Educational marketing is a type of marketing that promotes valuable educational content and helps institutions and individuals take advantage of it. Educational content includes everything from educational courses and videos to research papers and books, to desktop and mobile software applications.
With the right educational marketing strategy, educational content can spread like wildfire and ignite curious minds around the world.
Why would a school need marketing?
The education sector has seen a massive boom thanks to the numerous opportunities created by the Internet and modern technologies in general. According to Orbis' research, the global e-learning market will reach a value of $ 458 billion by 2026, largely driven by the escalation in the number of internet users and increasing access to broadband internet and mobile phones with online functionality.
The purpose of educational marketing is to implement various marketing strategies to promote valuable educational content. And it's often the only way new educational content reaches students and gains ground. Indeed, Ph.D. programs in education emphasize the importance of marketing in the industry to drive revenue and growth. Education leaders must also leverage education marketing to survive the fierce competition in the field.
How can I leverage education marketing for a school?
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Use social media platforms to connect with your audience
There are now around 4.59 billion social media users worldwide, which equates to around 42% of the population. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit are the most popular among millennials, followed by Gen Z and the other generations.
No matter which social media platform you decide to target, your goal should always be the same: to create meaningful connections with your target audience by providing engaging content. When deciding what content to create, always keep your social media personality in mind, but don't be afraid to experiment.
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Include digital advertising in your marketing budget
Digital advertising can be a very effective way to market education services, which is why digital advertising spending around the world is projected to exceed $ 700 billion by 2025.
The biggest advantage digital advertising offers over traditional advertising is precise targeting based on demographics, intentions, engagement patterns, and more. For example, a higher education marketing agency targeting schools may only target graduate students who live in a certain area and who have shown interest in a certain product or service in the past. Such targeting can have an incredibly positive effect on the click-through rate of advertising campaigns, as well as all other important metrics.
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Create a mobile-friendly website with an optimized landing page
It has been several years since the number of mobile internet users surpassed the number of people accessing the internet from desktops and laptops. By 2027, the number of smartphone users worldwide is projected to reach 7.7 billion, which means that no one who wants to be successful in educational marketing can afford not to have a mobile-optimized website with an optimized home page.
For a website to be mobile-friendly, it needs to look good on mobile, which means that all links and navigation elements need to be easily clickable, the site itself needs to be responsive, and page load times must not exceed three seconds (this is the speed with which half of the online population expects to load a website).
At the very least, make sure your website passes Google's mobile compatibility test, which aims to determine how easily a visitor can use your page on a mobile device.
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Encourage students to leave feedback online
It is now known that 90% of consumers read reviews online before visiting a business or paying for a service. That's why online reviews should be an integral part of all higher education marketing strategies.
The best way to encourage students to leave reviews online is to make the review process as simple as possible. Better yet: make it fun! Instead of forcing students to fill out mile-long forms, you can implement a star-based rating and make verbal feedback completely optional.
When you receive a review online, make sure you respond as soon as possible. Don't ignore the negative reviews, but at the same time avoid being dismissive. You should see every negative review you receive as an opportunity to show potential customers how to deal with the worst of situations.
If you find that you are not getting as many reviews as you want, you can always incentivize the review process by offering discounts, gift cards, bonus points, and other incentives. It is often enough to politely ask for reviews in emails or some other individual communication channel.
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Create engaging video content
A growing number of marketers say that video content offers them a great return on investment and it's easy to see why. After all, 78% of people watch online videos every week, and 55% watch online videos every day, according to HubSpot. There are many potential viewers you can reach out to by creating engaging video content and posting it online.
Because educational content is among the most popular types of video content, educational marketers rarely have to search for content ideas. They can simply turn existing products or services into funny videos and post them on major video-sharing platforms like YouTube.
If you are still intimidated by education marketing or just want to avoid making a potentially costly mistake, you can always trust the educational marketing services provided by ComboApp to make your offering stand out with innovative digital marketing solutions that better adhere to educational marketing practices.
You can also use SmartSMSSolutions to promote your public school online and through SMS at a very affordable price. You can subscribe to our Refer and Earn program for your school as a source of indirect income for both your school and your students. Simply register with us to get started.