Are you looking to expand your company’s reach? Education marketing is the answer. Here, you can increase the demand for your product, services or institutions as more people choose online education. The data speaks loudly: The global e-learning industry is set to reach $457.8 billion by 2026.
How do you develop your first education marketing campaign? How much money and time do you need to invest? What is the full range of benefits?
In this guide, you will learn the fundamentals of education marketing. Understand the steps to creating an education marketing strategy, plus get actionable tips.
What is education marketing?
Education marketing is the practice of promoting educational institutions, programs, products, or services to prospective students (aka customers), thereby increasing student enrollment.
Let’s look at an example. The nearby community college is trying to increase the number of students enrolling in its vocational training courses, with a particular focus on health care programs. To achieve this, they create targeted advertisements, social media posts, and testimonials from alumni who have had rewarding careers.
Additionally, they host webinars and virtual open days to connect with prospective students and answer their questions by highlighting the high demand for health care professionals.
Comment: Education marketing is often confused with education-based marketing. The latter is a specific marketing strategy used to educate potential customers on a particular topic by creating demand rather than directly pushing them towards a sale.
Why is education marketing important
The online and offline education sectors are highly competitive. This is why it’s important for education marketing to stand out in today’s saturated market.
It enhances brand identity.
Successful marketing campaigns provide educational institutions with a strong and recognizable brand identity. They also have a strong association with specific qualities, values and characteristics.
An example of this could be a heartwarming welcome video, like Stanford’s video.
This helps to reach a wider audience.
Education marketing helps such institutions reach a broader and more diverse audience, including international students, non-traditional learners, and distance learners.
For example, non-traditional learners often need information about how the institution’s programs can fit into their busy lives and career aspirations. Effective marketing helps communicate this information and show that the institution understands and supports their educational journey.
Invite world-renowned speakers to motivate students to enroll in the institutions. Here is a motivational speech from Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer and Pixar Animation Studios.
In 2005, at Stanford University’s 114th commencement, he gave a speech urging graduates to pursue their dreams and see opportunities in life’s failures.
This allows teachers to learn about the needs of their students.
Education marketing is not just about students, their families or the institutions themselves. There are other stakeholders too, such as teachers.
Katie Stoddard, a former teacher turned education marketer, sees marketing as an important part of the education ecosystem.
“In a world where decisions on instructional content and professional learning are largely driven by past relationships, marketing is a way for teachers to learn about other solutions and tools that meet the needs of their learners,” Stoddard says.
Stoddard is the founder and managing director of Ed2Market. She notes that marketing allows smaller companies to compete with older providers in the field.
“And most importantly, it is the beginning of a cycle that brings the best products and services into classrooms around the world,” She says.
It helps student families get involved.
Education marketing should include any possible information that students and families may need, showing them what options they have, what they can expect and why they should pursue an education at a given educational institution. Needed
Students and their families can easily access information by reading testimonials, watching videos or taking virtual tours. This is true at all levels of education – from primary schools to universities to online academies.
According to the latest report of RNL, parents prefer to receive important information through email. The same report shows that parents are more likely to receive emails from universities if they have the following information:
- Costs (tuition, housing, etc.).
- Academic (information on programs, subject areas).
- Entry Requirements, Deadlines and Deadlines.
Building an Education Marketing Strategy
Here are six basic steps to creating an effective education marketing strategy.
For each stage, we’ve gathered real examples of campaigns.
1. Understand your target audience.
First, define your audience. In this case, decide who is receiving your educational proposal. By this we do not mean only prospective students.
Think about their families too. Parents or relatives often have the final say in their educational choices.
Have a clear understanding of the goals and expectations of both parties and make sure your educational offering is a perfect fit for them.
Pro Tip: Conduct surveys and anonymous reviews to collect feedback on your target audience. What do they value, what factors influence their decision making and what do they expect from institutions?
Knowing the answers will help you find common ground to offer courses and programs that meet their needs.
2. Articulate your unique selling points.
Define what distinguishes your educational institution or program.
Highlight your strengths, such as academic excellence, unique programs, experienced faculty, or special facilities. Recognize the qualifications and expertise of your faculty members.
For example, mention any faculty members or notable alumni who have received awards, grants or recognition. If you have modern facilities, laboratories, or other resources that provide exceptional learning opportunities, feature them prominently.
