Marketing Blunders That Stand to Hurt Colleges
With higher education becoming a prerequisite for a rapidly-increasing number of jobs, it’s only natural that institutions of higher learning would step up their recruitment efforts. Unfortunately, in the absence of effective marketing strategies, such efforts are liable to fall flat. So, if your school’s marketing endeavors have consistently failed to generate success, it may be time to take a step back and consider the things you may be doing wrong. Colleges looking to improve and enhance their marketing efforts should make a point of avoiding the following blunders.
Refusing to Work with Seasoned Marketers
If your school’s marketing efforts could use an injection of fresh energy, don’t hesitate to contact a highly rated marketing agency. The right agency will assist you in crafting an assortment of promotional campaigns that are uniquely suited to your college. Furthermore, seasoned marketers will prove helpful in implementing these campaigns and revising them as needed. Working with a dependable marketing company can also prove to be a worthwhile long-term investment, as the knowledge and tools experienced pros provide you with are likely to come in handy for many years to come.
For best results, take care to seek out a marketing agency that has ample experience working with colleges and other educational institutions. As you’re likely to find, a reliable higher education marketing agency can be an invaluable ally in the quest to effectively promote your college.
Failing to Select the Right Promotional Outlets
When promoting a college – or any type of business or institution, for that matter – it’s important to find promotional outlets that are likely to connect with your target audience. For example, businesses attempting to catch the attention of older demographics often find success through purchasing ad space in print publications and commercial spots on television and radio stations. On the flip side, institutions that seek to capture the interest of younger audiences tend to utilize social media platforms, search engine optimization (SEO), and various other forms of digital promotion. So, if you’ve been expending time and energy working with promotional outlets that are ill-suited to your target audience, you shouldn’t be surprised if these efforts fail to produce the desired results.
Not Focusing Sufficient Efforts on Social Media
As touched upon in the previous section, social media platforms can function as effective vehicles for reaching younger audiences. However, despite this simple truth, many colleges have yet to utilize social media to their full advantage. Simply, maintaining accounts on the web’s leading social platforms isn’t enough to generate interest in your college. To take full advantage of the promotional power of social media, you’ll need to put genuine thought and effort into the types of posts you share, as well as the frequency at which you share new content.
For starters, it is imperative that you update each of your school’s social media accounts on a daily basis. The ideal number of daily posts varies from platform to platform, but you should aim to update each account at least one to two times per day. Secondly, the posts you craft should actively encourage audience engagement and sharing. After all, the more times a post is shared, the more people are likely to see it.
You should also regard audience engagement as one of your top priorities. This entails responding to questions, comments, and concerns in a timely and polite manner. By extension, make a point of avoiding arguments with other social media users, as this is liable to reflect poorly on both you and your college.
Considering what a vitally important promotional tool social media has become, a dedicated social media manager is liable to prove a worthwhile addition to your school’s marketing staff. As the job title suggests, this person will be responsible for everything social media-related. From post creation and scheduling to audience interaction, a qualified candidate will be able to take your college’s social media efforts to the next level.
It isn’t hard to see why so many people are opting to continue their respective educations. With nearly 66% of U.S. jobs requiring candidates to have some type of college degree, it’s no stretch to say that higher education has become more important than ever. As such, it behooves every college to put genuine thought and effort into its marketing endeavors and steer clear of the mistakes outlined above.
Pranab Bhandari is an Editor of the Financial Blog “Financebuzz”. Apart from writing informative financial articles for his blog, he is a regular contributor to many national and international publications namely Tweak Your Biz, Growth Rocks ETC.
