Janice Lozano
Universities and colleges spend billions on marketing to attract students. With steep competition from online education programs, institutions are investing heavily in advertising, branding, and promotion. This includes showcasing perks and amenities, such as gourmet dining plans, housing, and recreational opportunities, and cultural amenities. To stand out, universities must develop innovative, future-forward marketing strategies, such as leveraging social media and digital marketing, offering scholarships, and partnering with top-tier companies. By understanding the student journey and their unique selling proposition, universities can effectively market themselves to prospective students.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Perks and amenities | Laptops and tablets, gourmet dining plans, housing and recreational opportunities |
| Unique selling proposition | Cutting-edge research facilities, partnerships with top-tier companies, diverse curriculum |
| Marketing spend | $429 to $623 per enrolled student, per year |
| Marketing strategy | Digital marketing, face-to-face interactions, educational fairs, events |
| Social media presence | Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest |
| Search engine optimization | Google Ads, Google PageSpeed Insights |
| Target audience | Recent high school graduates, adult students |
| User-generated content | Student stories, virtual tours, live footage of events |
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What You'll Learn
Marketing strategies for student recruitment
- Digital marketing: Universities should aim to have a strong online presence through their website and social media platforms. This includes having a dynamic and user-friendly website that appears at the top of search engine results when students search for relevant keywords. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook can be used to showcase university culture and connect with prospective students.
- Search engine optimization (SEO): Optimizing the university website for search engines is crucial. This involves selecting relevant keywords and ensuring the website loads quickly and efficiently to avoid a high bounce rate, which can negatively impact search engine rankings.
- Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising: PPC campaigns, such as Google Ads, allow universities to display targeted ads to prospective students browsing relevant content online. This can be an effective way to drive traffic to the university's website and gain valuable leads.
- Scholarships and financial aid: Offering scholarships or financial assistance can attract top-tier students who may be considering multiple offers. It also helps to lighten the financial burden of higher education.
- Unique perks and amenities: Universities can market themselves by highlighting unique perks such as gourmet dining plans, pet-friendly residence halls, or access to cultural amenities like sporting events and museums. These extras are often offered to enhance the student experience and happiness, ultimately contributing to their success.
- Partnerships and exchange programs: Establishing partnerships with top-tier companies or institutions from across the world for exchange programs can be a selling point for students interested in gaining foreign experience.
- Alumni engagement: Showcasing alumni experiences and success stories can be a powerful way to attract prospective students. Alumni can share their professional trajectories, life lessons, and how the university shaped their journey.
- Event hosting: Hosting events such as educational fairs or even dance parties can provide a platform for students to engage with the university community and experience the social aspects of campus life.
- Regulatory compliance: Ensuring that the university's digital platform is compliant with necessary regulations and accreditation requirements is essential. Engaging with accreditation consultants can offer valuable insights and ensure the university's website is compelling and trustworthy.
By implementing these strategies and understanding the student journey, universities can develop effective marketing campaigns to attract and recruit the right students.
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The role of digital marketing
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a critical strategy for universities to employ. Prospective students use search engines to find schools that fit their needs, so universities must ensure their websites appear on the first page of results, as 75% of people don't click past it. This can be achieved through the strategic selection of keywords and improving website speed.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is another effective strategy. PPC services allow universities to display targeted ads to reach the right students and draw them to their websites. Social media marketing is also key, with platforms like Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook being powerful tools to showcase university culture and engage with prospective students.
Universities can further enhance their digital marketing by creating engaging content, such as profiles of key administrators or tours of facilities. Hosting virtual Q&A sessions encourages live interactions with prospective students. Additionally, universities can showcase compelling student stories and offer virtual content, such as behind-the-scenes footage of campus events.
Blogs are another effective platform, sharing thought-provoking articles, alumni experiences, and industry trends. Digital marketing is crucial, but face-to-face interactions at educational fairs or hosting their own events can also be valuable, providing a platform for students to engage with the university community.
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Social media marketing
Universities have recognised the importance of social media and have established official accounts and dedicated teams to manage their online presence. With multiple departments, each with its own distinct culture, universities must create a consistent brand voice across all platforms. This helps create brand recognition, build trust, and differentiate themselves from competitors.
