Promotion for educational institutes was not required in earlier times but it has become essential these days; reaching the audience through digital platforms makes it easy for the institutes to engage and communicate with the students properly
The internet has become an undeniable part of our daily lives. Today internet and digital media have a huge influence on the field of education. The education sector is one of the most profitable businesses ever since it has been established.
Digitalisation has truly revolutionised the education sector. As the majority of the population are users of the Internet. The Internet has changed the whole way of education. This has a direct bearing on the fact that educational institutions and universities need to make greater use of the internet and mobile devices to reach out to more and more students. And digital marketing is the best way that can be adopted by educational institutions to reach out to prospective students
Digital marketing is one of the emerging ways of promoting your business through the internet on various internet platforms. In today’s scenario, everyone is fully aware of the Internet and knows how to use it, it has made everything possible for everyone in seconds. According to reports, there are 692 million active internet users in India and by 2025 it will reach around 900 million.
Digital marketing is not only limited to a particular country but reaches the audience and promotes the business globally as well. Digital marketing count as the fastest-growing industry. It is growing at a rate of 25 per cent to 30 per cent rate per year.
Aspects of digital marketing for an educational institution
Institutions that provide higher education are using digital marketing as one of the most preferred mediums to attract students. Educational institutions need to follow a step-by-step approach and a well-planned strategy that is implemented in the right manner.
90 per cent of internet users do not go beyond the first three pages of the search engines to find the information they need. So use the right keywords and key phrases so that your website is always in the first three pages of the search engine result pages this requires educational institutions to make use of optimisation techniques. Also, keep in mind that the content they create is powerful and relevant to its potential students.
If you really want to attract more and more students you need to plan a strategy to gain the audience’s attention toward your institution.
Some of the strategies one can use on online channels to boost your reach as an educational institute can be:
Eye catchy website
A good website reflects your Institute’s image among its target audience. Website plays a vital role in digital marketing which is also considered the key to a successful digital marketing strategy.
A website without effective SEO will not organically appear in the top spots on a SERP (search engine results page) and therefore won’t generate many clicks from Google, Bing and other search engines. These clicks are critical to your digital marketing efforts because you need to drive as much traffic as possible to your site to generate direct sales.
Work on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
SEO is the organic or natural way to boost your reach through search channels. It is even the most cost-effective strategy to reach the students.
One needs to set and plan the right keywords for your website which is done in SEO to get an institution ranked on SERPs. And this is just one of the things that are done to beat the competition. Though it is the most natural way of reaching the audience it needs high-quality content with patience as it takes a bit time to rank on SERPs.
Digital adverstising
Advertising is the promotion of any service or product. Digital advertising has become a thing these days. Digital platforms have millions and billions followers thus advertising your institution will reach the students globally.
The use of social media has definitely increased during and after the pandemic and connected a huge number of people. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube can be used purely for digital advertising.
Influencer marketing
Influencers are the personalities whom people follow and get influenced by. Use this one as leverage and endorse your institute through the influencers whom students follow. People easily trust influencers and thus try the things their favorite influencer has endorsed. Alumni endorsement can be the most influential for other students.
Videos
Videos are the way to reach the students virtually. Videos can be used to give virtual campus tours, for FAQs and to introduce a wide variety of the other things present on the campus.
Live streaming
Go live from your different social media platforms and tell the audience about the institution, answer FAQs and have a talk with the faculty, this is a way of connecting to the students.
It is believed that 80 per cent of people are engaged in watching live streaming thus reaching more and more students.
Pay Per Click (PPC)
It is the way people pay for the advertisement for the number of times it is clicked. Make well-targeted ads and use the right keywords to get good results on SERPs.
This way the advertisement reaches well-targeted audience and gets more engagement.
Promotion for educational institutes was not required in earlier times but it has become essential these days. Reaching the audience through digital platforms makes it easy for the institutes to engage and communicate with the students properly.
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by Pranav Jha
source:bweducation.businessworld.in