In previous posts in this digital Marketing series, we’ve discussed SEO basics, goal setting and social platforms to help you reach some of your goals. In this final post, we’re going over all the content sources available to higher education institutions and how to use them.
Importance of Content Marketing
In the U.S., there are nearly 5,000 institutions of higher learning—that’s a lot of competition your School is up against. And you each have three common overall goals:
- Attract and retain quality students and staff
- Maintain good relationships with alumni and receive donations from them to support school programs
- Build brand recognition.
To stand out from the enormous crowd of colleges, you need to put Content Marketing at the center of your digital marketing efforts. Businesses aren’t the only organizations that need and benefit from innovative content marketing strategies.
You need to educate as well as entertain people with your unique content. You need to use content marketing to share your story as a university. With good storytelling, you form an emotional connection with your audience through compelling stories, helping you attract and retain students and staff.
And there are several forms of digital content you can create. The following are possible content types universities should embrace:
- Website
- Blog posts
- Infographics
- Videos or mini documentaries
- Podcasts
- Mobile apps.
Taking Advantage of Content Sources
So now you know the digital content you need to be creating—but where do you start? What sources are out there to help point you in the right direction?
Answer: The people at your university.
Nobody knows your university, its students and prospective students and what students want from your university better than those who work directly with students, who attended your university and who are currently attending.
Admissions Officers and Counselors
The number of enrolled students is extremely important to every higher education institution. It dictates, well, everything. In order to effectively market your school to potential students, you need to understand the buyer’s journey, which in this case is your potential students’ journey to your school.
The students and their families are going to spend endless hours researching various schools—the good, the bad and the ugly—so the right schools to apply to are selected. Part of their research is talking with the school’s admissions office. Potential students talk to admissions officers before applying, asking questions about the school and/or finding out about the admissions process. They then talk to an admission counselor for needed nurturing, like guiding them through the application steps and making their application process as easy and enjoyable as possible.
Those in the admissions office talk to potential students via phone calls and emails. They hear their wants and concerns as they’re researching schools and applying, so they’re a go-to source of knowledge to help you create the content that answers their questions during this part of the journey to your school.
Tour Guides
Campus tours are an effective recruitment tool. Tour guides have face-to-face experience and conversations with potential students, as well as their parents. They spend hours upon hours each day walking and talking with those interested in your school. They share their knowledge about the wonderful scenery, classes and social life your university does, but they also spend a good chunk of each tour listening to and answering questions.
Your campus tour guides have a wealth of knowledge about everything prospects want to know about your university, whether it’s buildings, programs, events, what the best foods in the cafeteria are, etc. They spend time with a handful of new prospects each day, so it’s in your best interest to use their knowledge as you create a content marketing strategy.
Alumni and Current Students
Alumni and current students are two other content sources you can’t pass up talking to.
Alumni did their time attending your school. They’ve taken classes, attended games and events, eaten on the quad and lived the complete college experience. No matter how long ago they attended, they remember what they wanted to know about your school before they applied and what they liked receiving from your school while attending. Alumni are also one of your target audiences, so you can also email them a survey or call them to find out what types of alumni content and topics they’d like to see.
Likewise, current students are there right now. They’re easy access because they walk your sidewalks and hallways every day. Their admission process wasn’t long ago, so they can provide helpful tips in that area, as well as giving feedback as to what content types, channels and topics are important to them now as current students.
To rise above the competition, you need a solid content marketing strategy and need to create unique, helpful content for all your audiences. Tapping into the content sources—the people at your university—readily available to you is how you’re going to know where to start with your content marketing efforts.
The post Digital Marketing for Universities: Tapping Your Content Sources appeared first on STRYDE.
