 100 people who visit your site, three will likely fill out a lead form. You can make tweaks on your website to help increase this conversion—thus, getting more leads for free. It turns out, Gen Z doesn't like too many options. It leads to decision paralysis where they end up doing nothing. Instead of having a phone number, texting number, click to chat, apply now, and a lead form, make it simple. In every test we've run, schools increase organic leads when they stick to only a lead form and phone number on their website for potential students.

Texting—Build Rapport 
When you get the notification of a new lead, call within 5–10 minutes if possible. This is your best route to build rapport and book an in-person tour. If they don't answer, try a soft text message with an easy question. The goal is to book a tour, so don't ask what time they're ready to jump on the phone. Here are some examples of good first text messages you can send, then pivot into a few rapport-building texts, followed by asking them to come in for a school tour.

Hi, Katie! This is Jenn from ABC Massage School. I received your request for more info about our massage program. How long have you been thinking about a career in massage?

Hi, Katie! Enrolling at ABC Massage School is a pretty simple process. How soon are you looking to start school? Right away or in the near future?

Confirmation and Parking
Info a Must Once you book a tour with a prospect, immediately text them their appointment confirmation and email a list of what to expect, what to wear, who to bring, and where to park. Gen Z is notorious for hating surprises, so give them everything ahead of time. They also have parking anxiety, so make sure they know where to park at your school and what to do when they arrive and walk in the door. Lastly, send them a reminder text the day of the tour.

Personalize the School Tour
Our school tours need to be personal, emotional, and memorable. Start with a simple compliment to make them comfortable and then get to know them. Ask questions about what they're doing for work, what made them choose massage therapy as a future career, and continue to build rapport by listening to their story. When you walk the lead around the school, introduce them to educators, point out things you love, and let them take pictures of different elements. It should be a slow walk-through where you interact the entire time.

Bring Your Empathy
When it really comes down to enrolling students from Gen Z, empathy is needed. Understand that they grew up in a time with information at their fingertips and a digital device in their hands, all while living through the student loan debt crisis, a recession, school shootings, Covid, and a politically divided nation. Their anxiety comes from their use of social media, comparing their lives to strangers, and exposure to click-bait headlines that would scare anyone.

Our jobs are to change their lives; to make them see how enrolling at our schools and choosing a career in massage therapy will transform them. They need schools like yours to help develop them into confident, career-ready, licensed professionals. Every conversation, every tour, and every ounce of empathy we show can be the catalyst that changes a life. Let's meet this generation with the understanding they deserve and help them step confidently into a future they never thought possible.

Jenn Lyles, executive director of Beauty Schools Marketing Group, presented at the 2025 ABMP School Forum.

3 Ways Your School's Student Clinic Can Participate in Massage Is for EveryBody

Will You Join Us?

Massage Is for EveryBody is a year-long, heartfelt campaign built on guiding principles that celebrate the benefits of massage, and the talented people doing this work. As part of that campaign, one week a year gets extra emphasis—Massage Is for EveryBody Week, July 20–26—where practitioners can pull out all their philanthropic spirit.

This annual event asks the massage community to continue to uphold the guiding principles and find ways to reach out to underserved populations, to advocate for the physical and emotional benefits of massage, and to emphasize the importance of regular self-care for MTs and their clients. There are many ways your school can get involved during the weeklong event.

• Clinic Discounts or Free Services
Provide free or heavily discounted massage services to a certain demographic. That could be educators, first responders, or health-care workers.

• Clinic Services for the Underserved
While it's hard to take your students and staff to an offsite event, you can connect with various local agencies about gifting massage to a select group of their clients who can come in to redeem those services.

• Incorporate a Clinic Fundraiser
From asking clients to bring in food donations in exchange for a discounted session rate to donating a percentage of every massage to a charity of choice, there are many ways to participate in Massage Is for EveryBody, even if you can't offer free services.  

Learn more about bringing Massage Is for EveryBody into the classroom: abmp.com/massage-educator/archive/2025-1#feature-c
 

Classroom Activity

Divergent Thinking

Download Your "Divergent Thinking Form" for Students

Like free writing, divergent thinking exercises are a great way for students to warm up thinking before an exam or to get energized before tackling a new topic. This type of exercise might also be used as a review of information learned in a lecture, or toward the end of a series of classes. The activity is the same, but the instructor supplies different stimuli based on the class subject.

Directions
• Pass out the divergent thinking form (or use a plain sheet of paper).
• Set a timer for 3 minutes.
• Write the stimuli on the whiteboard or have it appear on a PowerPoint slide.
• Start the timer.

Examples of stimuli: 
List all the muscles of the body you can think of off the top of your head.
List all the ways you might make a massage environment comfortable for an older adult client.
List all the effects of Swedish massage strokes you can think of off the top of your head.
Imagine a client asks you out on a date. List all the ways you can think of to handle the situation off the top of your head.

End the activity and have students share their findings. Process the findings. For example, with the ethics-based stimuli, you might need to take the exercise a step further by comparing and contrasting ideas students offer and then helping students choose appropriate responses from their list.

Ask students to describe how they felt before, during, and after the activity. Some people find this type of activity mentally exhausting. If this is the case, it's something to practice. Remind them, you get better and stronger at this type of task the more you practice. It supports the recall of information and the formation of connections between information. 

This activity, and many more, are featured in the ABMP MBLEx Prep curriculum that is part of ABMP Premier School membership. Want a tour? Contact education@abmp.com.
 

Scholarships for Your Students and Your School

ABMP is committed to giving back to the massage and bodywork community, from free education offered in our annual CE Summit events to our Massage Is for EveryBody campaign to support for instructors, students, and schools. That's why we're thrilled to introduce our newly reimagined ABMP Student Scholarship Program, designed to better support both massage therapy students and the schools that help shape their futures!

Your students can enter to win a quarterly $5,000 scholarship giveaway—and your school will also have the opportunity to win $5,000 each time a student is selected.

Here's how it works:
• Quarterly drawings: Students can register every three months for a chance to win.
• Double the rewards: Each winning student receives $5,000, and their school gets $5,000 too.
 

Here's how to get started:
1. Guide students through the registration process at abmp.com/scholarship.
2. Encourage every new program start to sign up as soon as their courses begin.
3. Repeat each quarter!

This initiative celebrates the vital role massage therapy schools play in building a thriving profession. For more information regarding our school support, or to receive additional scholarship materials, contact us at education@abmp.com or 800-458-2267.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ABMP STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM AT ABMP.COM/SCHOLARSHIP