To achieve this, universities can utilise various strategies. For example, including current students and alumni in content creation can provide an authentic voice for the university, as seen in Texas Christian University's social media posts featuring students on exchange programs. Universities can also use social media to answer students' questions, listen to their opinions, and take action, as highlighted by Stephen Boucher, Director of Marketing and Communications at Southern New Hampshire University.
Gettysburg College has successfully transformed digital spaces into online communities by involving students in planning and producing social media content. They hire interns for roles such as copywriting, video production, and photography, providing them with exclusive training and networking opportunities.
Additionally, universities can use social media to live stream events, host webinars, share educational content, and promote research achievements. They can also leverage platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat to build community and showcase campus life. By staying responsive and available, universities can strengthen their connections with students and create a successful social media presence.
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Targeted advertising campaigns
Understanding the Student Journey
Mapping the student journey is essential for developing targeted advertising campaigns. Universities should identify the marketing touchpoints that occur during a student's decision-making process and develop strategies to capture their attention at critical moments. This includes analyzing the types of students most interested in their programs, such as recent high school graduates or adult learners seeking career changes.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Prospective students often use search engines to find universities that fit their needs. SEO techniques aim to boost a university's website ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). By optimizing their website with relevant keywords and ensuring it loads quickly, universities can increase their visibility to potential students.
Pay-per-click (PPC) Advertising
PPC advertising is a popular form of targeted advertising used by universities. Platforms like Google Ads allow universities to display targeted ads to students browsing relevant content online. PPC campaigns offer budget control, ensuring universities only spend what they intend without unforeseen charges.
Social Media Engagement
Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok are powerful tools for targeted advertising. They enable universities to connect directly with prospective students, showcase their culture, and provide valuable information. User-generated content featuring current students and virtual tours can also enhance engagement and help potential students envision themselves at the university.
Conversational Marketing
Implementing chatbots and live chat support on websites and social media channels facilitates real-time interactions with prospective students. This approach helps build stronger relationships and enables universities to address inquiries, concerns, and challenges promptly.
By utilizing these targeted advertising strategies, universities can effectively reach and engage prospective students, highlighting their unique selling points and increasing the likelihood of inquiries and applications.
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Unique selling points (USPs)
Another example of a unique selling point is the University of Northern Colorado, which allows students to bring their cats or dogs under 40 pounds to live with them in the dorms. Additionally, Kenyon College in Ohio leverages its reputation as a leader in the local food and sustainable farming movement, with 40% of the food served being locally sourced.
Universities can also offer scholarships or financial aid to attract top students. For instance, providing tuition breaks can be a significant enticement for incoming freshmen and their families. Furthermore, universities can showcase their academic profiles, promoting their high-tech extras, and other perks that enhance the student experience, happiness, and success.
Social media is a powerful tool for universities to connect with prospective students and showcase their unique offerings. It provides a direct point of connection, allowing universities to share compelling student stories, behind-the-scenes tours, and live footage of events. Additionally, universities can utilize pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and search engine optimization (SEO) to improve their online visibility and reach a wider audience.
Lastly, universities can develop targeted advertising campaigns and embrace conversational marketing techniques, such as chatbots and live chat support, to build stronger relationships with prospective students.
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Frequently asked questions
Universities use a variety of marketing strategies to attract students, including showcasing unique selling points, such as research facilities, partnerships with companies, and diverse curricula. They also emphasise their academic profiles, while offering perks and amenities like gourmet dining plans and recreational opportunities. Some universities also offer scholarships and financial aid to attract top students. Additionally, universities invest in digital marketing, such as search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, to increase their online visibility and reach potential students.
Social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are used by universities to showcase their culture and engage with prospective students. They share content that highlights the student experience, including compelling student stories and virtual tours of the campus. Social media allows universities to connect directly with students, providing them with information and interesting insights into university life.
A university's location can be a significant factor in its marketing strategy. For example, New York University showcases the cultural amenities of the city, offering discounted tickets to sporting events and Broadway shows. In contrast, Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, markets itself as an "outdoors-person's paradise", highlighting its ownership of an 112-acre ski hill. Universities use their locations to emphasise the unique opportunities available to students outside of the classroom.
