7 Challenges in Higher Education Digital Marketing + Solutions to Fix Them
You sit at your desk, scrolling through pages of data on current and prospective students, social media analytics, and inquiries, but you can't shake the feeling of being stuck. You're doing everything "right," but the results aren't reflecting your efforts. These are the challenges of higher education marketing - the target is constantly moving, the landscape is ever-changing, and the tools are continuously evolving.
Whether you're struggling with attracting prospective students or tight budget constraints, overcoming these challenges is a journey that can drive your institution towards more meaningful connections with current and future students. From implementing new technologies to showcasing student success stories, there are ways to make your marketing communications more impactful.
In this blog, we will explore common challenges faced in higher education marketing and discover seven practical solutions that can help you transform these problems into opportunities for success. So, let's dive in!
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Challenge 1: Attracting the right audience
Attracting the right audience to your school is one of the key challenges in higher education marketing. Crafting marketing strategies to appeal to your diverse target audiences, such as traditional students (mainly Gen Z), adult students, and international students, can be complex. Each group has unique needs, expectations, and motivations, which your marketing efforts must address effectively.
The challenge lies in creating messaging that appeals to these different audiences and effectively delivering this content through each audience's most frequently used channels. Addressing this challenge is critical to the success of your recruitment and your school's overall growth and reputation.
Solution 1: Develop student personas
One effective solution to attract the right audience is to create student personas. Personas are semi-fictional representations of your ideal students based on market research and actual data about your existing students. They help you better understand your prospective students, making it easier to tailor your content, messaging, course development, and services to meet their needs.
Here's how you can use personas to tailor your marketing communications better:
Gen Z Persona: For traditional students belonging to Gen Z, create a persona that includes their typical online behaviours, preferred social media platforms, and interests. For instance, Gen Z is known for valuing diversity, inclusivity, and authenticity, and they typically engage with interactive and visually appealing content. They also prefer to see institutions that are in tune with technology and are committed to sustainability.
Adult Students Persona: Adult students, who represent 37% of college students, often balance their studies with other responsibilities, like full-time work or family. They are primarily motivated by flexible learning options, like online courses, night classes, and programs that can enhance their career prospects. Using these aspects in your marketing messages will help you attract more adult students.
International Students Persona: International students face unique challenges such as language barriers, cultural differences, and relocation issues. Their personas can include preferred communication channels, information about their home countries' education systems, and their expectations about living and studying in a new country. These details will allow you to tailor your marketing messages to international students and address their unique concerns and needs.
Challenge 2: Low engagement on social media
Managing your social media presence and developing a content strategy that encourages engagement is crucial to your process. High engagement on social media can drive more students to your school's website, enhance the effectiveness of your marketing strategy, and ultimately lead to an increase in enrollment.
The challenge lies in frequently creating and posting new content that resonates with prospective students. Failing to do so suggests to prospective students that your institution lacks a vibrant community and is behind the times. This assumption results in low engagement, leading to missed opportunities to connect with prospective students, negatively impacting your recruitment efforts.
Solution 2: Incorporate user-generated content
One effective solution to addressing low social media engagement is incorporating user-generated content (UGC) into your social media strategy. UGC is any form of content—like images, videos, text, and audio—that users have posted on online platforms. In this case, the users are your students, faculty, and alums. Here are some ways to leverage their content:
Student Stories: Encourage your students to share their day-to-day experiences, academic achievements, or campus events on their social media accounts. For example, you could create a unique hashtag for your school and ask students to use it when posting about their university life. Student content can be reshared on the university's official social media accounts.
Alumni Testimonials: Encourage past graduates to share their success stories and how their time at your college helped them reach their goals. Not only will this generate content, but it will also provide prospective students with real-world examples of post-graduation success.
Faculty Features: Ask professors to share insights into their academic research, teaching philosophies, or personal experiences at your school. These insights can help prospective students understand what to expect from your college academically.
User-Generated Contests: Host social media contests where students are encouraged to submit photos, videos, or posts related to a theme. For example, a photo contest featuring different campus facilities could engage current students and provide prospective students with a visual tour of your campus.
Virtual Campus Tours: Encourage students to share videos showcasing different campus aspects of your institution. These could be snippets of popular hangout spots, beautiful scenic areas, or state-of-the-art facilities.
Challenge 3: Lack of personalization
The need for personalized messaging has become more significant than ever in the face of increased competition among institutions to attract students. Generic messages fail to resonate with different audiences, such as Gen Z or even current students. When your marketing communications need more personalization, it can make prospective students feel connected to your school.
Personalization in higher education marketing is about more than just addressing your audience by name. It involves tailoring your marketing strategies to meet the unique interests, needs, and concerns of various audiences, whether it's through your social media content, email marketing strategy, or even your school's website. A one-size-fits-all approach might also not reflect your institution's diversity of programs and experiences.
