How to Strengthen Higher Education Marketing: Part 2
Top Higher Education Marketing Trends to Implement in Your Strategy for 2023
In part one, we discussed the crucial roles of crowdsourcing and short form video content in higher ed marketing. While virtual events and digital marketing continue to be popular strategies for capturing student leads, striking a balance between traditional marketing and fresher trends is still highly important.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) marketing trend is not new, but it remains as relevant as ever. With so many prospective students looking for higher education options on major search engines, strong SEO strategies can help improve visibility and increase ranking.
Higher positioning in search engine results can drive more traffic to your school’s website, and if it’s populated with relevant and insightful content, such as blogs and easy-to-navigate resources, a prospective student is more likely to stay on your website for longer.
Updating your institution’s SEOs in a timely manner can lead to user retention, which will increase the prospective student’s familiarity with your school’s brand and identity.
Our Recommendation
One of the ways to increase your institution’s visibility and boost rankings is to create quality content for your website. Your content should be interactive, tell a story, and capture the voice of your school. Linking to reputable and high-ranking sources within your content can further positively affect your SEOs and bring awareness to your institution.
Unique Selling Proposition
When it comes to differentiating your academic institution from other competitors, it’s crucial to keep your unique selling proposition (USP) in mind.
While there is no doubt that each school has its own identity and branding, this marketing strategy is directed more toward identifying specific offerings that are unique to your institution.
For example, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, people had to quickly adapt to online learning. Even though in 2023 many higher education institutions are expected to fully transition back to in-person instruction, online education remains in high demand for some students. People who require more flexibility to balance their studies with other responsibilities gravitate toward online or hybrid learning, and if your institution offers such programs, it is worth putting them at the forefront of your marketing strategy.
Our Recommendation
When trying to identify your institution’s USP, ask yourself and your team these questions:
- Who are our actual and ideal applicants?
- What programs or services do we offer that other schools don’t?
- What are our strengths and how can we best communicate them?
Bottom Line
A successful higher ed marketing strategy will always be unique to your institution, but a combination of crowdsourcing, short form video content, SEO, and USP can give you a boost in enrollment in the new calendar year. Check out Part 1 of How to Strengthen Higher Education Marketing.
5 Horizons can help incorporate all of these tips and more into your higher education marketing strategy. With our vast experience working with community college and university clients, the 5 Horizons team understands your unique target audience and provides exceptional creative execution and data insights that bring in tangible enrollment results. Let us help you reach and exceed your marketing goals.