In the era of technology teenagers use technology for anything and everything; ranging from connecting to family and friends to searching for colleges and schools. The competition is becoming fierce even in the field of education; in order to sustain the competition schools and colleges have to strive hard to mark their presence. In order to get visibility amongst techno savvy teens it is important to have online presence. The best way of doing it is by having the content that connects to the students. Over the past two years, the number of colleges with blogs has grown from 36% to 55%; pointing to the growing recognition that content is key.
Creating the Marketing content for of higher education can be very crucial as it aims at targeting the most lively and agile audience. It needs to be accurate, interesting as well as informative. Here are the tactics that will help you to create appealing content for the higher education:
- Create content that connects
Students are always interested in knowing what is going inside the college. It is pivotal to have the content that connects to the students; it can be in the form of simple but honest story telling. Sharing bout the experiences and exposure that the students will encounter during their tenure can attract more students. Many of the colleges are engaged in such kind of content marketing. See how Harvard University shares the experiences of their students on its website. And one more example University of St. Thomas shares the success stories and college experiences of its students.
- Showcase the real image
There are various factors that affect the choice of students apart from the courses offered and the faculty. They are looking for an enthralling exposure to the completely different world. The content that only focuses on the academic aspect and details about the college doesn’t allure the readers. The content should give the flavor about the type of college life they will be leading in the upcoming years. It should talk about sports, tours, events and showcase the real image about the college.
Example: The Website of RMIT University shares all the information regarding the Life at RMIT. They share about all the events and happenings about the University. It helps the students in getting the glimpse of the college life.
- Create contents dedicated to students
The best medium to gain popularity amongst the students is to do so by focusing on your existing and past students. Alumni voice is very powerful for any college and prospective students get easily influenced by their opinion. For alumni, an online platform can be created where they can reconnect with the college and share their experiences. Many colleges encourage the students to write the content and share the on campus experiences. For example: Colby college is a liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine had a separate site ‘for the students and by the students’. Current students use it to share their experiences by means of blogs, essays, videos and podcasts to share the glimpse of their college life but it is also attracting inspiring students.
- Encourage conversations
Create a platform to engage the students in conversation. For example: Hopkins Interactive is a platform created to enable prospective and existing students to connect with Johns Hopkins. The content of the website is created by the current Johns Hopkins students. The students strive to provide a clear picture of Johns Hopkins by dispelling myths, answering questions, and providing direction to further resources. You can also join social media platform like Stunited.org to connect and share knowledge within students, university and their partner.
- Highlight the financial aid provided
Majority of the parents and students are daunted by the increasing cost of higher education. The best way to magnetize the students is to highlight the financial aid provided by the college. Example: William & Mary is one of the oldest university of America. They highlight the financial aid that the students can avail along with their admissions. It helps in fetching more attention and students find it trustworthy.
- Highlight best attributes about your institute
Students are always interested to know about the benefits that a particular college can offer over its competitor colleges. Highlight the benefits that a college can offer like counseling or placement services offered by the college. It helps in arousing interest amongst the students. Example: Daekin University a reputed institute in Australia shares all the facilities and attributes that can be availed.
- Highlight and conduct Interviews
Conducting an interview that can become can be shared in form of blog; video or podcast is a great means of content marketing. Students always wish to learn from other students. Allow your students to talk on behalf of you. They can share difficulties they had to face in their college life and how has your college or staff helped them in resolving the difficulties. Conduct an interview of the professors who are expert in their particular field. Furthermore, request employer partners to do video testimonials stating why they hire students from your college and their overall experience with your institute. It is very vital to have the content that engages the students because:
Summary: All the educational institutes share the same goal of attracting more and high quality students and faculty. In order to stand different amongst the mass they should focus at content marketing as it helps in building brand recognition as well as reputation.