Solution 3: Implement a customer relationship management system
A practical solution to the challenge of needing more personalization in your marketing efforts is implementing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. According to Hubspot, "CRMs for education are fast becoming essential apps, regardless of the size, location, or type of school you run."
Here are some ways a CRM system can enhance and personalize your communication efforts:
Segmentation: CRMs can segment your target audience based on various factors such as geographical location, academic interests, stage in the admission process, and more. A CRM can help you tailor your marketing messages to specific groups, increasing the messaging’s relevance and engagement.
Tracking Interactions: A CRM can help you keep track of every student's interaction with your school, from the moment they first visit your school's website to when they engage with your social media accounts or respond to marketing emails. This information can help you understand their interests and concerns, enabling you to deliver highly personalized messages.
Automated Communications: With a CRM, you can automate customized communications based on specific triggers or behaviours. For example, suppose a prospective student downloads a brochure for a particular course. In that case, you can email more detailed information about that course or invite them to a related virtual event or information session.
Insights and Analytics: CRMs provide detailed insights and analytics about prospective students' behaviours and preferences, enabling you to refine your marketing strategy for greater personalization and effectiveness continuously.
Challenge 4: Adapting to changing technology
Adapting to rapidly changing technology is another challenge you might face. Technology is shaping everything from how institutions communicate with prospective students to managing their brands online. Staying ahead of the curve can be challenging, with new tools, platforms, and trends emerging frequently.
For example, Gen Z is full of digital natives who love dynamic online content and seamless digital experiences. If your university or college can keep up with these technological changes, you can avoid being seen as out-of-touch, impacting your appeal to this audience. The inability to adapt can also hinder your marketing communication efforts, reducing the efficiency of your recruitment strategies and making it harder to achieve your enrollment goals. Thus, embracing technology and committing to ongoing learning and adaptation is critical to the success of your marketing strategy.
Solution 4: Invest in your team
One of the most effective solutions to adapting to rapid technological changes lies within your marketing team. You can stay ahead of the curve by investing in your team's growth and capabilities. Here are some ways you can accomplish this:
Continuous Learning and Training: Encourage your team members to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, technologies, and improvements in higher education marketing. They can do this by attending conferences, courses and webinars or subscribing to a higher education newsletter.
Invest in Technology: Put resources towards acquiring the latest marketing software, which includes customer relationship management (CRM) systems, social media management software, or data analytics software. The right software can provide valuable insights and significantly improve your marketing's effectiveness.
Embrace Automation: Automate repetitive tasks like social media posting or email marketing. Automation software can save time, reduce errors, and allow your team to focus more on strategic planning and creative tasks.
Challenge 5: Converting prospective students
Converting prospective students into actual enrollees is one of the biggest issues for schools. You're not just competing with other institutions for the attention of prospective students but also navigating the decision-making process they go through when choosing a school.
It's about creating a compelling case for your university or college that resonates with potential students emotionally and practically. You must showcase the quality of your staff and courses and demonstrate the unique campus experience, supportive community, and career opportunities students can expect at your institution.
Managing this delicate balance while also personalizing your marketing efforts to appeal to different audiences' specific interests and needs is challenging. It takes time and effort to convert prospective students and increase student applications.
Solution 5: Showcase student success stories
A powerful approach to converting prospective students into enrolled ones is showcasing student success stories. Demonstrating past graduates' and current students' real-life outcomes and experiences provides tangible proof of your school's value, thereby making a compelling case for prospective students. Here's how you could effectively leverage student success stories:
Website Testimonials: Include a section dedicated to testimonials from successful graduates on your university website. These personal accounts provide potential students with insights into life at your school and the possibilities that await them after graduation.
Social Media Highlights: Share graduate success stories on your social media channels. These stories celebrate your graduates and showcase the results of your institution's education to prospective students.
Email Campaigns: Incorporate success stories into your email marketing campaigns. Send these narratives to prospective students at crucial decision-making times, such as during application periods or after campus tours.
Virtual Events: Invite successful graduates to speak at virtual events. Hearing directly from graduates can significantly impact prospective students and help them visualize their potential success at your school.
Alumni Spotlights: Feature an "Alumni Spotlight" series on your school blog or newsletter. These in-depth profiles can cover a range of fields and demographics, showing the vast opportunities your school offers.
Challenge 6: Optimizing your marketing strategy
Measuring the success of your various marketing activities and campaigns is a significant challenge. As a higher education marketer, you're responsible for ensuring your marketing communication efforts and resources yield a positive return on investment. However, given the vast array of marketing channels and strategies you employ, from social media to email campaigns to content marketing, determining what is working and what isn't can take time and effort.
