Education Marketing (Service Marketing 29.05.2021)

Education Marketing

Education 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 courses and how-to videos to research papers and books to software applications for desktop computers and mobile devices. With the right education marketing strategy, educational content can spread like wildfire and ignite curious minds from all over the world.

 

Why Does the Education Sector Need Education Marketing?

The education sector has been experiencing a massive boom thanks to the numerous opportunities created by the internet and modern technologies in general.

Traditional educational institutions, many of which are available on the App Store and Google Play. Besides education apps, the e-learning market is also saturated with online courses, videos, eBooks, and websites, making it very difficult for new players to get noticed.

 

Education marketing’s purpose is to implement various marketing strategies to promote valuable educational content. And it is often the only way for new educational content to reach students and gain traction.

 

Education marketing shouldn’t be confused with education-based marketing, a specific marketing strategy that involves the education of prospects, rather than pitching them, to establish trust. On the other hand, education marketing encompasses all marketing activities in the education sector, including the following:

 

1. School marketing: There was a time when schools didn’t need marketing because they relied solely on their reputation and word of mouth. That time is forever gone because millennial parents are more tech-savvy and use the internet to support their decision making. Schools that don’t actively market themselves are destined to be ignored by many millennial parents who would otherwise be greatly interested in what they have to offer.

2. Marketing for higher education: Colleges and universities benefit from marketing for higher education because it helps them elevate their brand and drives enrolment. Students benefit from it because higher education marketing helps them make the right choice when choosing their education path.

 

3. Digital marketing for the education sector: In today’s digital world, traditional marketing strategies are no longer suitable for targeting younger demographics. Educational institutions must embrace digital channels if they want to convey their message to a large audience in a cost-effective manner. Such channels include email, web content, social media, paid search, and others. Harnessing these and other marketing channels is not easy, but the potential to greatly increase revenue and decrease cost per lead is huge, making digital marketing an important cornerstone of every education marketing strategy.

 

4. Social media marketing for educational institutions: Parents and students alike spend a lot of time on social media sites, and educational institutions should establish a presence on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to engage with them and learn more about their wants and expectations. Content published on social media should be bite-sized, captivating, and in line with the image the institution is trying to build.

 

5. The promotion of educational apps: The current educational app market is so competitive that it’s no longer enough just to have a great product—one must also have a great educational marketing strategy that is executed to perfection to get ahead of the competition.

 

7 Best Education Marketing Strategies in 2021

 

1. Use Social Media Platforms to Connect with Your Audience

Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, are the most popular among new generation parents.

 

 

 

2. Include Digital Advertising in Your Marketing Budget

Digital advertising can be a very effective way of marketing education services, which is part of the reason why worldwide digital advertising spending is predicted to reach over 

 

3. Create a Mobile-Friendly Website with an Optimized Landing Page

4. Encourage Students to Leave Online Reviews

5. Create Engaging Video Content

 

6. Promote Safety

Leaning into promoting the safety and convenience of learning from home is going to be a winning strategy for educational marketing.

 

7. Create Educational Apps

 

5 steps to a successful education sector marketing strategy

Education sector marketing is notoriously challenging. Well-known hurdles include budget limitations and having to appeal to a completely new audience each year. With the rise of digital marketing channels, marketing your educational institution effectively is becoming even more competitive and complex.

 

Students (and their parents) now expect online entry forms, an authentic presence on social media, and candidate recruitment becoming a year-round activity – and as digital channels continue to evolve, even established educational suppliers should be re-evaluating their marketing strategy annually.

 

1. Consider key timings

Look at when in the year you can best plan or review your marketing strategy, also allowing time for implementation. Recommended timings are preparing for the new academic year and getting ready for the new financial year.

 

Regardless of your budget, setting aside time at critical points in the year to work on your marketing strategy will help you generate demand that leads to fill those spaces. It’s also worth remembering to keep future candidates warm throughout the year. Don’t just see candidate recruitment as a one-off ‘open day’, as competitors will find it all too easy to creep up and steal prospective students from you when you least expect it if you’re not at the top of your game year-round.

 

2. Understand and use of social media

Prospective students now expect you to have a strong social media presence across key channels, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Being present on these channels helps you keep your school, college or university front of mind, so make sure you’re making the most of social platforms.

 

3. Become a ‘page one’ search result on Google SEO

When parents and students are researching suitable education providers online, it’s essential that you’re a top result. As Google is the most popular search engine, Google Ads can be the most effective way to help drive traffic to your website. There is of course a huge amount of relevant competition in Google Ads, so it’s important you know what you’re doing when setting this up! It’s also a good idea to work with someone who is experienced in search engine marketing (SEM), otherwise it can become very expensive.

 

4. Take a multi-channel approach BUT join it up

Prospectuses remain key and are still the best place to tell your story, from results to reputation and facilities to extra-curricular activities – but they shouldn’t be seen as a document in silo!

Print is most definitely not dead (especially in the world of education), but make sure your prospectus is also featured on your digital, social and email communications as well as any promotional items you give out at events. Keep your theme joined up throughout to make the most of your investment.

 

5. Get some credibility

Testimonials from past students, awards you’ve won as well as your latest results are crucial to building up the credibility behind your story. These are all great endorsements which can be incredibly powerful, just like the ‘TripAdvisor’ effect on the leisure industry.