Higher education marketing is a crucial part of attracting and enrolling new students to your institution. Using the right marketing tactics can help you achieve your enrollment goals and increase overall revenue from your student body.
A successful marketing strategy needs to include a variety of channels and tactics. It should also be tailored to your unique institution and targeted to the needs of your students and prospective students.
One of the most important components of any higher education marketing strategy is an effective website that is search engine optimized and easy to navigate. A higher education site right here should provide prospective students with all the information they need to make an informed decision about a college or university.
Another important component of a successful higher education marketing strategy is branding. A high-quality brand identity reflects your mission and values, which are what people are looking for when they choose a higher education program.
Creating a strong brand identity will help you attract potential students and build a community of supporters for your school. A well-crafted brand identity will also help prospective students understand that your institution is different from other universities.
In order to ensure your school is known by its target audience, you must have a cohesive messaging strategy that includes a compelling story. This helps potential students connect with the core values of your institution and decide if they would like to learn more about you.
If you want to stand out from the competition, you should use personalized emails that are sent to different audience segments. These emails are likely to be opened more often than a generic email that is sent out to everyone on your list.
Interactive Advertising
Adding interactive ads to your higher education marketing strategy can be a powerful tool to boost your enrollment numbers. This form of marketing combines video, animation and interactivity to engage potential students.
Unified Higher Education Communications and Marketing
Aligning marketing and communications efforts across all departments is an effective strategy for gaining an advantage over your competition. It can save time, increase knowledge and understanding of how constituents respond to your institution, and share costs with other departments.
This can be achieved by creating a shared cost model, sharing technology and data between departments, and ensuring all marketing strategies are aligned to the same messaging strategy.
To get started, identify a strategic partner on campus who will be willing to work with you to develop and implement an integrated marketing plan that focuses on the university’s goals. This partner should be part of the planning process and should also help you keep all other departments informed on your progress.
While this process may take some time, it is worth the effort. A unified higher education communication and marketing strategy can have long-term benefits for your institution, including greater operational efficiency and increased engagement from your students, faculty, alumni and supporters.
The challenges facing higher education marketers today are many, but there is no reason to let them discourage you from creating a strategic, comprehensive, and effective marketing strategy for your institution. Taking the time to craft a strategy that best suits your needs will make all the difference in achieving your school’s enrollment goals.