In the example below, Oregon State University uses solid information pieces to capture visitors’ attention. The copy focuses on science and research.
The statistics further reinforce the positive sentiment.
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3. Choose social media channels to connect with your audience.
Social media channels are extremely popular among members of your target audience, Millennials and Generation Z.
Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and LinkedIn are the most used social networks, each with its own unique features.
Right from the start, stick to 2-3 social media platforms where your audience spends most of their time. Be sure to maintain consistency across all your social media channels.
Central Michigan University posted an emotional video on TikTok showing the graduation ceremony where the brother of one of the graduates surprisingly came to congratulate his sister.
The video received over 5.5 million views despite only having 14,000 followers.
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4. Start an email marketing campaign.
The open rate for education-related emails is 35.42%, showing that old-fashioned email marketing is still effective in education.
Create a monthly or quarterly newsletter communicating your organization’s most important activities. Each email should have a clear and compelling call to action (CTA), such as “Enroll now,” “Learn more,” or “Register today.”
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Use email automation tools to send targeted emails based on recipient actions, such as welcome sequences, nurture campaigns, and event reminders.
Send follow-up emails, provide tips and tricks on how to connect with candidates, and nurture them through the enrollment or conversion process.
Pro Tip: Use HubSpot’s free email tracking tool to receive notifications as soon as someone opens your email and track their conversation.
Try our email software today.
5. Invest in digital advertising.
Digital advertising will help you reach not only local but also international students who are interested in studying abroad or taking online courses.
Digital advertising platforms, such as Google Ads, Bing Ads, and social media ads, offer precise targeting options.
Set up ad campaigns based on geographic, demographic or interest-based targeting. Experiment with different ad formats, such as search, display ads, video or social media ads.
In the image below, there are several search ad examples. All include the degree program as a title, as well as relevant CTAs that prompt you to learn more.
6. Track and optimize metrics.
Track metrics to calculate the ROI of your marketing efforts. Understand what’s working and what’s not, so you can optimize your resources and use them wisely.
Depending on your objectives, the list of relevant metrics and KPIs may vary.
Tips for Education Marketing
How to Succeed in Education Marketing? Here are some practical tips to implement in your education marketing campaigns.
1. Focus on informative content.
The key to educational marketing is to provide value at every level. Identify the problems and needs of your target audience throughout their user journey and create informative content around them.
The latest education marketing trends indicate that the most popular types of content include:
- Long-form articles.
- Study the matter.
- Newspapers.
- appreciation letter.
- Press releases.
- Checklists.
- E-books.
- Video.
- Webinar.
- podcast.
Need an example?
At HubSpot, we created a comprehensive Academy that offers teachers and university instructors the opportunity to access inbound education marketing resources and sales training materials, such as guides, templates, ebooks, and webinars.
As Academy members, teachers can use HubSpot’s software for free and become part of a community.
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2. Use subject spotlights to let students try before applying.
How do you ensure that prospective students have a good understanding of their desired program? Topic Spotlight is the answer.
Created by SpringPod, it delivers an interactive, cinematic course tasting experience, enabling institutions to attract, engage and inform prospective students about their course offerings.
Using this tip, you can even look at less interesting courses to promote them more.
3. Take advantage of student reviews.
Proactively solicit reviews from current and former students, parents, and alumni. Pay attention to both positive and negative reviews and identify areas for improvement.
Create engaging video testimonials for students, alumni, and faculty members sharing their experiences and success stories. Include them in your marketing materials, such as brochures, website content, and social media posts.
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4. Attract students’ attention with events.
Host days where prospective students can explore your campus, interact with faculty and current students, and get a feel for the educational environment.
You can also build a community with alumni and organize events like annual reunions. Invite renowned guest speakers, industry leaders or alumni to share their experiences and insights with students.
Get creative and host career fairs to introduce students to potential employers, internships and job opportunities. This is especially beneficial for higher education institutions.
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Here’s a podcast from The Education Marketer: Learn in detail how to use events to capture students’ attention.
Leverage education marketing to maximize your institution’s potential
Education marketing plays a vital role in the success and growth of educational institutions at all levels, from schools and colleges to universities and online academies.
To address changes in student expectations, combine different education marketing strategies, gain insights and adapt your campaigns accordingly.
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