While new marketing trends are constantly changing higher education enrollment tactics, many strategies have stood the test of time. Here are five enrollment strategies to help your university thrive in the digital age.
Use a robust student CRM system to personalize emails based on prospects’ status. This will increase email open rates by up to 50%!
1. Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for engaging audiences. It can help improve university marketing and attract students, promote upcoming events and emergencies, and improve their brand image. However, it’s important to know how to use social media effectively in order to reach the most potential students.
It’s also vital to understand the unique preferences of each generation. For example, Gen Z prefers crowdsourced opinions and information over traditional methods like direct mail. This article explores how to engage with this audience and reach them using the right marketing techniques.
Featured Snippets, SEO, and Facebook Ads are all effective ways to boost university visibility online. It also highlights the importance of sharing student success stories and leveraging influencers to appeal to prospective students. This can be done through both short and long video content, including platforms such as TikTok and YouTube.
2. SEO
When prospective students are searching for a school to attend, they’re going to use search engines to find information. Using SEO and local seo services as an effective university marketing technique will ensure that the school is found during these searches.
This can be done through a variety of methods, including digital display ads and Google ads. These ads can be displayed on websites across the internet, targeting prospective students based on their search histories.
In addition, universities can also leverage TikTok and other social media platforms to showcase campus life and student success stories. Additionally, they can use lookalike audiences to reach prospective students with similar interests. This is an excellent way to improve their visibility online and increase enrollment rates. Moreover, it’s one of the most cost-effective ways to market their institution.
3. PPC
Universities are looking to educate the leaders of tomorrow, and this requires marketing that is up-to-date. It also requires a strong understanding of what attracts the younger generation of students.
PPC is a great way to do this. It allows universities to bid on specific keywords, allowing them to show up at the top of search results. This can be especially useful when competing with other schools that are targeting the same audience.
For example, Yorkville University in Canada is using PPC to market its Bachelor of Business Administration program. This has helped them to increase applications by 35%. They used ads to target prospects who were searching for information about online business courses. This allowed them to quickly capture potential students’ interest and drive traffic to their website.
4. Content Marketing
Content Marketing is no longer just a market trend; it’s an integral part of the digital marketing process. It offers a cost-effective way to gain visibility and be recognized by the audience.
Its low customer acquisition cost (CAC) and long-term value make it a worthwhile investment for universities. It also saves the time and resources of your sales team by reducing their workload.
Many of the top specialists agree that content marketing is a crucial part of any online university strategy. It is the foundation that other Digital Marketing methods depend on, and it is critical for attracting and engaging prospective students. It involves writing relevant and useful information in different formats to attract and engage the target audience. This includes blogs, podcasts, videos and even social media posts.
5. User-Generated Posts
User-generated content, also known as UGC, is the content that users voluntarily create and share. This could be social media posts, Instagram Stories, YouTube videos, or even photos and selfies.
The beauty of this content type is that it provides a level of authenticity to the brand. This is why millennials and Gen Z trust UGC over traditional advertising and marketing.
With this in mind, make sure to set clear goals for your UGC campaigns and encourage your audience to participate. If you don’t, the campaign will look like a cheap advertisement and your brand credibility will take a hit. Make sure to have a plan for managing UGC submissions as well (e.g. a platform where you can manage submissions and embed style guides). This will make the process much easier for everyone involved.