On top of that, defining success in higher education marketing is more complex than it might be in other industries. Applications numbers are a key metric, but other factors like brand awareness, engagement, website traffic, and alumni participation also matter. Balancing these various metrics, and understanding how to interpret and act upon them, can be a complex and demanding aspect of your role.
Solution 6: Implement regular reporting
Regular reporting in your higher education marketing plan and strategy offers the advantage of continuous evaluation and improvement. Regular reports shed light on the effectiveness of your marketing strategy and provide insights that drive strategy refinement.
Here are some ways to incorporate regular reporting:
Set Clear KPIs: Determine key performance indicators that align with your institution's marketing goals. Whether you're tracking website traffic, email open rates, social media engagement, or enrollment numbers, these KPIs should be the foundation of your reports and guide your marketing decisions.
Conduct A/B Testing: Regularly test different versions of your marketing materials to determine what works best with your target audience. For example, you can experiment with different email subject lines, social media post formats, or landing page designs. Incorporate the results of these tests into your reports to provide a basis for strategy adjustments.
Monthly Performance Reports: Assemble a monthly report detailing the performance of your marketing communications across all platforms, including social media engagement, website traffic, and any other metrics defined by your KPIs.
Campaign-Specific Reports: Create a dedicated report for specific marketing campaigns, such as recruitment. This document should track all relevant metrics and offer insights into the campaign's success and areas for improvement.
Challenge 7: Budget constraints
As a marketer in the higher education sector, you may often find yourself facing the challenge of budget constraints. These constraints can significantly impact your ability to reach prospective students and launch effective marketing campaigns. Financial limitations can hinder your access to premium marketing tools, limit your reach on paid advertising platforms, and affect the quality of your marketing materials.
Many universities and colleges feel this pinch, as they must balance the need for comprehensive marketing strategies with the realities of limited resources. In the face of these constraints, getting creative and resourceful is crucial, optimizing every dollar for maximum impact.
Solution 7: Focus on content marketing
One cost-effective solution to budget constraints in higher education marketing is content marketing. According to Demand Jump, content marketing can cost up to 62% less than traditional marketing. Creating valuable, relevant, and consistent content can attract and retain a clearly-defined audience, ultimately driving prospective students toward enrollment.
Here are some ways you can incorporate content marketing into your strategy:
Blogging: Share stories from the campus, insights from faculty, student success stories, and educational blog posts related to your school. Not only does this create valuable content, but it also improves your search engine rankings, making it easier for prospective students to find your school.
Social Media: Use social media platforms to share this content and engage with your audience. Social media provides an excellent platform for sharing campus life, academic achievements, and student activities.
Webinars and Podcasts: Offer free webinars or podcasts hosted by your staff, students or past graduates. This content can provide value to prospective students and help establish your school as a thought leader in the field.
Email Newsletters: Keep your current and future students and past graduates informed with regular email newsletters. These can feature updates from the campus, upcoming events, and highlights from your blog or social media.
Transform Your Higher Education Marketing Strategy
Navigating the world of higher education marketing can feel complex sometimes, but every challenge presents an opportunity for innovation and growth. We've explored seven solutions to common obstacles in this space - from embracing and harnessing the power of data analytics to personalizing content and leveraging social media platforms; each one is a stepping stone toward a more effective, more engaging marketing strategy that truly resonates with your prospective students.
In the increasingly competitive world of higher education, colleges and universities must adopt innovative tactics to attract applicants and distinguish themselves from the competition. Digital marketing is one of many ways to increase student applications, but it requires a creative approach to stand out from the crowd. Read our next blog post on seven creative strategies to increase college enrollment.
Book a Free Consultation
Implementing new marketing strategies requires a lot of planning and execution. If you need help, we offer customized, full-service higher education marketing services that will fill your pipeline with quality prospects and applications. You can schedule a free consultation with one of our experts to learn more about our services and how they can help your school grow!
Who We Are
Noetic Marketer is a higher education digital marketing agency that supports universities and colleges in many aspects. At the heart of Noetic Marketer are a team of strategists, designers, and analytic minds focused on achieving your school's enrollment and student and alums engagement goals.
Over the past few years, our team has created and implemented complete digital marketing solutions for higher education institutions across North America.
Our services include digital strategy consultations, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, social media advertising, content marketing, website design, email marketing, CRM implementation, and conversion rate optimization.
About the Author
Krystal Wiltshire first entered the digital marketing world when she interned at a small agency in Montreal, Quebec, where she discovered her knack for blog writing.
Since then, she has continuously improved her skills, working closely with small business owners and marketing teams in larger-scale businesses.
As a Digital Marketing Coordinator at Noetic Marketer, Krystal strives to create content that positions our clients’ brands or companies in a positive light and uplifts them to become industry leaders.
When she’s not working, Krystal loves to break into spontaneous dance sessions, look up new cooking recipes, and watch her favourite crime shows on Netflix.