It’s not wrong to say that there are more people online than in physical shops now. Technology has become an integral part of our lives. Whenever we have a question our first instinct is to check on Google, similarly, we look on Facebook for public opinion. For any company, institution or organization it is essential to have digital engagement strategies. Not only for big companies but also for the education sector, as digital marketing for the education sector is in demand. It is vital for the education sector to adopt digital marketing strategies to attract students.
In this blog, we will explore effective digital marketing strategy for students.
- Define Personality
Understanding what motivates people will help you draw a digital marketing strategy, that will hit the pain points of your audience. This leads you to draft messages that will drive engagement and increase sales.
In order to identify who fits the bill, you must undertake the following practice:
- Conducting surveys
- Conducting research
- Social Media
- Other digital channels
Once identified, the important part is to segregate them into personas, along with other details like demographics, goals and challenges, interests, etc.
- Invest in a website
The first thing students search for is websites that give them valuable information. Websites that help them form an informed decision of what they want to do.
Therefore, it is very important to keep in mind a few points:
- Optimizing website
- User-friendly
- Informative and visually appealing
- Responsive
Tracking data on an ongoing basis will help you understand where your audience is engaged and how you can refine and optimize your website accordingly.
- Don’t forget about mobiles
In an era where the youth is technologically driven and it has a ubiquitous presence on them, most of them look for information on their phone. Which makes mobile one of the dominant components in digital marketing.
Most students use their mobile phones during the discovery phase whereas others visit websites on their phone. According to the statistic of 2016, 43% of worldwide traffic was generated via mobile phone.
Holding your audience on this platform is difficult if your website is not optimized for it.
- Effective Digital Channels
Studies show that 16-24-year-olds spend an average of 2 hours on social media per day. The key to reaching them is by understanding the touch points you can discover such as digital channels. Each channel has its pros and cons and knowing those will help you identify the right channel:
- Visuals– Snapchat is very popular among the youth and that is the reason why companies hunch onto this platform. Whereas, Pinterest thrives on quality imagery.
- Real-time– Twitter has become a driving force for all companies, information as well as knowledge can be shared on one platform.
- Targeting– In recent times Facebook has lost the attention of teenagers and millennials as they move to platforms like Snapchat and Instagram.
- B2B platform– Similar to Facebook, LinkedIn can build community and can also reach a new prospect.
- Collect and Create content
Nowadays information is available on your fingertip, and due to this reason creating blogs, videos, books, whitepapers, etc. will not only establish your institution as an influencer but it will also drive traffic to your website. Producing and developing new pages with meaningful content will help your website to rank high in search engines.
- Experiment with Paid Search
Experimenting and investing in paid advertising, or native advertising will expand your reach, increase awareness, builds the brand, page views, etc. Studies show that 70% of students prefer getting content online than through traditional media. This is the reason why a lot of institutions are building up their website and also makes it more relevant for the students.
- Inculcate Technology in Marketing
In this technologically driven world, why not amalgamate technology with your marketing strategy?
This combination can do wonders if used well, examples of this could be making documentaries showing students interaction, campus life, and art- infrastructure, etc.
This creates a great impact on the students as they can visualize and internalize the entire process.
- Regulate Offline with Online
In order to engage students, institutes can promote an ad campaign online which will take place at offline site(college). The positive side is that by combining online and offline strategies together will enable you to merge marketing activities to increase sales.
Digital marketing has proven its worth as a way to build brand awareness and engagement amongst customers and students alike. The above mentioned are some tips to increase digital engagement.