Inbound marketing for universities has been important in educational institutions, since good foundations have been created to be able to build content that is relevant to their buyer personas .
In some countries, it is normal to see parents planning the university life that their children will have. Even before they were born. Qatar Phone Number List They start saving “for college” without ever seeing their firstborn’s first ultrasound.
On the other hand, Qatar Phone Number List there are many people who also plan their lives in a different way: going to college, starting university, doing a postgraduate degree, getting married, buying a house of their own, having children and, finally, saving for their children’s university.
And where does inbound marketing come in here? This methodology claims that the days of intrusive and traditional advertising are long gone . People are no longer attracted by ads that they just want to sell at all times, but by good content.
What are the objectives of inbound marketing for universities?
Differentiate yourself and stand out from others is not a simple task that can be done easily. Every day more universities have good websites to present to their students. Therefore, you should pay attention to the following aspects:
Position your institution through relevant content.
Communicate what services the university provides.
Convert most of your website visitors into students.
But what kind of content should you post?
Before you apply inbound marketing to the website of your university, it is important that you do a study on what your target audience is . You must know him in depth in order to reach his interests related to the institutions.
You also have to set goals from the beginning. Make it your goal to capture the attention of both parents and prospective students.
In this way, you can see the benefits of inbound marketing for universities. If you don’t have specific goals from the start, success will be difficult.
The idea is that you generate engagement with educational material that is posted on your website . It is important to achieve a sense of belonging to the institution, which can be developed online and offline.
6 tips that you should apply in inbound marketing for universities
Tips that you should apply in inbound marketing for universities
This is a strategy that has many advantages for the education sector, so your business can be successful if you apply it well. Here are some tips to apply inbound marketing in this sector.
Search all year long for potential students, don’t wait for registration season to arrive.
Use good value content to increase the prestige of the university.
It differentiates the messages that go to the students and the parents, and accompanies each one in the decision process.
Identify your ideal students according to demographic and psychographic terms.
Have an influence on what their decisions will be, especially from the early stages of the decision process.
Seeks to increase the number of students.
Inbound marketing strategies for universities to attract new students
Inbound marketing is part of the marketing strategies to generate good content in your campaigns and your business. Therefore, it is essential that you get the most out of your educational strategies in order to attract more students. Here are some strategies you can use:
1.- Make use of web positioning or SEO to gain visibility
SEO positioning
The SEO is a fully profitable strategy that allows web promoting your institution throughout the year . And the best thing is that it does it organically, so you will not have to invest in any type of ads.
According to different studies, 72% of your potential students will visit the university website between two weeks and two months before visiting the campus . That is why the institution’s website must be positioned in the first search engine results .
And by being located in the first positions, you will have more chances that your future students will click on your website to find out what it is about. By doing this, they will be able to review what careers you offer, what agreements you have and what are the benefits of studying there.
Once they have done that, they will most likely request more information, leaving their contact information. In this way, you will be able to connect with them and, in this way, accompany them until the moment they make the decision to choose your university as their home of studies.
2.- Make good content marketing to generate engagement
Content marketing
The content marketing is one of the fundamental pieces in the inbound marketing. And it is that he will accompany that potential student from the beginning to the end, so that he can train with you in a professional way. And so that, in turn, they continue training in the future.
This strategy will help you connect much more with those future students, generating a great commitment or engagement . When you deliver valuable content, and also free, those prospects are going to feel grateful, considering your university as that place where they can do their professional studies.
Here are 7 content ideas you can implement to increase student enrollment:
Infographics: It is a dynamic way for you to explain complex topics.
Post in social networks: You can place extracts from the blog that your university has, as well as images, videos and memes.
Videomarketing: In general, people retain more information when it is presented to them on video.
Webinars: You can use experts from different careers. In them they can share what their experience has been and some tips to succeed in their area.
E-books: Vocational tests, guides to discover what your ideal career is, case studies, etc.
Podcast: Interview with students who are part of the same institution, expert advice, etc.
Live broadcasts: You can solve the main doubts of your future prospects. You can use question and answer sessions.
Of course, you must remember that, if you want to make a good content strategy, it will be essential that you define the audience you are going to target and what their needs are . It is not the same to create content for someone who does not yet know what to study than for someone who is in search of master’s degrees.
3.- Use email marketing campaigns to retain current and potential students
Email marketing for universities
With the use of email marketing you will be able to offer much more content and in a personalized way to those future students. You will make them feel part of the university, even if they are not yet part of it . With this inbound marketing strategy for universities you will be able to:
Share valuable content that is exclusive, which you will not find in other digital channels.
Remember what are the steps and requirements that must be followed in an admission process.
Invite them to webinars, face-to-face talks, or university tours.
Be positioned in the minds of future and current students.
4.- Social networks, the best channel to have a presence
University social networks
When you are looking to disseminate and share your educational content on social networks , most of them become “vertical networks” . Most likely, you are used to hearing that horizontal networks are aimed at any user, while vertical networks have a specific theme .
But if you take into account the theme of the content, some networks are more oriented towards certain sectors, so many will work better than others in Inbound marketing for universities.
In this case, it can be said that Facebook is a horizontal network, while LinkedIn is vertical, since it is aimed at creating relationships in the professional field between different users. But in educational terms, it works much better on Facebook.
The main reason for this is that education is fully represented on Facebook . This platform allows you to create groups and pages, which are usually very exploited in this sector. On the other hand, Facebook is a very well known and wide network, so it is easily accessible for such broad topics.
5.- Analysis of results
Analysis of result
It is extremely important that you follow the evolution of your strategy constantly. In this way, you will know what types of content are most productive for you . This analysis is essential, as it will allow you to make modifications as a need arises.
Within the technological ecosystem that inbound marketing has, you will find many tools and software that will give you precise data on the indicators that should accompany your strategy.
With the inbound marketing strategy for universities, you are going to give your institution a boost so that it can optimize its results. This is going to be a great opportunity for you to give that boost your university needs with a lower investment than you might expect.
Now that you know what the benefits you will get from this, it is time for you to create your strategy. Do you need a push? At Antevenio we help you create an effective Inbound Marketing strategy , so that you connect with users and convert them into customers .
