Online marketing and colleges seem like a match made in heaven, and it is in many ways. Students will read a lot about the options out there and will want to warm up before they decide to enroll in any college. They also spend a lot of time online in general, and this is where you need to get their attention.
However, too many schools are used to the old ways of doing things and might not know how to start when it comes to online marketing. Let’s take a look at some of the things that colleges get wrong about online marketing.
Not Working with the Right Team
Working with the right team is extremely crucial here. If you’re going to go with a generalist, you have to make sure that they have a verifiable track record working with colleges specifically. If they can’t demonstrate any real expertise, then go with a higher education digital marketing agency.
They will have the tools and expertise needed specifically to boost engagement with your brand and enrollment. Working with the right people will help keep the costs of acquisition low and help you attract exactly the type of student you want.
SEO is Not a Set it and Forget Strategy
A lot of colleges will have this idea that good SEO lasts forever and that they won’t need to do any work once they’ve reached a certain point. While it is true that you will get residual benefits from old pieces of content and that they will start generating traffic on their own if your strategy was properly executed, you will have to continue to feed the beast if you want to continue seeing results.
This means that you’ll have to prune old content, make updates, and always come up with fresh content.
Focusing too Much on Paid Advertising
You can’t expect too many students to decide to go to your school or particular program just because they saw your ad somewhere. You first have to establish authority and be an actual resource to them. They’ll then be more inclined to listen to other things that you have to say, and maybe consider enrolling.
This is why you shouldn’t focus solely on paid advertising methods. Refining your content marketing strategy or improving your on-site content could pay much more dividends in the long run if it’s done strategically. People who came to your site after reading an article are more likely to come to your page and check other pieces of content. They are more likely to enroll as well.
You’re Not Advertising When Your Audience is
If you want to get a chance at paid marketing, you at least have to make sure that you display it in front of the right set of eyes. However, you may not know what the best avenues are. All major social platforms should be considered, so we suggest you try as many as you can and don’t dismiss any.
Just because LinkedIn sounds more professional than Instagram, doesn’t mean that one of your posts can’t suddenly catch fire and give your college tons of unexpected attention and even press coverage.
These are all common mistakes colleges make when using online marketing. By correcting these, you’ll be able to reduce your costs and zero in on the perfect candidates for your institution.
