Higher Education Marketing Strategies: 3 Tips for 2023
It’s no secret that COVID-19 affected enrollment in universities and colleges around the world, including the United States. This reality paired with economic uncertainty and a highly specialized labor force, has made attracting students in higher education far more competitive than in years past. One way to combat these stark realities is to utilize robust higher education marketing strategies that resonate with younger generations and give your institution a competitive edge.
Following are three helpful higher education marketing strategies to consider in 2023.
3 Higher Education Marketing Strategies You Should Know About
Understand the Power of SEO
Search engine optimization is a powerful weapon in digital marketing. Search engines use complex algorithms to rank web pages. These rankings are used to ensure that internet users’ search results are relevant to what they are searching for. A well-optimized website should have keyword-rich copy along with software plug-ins that integrate tags and keywords into a website’s code to help search engine algorithms scan and organize the content on a website. Properly executed SEO means that your website can rank on the first page of search results for specific topics and keywords, which can drive a substantial amount of visitors to your website. SEO can be a complicated endeavor so it’s best to collaborate with reputable digital marketing firms for best results.
Track Helpful KPIs
Although an increase in enrollment is an ideal key performance indicator (KPI) of your marketing efforts, it’s not the only metric you should consider. Other important KPIs include engagement on social media, from where your website visitors originate, and call-to-action (CTA) conversion rates.
These metrics help evaluate whether your marketing messaging is resonating with prospective students. Tracking engagement on social channels such as new followers, likes, comments, and more on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok can help determine what type of content attracts attention. You can also organize engagement by topics. If similar questions keep coming up in comments sections or private messages, these could be compiled into helpful content in the form of a FAQs webpage, blog, or even an informative video.
Keeping an eye on what drives visitors to your websites is also a helpful KPI. Your website’s visitors could come from a variety of places including specific social platforms that post content from your website, Google and Yahoo searches, and hyperlinks/QR codes embedded in e-mail campaigns, direct mail pieces, and other print materials. Knowing where your website traffic comes from helps you nurture the points of origin that brings visitors to your site. Similarly, monitoring CTA conversion rates, such as when a e-mail address or phone number is supplied for further communication helps your marketing team better understand what messaging spurns interest and action from prospective students.
Personalize Your Messaging
Personalization is one of the most powerful higher education marketing strategies an institution can utilize. Everything from direct mail pieces to email marketing can be personalized. For example, you can segment your audience into specific groups such as those with undecided majors, those with specific career paths in mind, and students returning to college after a hiatus. This level of personalization makes it possible to ensure that your messaging resonates with a prospective student’s needs, which can increase the likelihood that they commit to attending your university.
Pel Hughes can help you implement these higher education marketing strategies. We offer database services, campaign automation, cross media marketing, personalized messaging, and direct mail. Give our helpful experts a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more.
