How to increase student recruitment in the education sector

Customer acquisition is part of any sales process. In certain areas, the complexity is accentuated. In this article, we look at some effective strategies to help increase student acquisition in the education sector.

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Recruitment, the focus of attention

According to official government According to official government data on the Spanish University System, there are 84 universities in Spain, of which 50 are public and 34 are private.

Competition for student enrollment is immense. Many students move from their hometowns to other territories to attend a specialized center, either by prestige or by type of degree.

What can we do to achieve enrollment? Work on a series of well-defined and structured marketing and communication actions.

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Educational marketing

Educational marketing is an aspect of marketing that consists of optimizing student recruitment by following a series of marketing principles.

The first step to define is the target audience. In this case, the potential customer is the future student and as such, we must direct all our objectives based on their interests.

However, we will also take into account other aspects, for example, the family. On many occasions, the opinion of the parents or legal guardians is vital when deciding on one educational center or another, especially when it comes to private centers.

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How to attract audiences to the education sector? Effective strategies

Normally, the main determining factors for the choice of a university training center are governed by the following factors:

• Prestige.

• Variety in the range of degrees offered.

• Teacher recognition.

• Professional projection.

We understand that Word of Mouth (WOM) often carries a lot of weight, but it is not the determining factor. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in a series of actions that balance the balance and help to position the center positively. Although there are many more, here are some examples of effective educational marketing strategies.

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1. Optimize web content

The website is the school's letter of introduction. Therefore, this will be one of the fundamental pillars when it comes to attracting new students. What should be taken into account? Broadly speaking, the following:

• Offer quality and well-structured content.

• Take care of the SEO positioning aspects. Focus efforts on improvements for the web page, from a study of keywords, to speed and loading parameters of the web. This will help to better position your site in search engines. Remember, the important thing is to appear in the first results. 90% of users do not go beyond the first page of Google.

• Pay attention to the mobile version. A responsive website adapted to mobile devices is vital to attract an audience. This type of target is digital native and uses the mobile to get information about everything.

The combination of these elements can make the difference between success and failure in attracting students. Choosing a training center is a delicate and time-consuming process. If they don't find what they are looking for, they will probably abandon the site.

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2. Social media marketing

Social media is the perfect tool to reach a mainstream audience. Generation Z lives with social networks and, for this reason, it is important to work them consistently.

Throughout 2022, the average social media usage by users globally was 151 minutes per day, up 3 minutes from 2021, according to Statista data.

To capture the attention of users through the social channel, it is important to define a message and work on it. It is also necessary to decide which platforms are the most appropriate to make yourself known.

Let's keep in mind that there are more than 100 types of social networks. Each one is intended for a specific type of target. Defining which one is essential before launching communication actions.

This channel should be used as a method of promotion and communication, but it can also be used for other purposes. For example, through the implementation of an educational chatbot that solves the user's doubts in an automated way.

Today, this technology can be applied in various areas, from WhatsApp to Facebook. This will help to improve the vision of the center for the potential customer.

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3. Invest in SEM

SEM campaigns (paid search engine advertising) make it easy to capture our target audience thanks to the parameters to be included in the paid ads: interests, age, education, etcetera.

It requires a planned strategy, investment and specific work by digital marketing professionals, but the results are worth it.

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4. Exploiting email marketing

Email marketing is essential to launch communications and promote a company's products/services. However, as we said at the beginning, you have to know your audience.

It is also necessary to nurture the database with the e-mail addresses of the people we are going to target. How? For example, through a lead magnet, that is, offering something in exchange for this data.

In the educational environment, the most recommended are the download of webinars for a specific class, an eBook, a success story of a former student explained through a video and a long etcetera.  

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5. Other considerations

Monetary issues are the most common concerns for users. Therefore, working on a pricing strategy in this regard can also influence decision making.

In most cases, university education is a high investment. Communicating payment facilities or installment payments and seasonal discounts can help to attract users.

In terms of offline marketing, but within educational marketing, it is also effective to use on-site events to explain the educational offerings, show the facilities and more.

All this can (and should) be supported by the online environment. Communicating an educational day or a master class to explain a specific course on digital channels guarantees more visibility.

Setting up an educational marketing strategy can become complex. Digitalization has accelerated the process and the need to pay attention to this issue must be prioritized from minute one.

At Konecta, we put all our experience and know-how in multichannel to guarantee your success in attracting students. Discover all our services.