Marketing your higher education institution is much different today than it was a decade or more ago. Nowadays, almost every prospective student’s journey to selecting the right school starts online. So does that mean your school doesn’t have a chance of attracting top talent if you don’t have a stellar website? Not necessarily, but it doesn’t help your chances either. 

When you think about your higher education marketing plan, you have to consider your audience. Prospective students look for validation online and through social media before making a final decision. And in some cases, they won’t even physically visit your school if you don’t have a solid online presence. Here are some top tips to take your marketing efforts to the next level to attract new students.

Embrace SEO To Generate Website Traffic

Content is key for any business. When you want your institution to become easier to find online, you have to focus on SEO with all of your content. This includes landing pages, blog content, social media, and more. The goal of SEO is to align your content with what users search for online. Whether that’s specific courses you offer, interesting facts about your school, extracurricular activities, or anything else, you want the information to be easy to find. 

Just be sure not to overload your content with SEO to the point where it’s not easily readable. Not only will this deter prospective students, but it could hurt your ranking in the eyes of Google as well.

Incorporate A Variety Of Media Types

Students enjoy consuming various types of media. So your higher education marketing plan should revolve around ensuring you incorporate a mix of media types. For example, blocks of text will only appeal to a small number of students. But when you break up the text with a short video, the chances of them clicking it are much greater.

You can also consider creating short podcasts for students to learn more about your institution or different departments within it. Students love consuming podcasts to get information so you’ll be putting your institution ahead of the curve by having one. Give them a variety of content to consume based on potential interests that every college student has.

Appeal To Prospective Students On Social Media

The number of social media users continues to rise and it won’t be stopping anytime soon. Being active on social media should be a top priority for your higher education marketing team. While there’s no one-size-fits-all social media marketing plan that works for everyone, you can use some common elements to increase engagement and help prospective students on their enrollment journey.

Connecting with your audience is the key to any successful social media marketing plan. Having current students run your social media accounts could be beneficial since they know how to connect with other students. Create unique hashtags and understand how algorithms work on social media to better relate to prospective students.

Provide Valuable Information In Every Blog Post

The blog content you create might be the most valuable content on your website. People seek blog posts to find out information about your institution, community events, highlighting students or educators, and much more. Incorporating SEO in your blog content is critical, and you can share your posts on social media to increase engagement. Every blog post you make should be valuable to prospective students in different ways so you can expand your audience.

Use Clear Calls To Action

No matter how great your higher education marketing is from a content standpoint, you won’t see the results you want without clear calls to action. Many times this involves asking students to fill out a form with their contact information to learn more. Once you have this information, you can follow up with them and provide them with additional details about the enrollment process. The goal is to make things as easy as possible, so ask them for a small amount of information and then guide them along the enrollment process.

Measure, Evaluate, And Adjust Your Marketing Strategies

As with any higher education marketing strategy, you should constantly measure, evaluate, and adjust your strategies. If your enrollment numbers are low, then try to figure out why. Many times, the metrics will tell a clear story to give you the answer you’re looking for. Being stuck in neutral is a common mistake many institutions make, so keep this in mind and make adjustments to help reach your goals.

Work With Experts To Maximize Your Potential

Higher education institutions can benefit greatly from hiring marketing experts to increase their exposure. The enrollment process is much different today than it was several years ago, and digital marketing experts can help identify tweaks that need to be made in your strategy. Maximize your potential by working with experts who know how to evaluate metrics and can make adjustments as needed.

At iwebcontent, our experienced marketing team can help make your institution more visible and accessible online. We start by learning more about what makes your institution stand out and then highlight those attributes. Your higher education marketing efforts are in good hands with our team, so contact us today to learn more about how we can help boost your enrollment numbers.