For some companies in the education sector, it’s an exciting opportunity to discover new business opportunities like virtual learning. For some companies in the education sector, it’s an exciting opportunity to discover new business opportunities like eLearning.
It’s a race to modernize old delivery models as enrollment drops. As it stands, 75% of households changed their college plans last year — a frightening statistic for major universities but an opportunity for disruptive startups to grab a more significant chunk of the market.
With so many uncertainties, prospective students must feel reassured about where they invest their money and time. For this reason, many of the top education marketing trends in 2024 focus on delivering transparency and ensuring confidence in the minds of the most qualified leads.
1. Leading with COVID-19 transparency
The COVID-19 pandemic led to widespread school closures as districts and universities faced student and teacher outbreaks — but even today, as pandemic restrictions ease, the guidance is murky and ever-shifting. Some schools are poised to require vaccinations and/or masking, but others are not. Some schools will limit certain activities and require testing. Other schools have already shifted to a virtual learning model, which upset students who were paying tuition but felt cheated out of the learning experience.
With all the unknowns, the American Council of Education expects enrollment in higher education to drop by 15% among all students and 25% among international students throughout 2023.
During this time, the best thing companies in the education sector can do to market themselves is to offer complete transparency to prospective and returning students.
How will admissions, courses and campus life be affected?
How will you respond to outbreaks and changing guidance?
Sharing your company’s policies that address these and other questions is particularly important if your educational institution largely relies on in-person learning.
2. Using a lookalike audience
This marketing tactic transcends the education sector—it’s a valuable method for most B2B and B2C businesses that plan to market on social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.
In short, a lookalike audience is similar to your current audience. You’re targeting people who look and behave like your existing customers.
You can build upon a lookalike audience by incorporating data from users who have previously shown interest through inquiries, information requests, and submission of forms. This will help you focus on marketing to the prospective customers most likely to show interest.
3. Search Engine Optimization
It’s hard to call SEO optimization a trend. At this point, it’s a tried and true baseline digital marketing strategy, and in 2024, it’s of particular importance to the education sector. Why? Two simple reasons: online learning is up, but search clicks are down.
People are looking online for education — not just for research curriculum but also for their learning. With the educational landscape evolving, the need for innovative solutions like your eLearning Platform or an essay writer website becomes increasingly evident.
The online education market is projected to have ballooned by 110% by 2026, but this extends far beyond the regular old online degrees advertised on television over the last decade. This is innovation: think interactive learning platforms, language training, driving theory tests, apps, and functional skills development, spanning higher education, hobby courses, and corporate training.
You need to reach virtual students where they are — online. Unfortunately, recent research has shown that as many as 49% of Google searches end without a single click. This figure is part of a downward trend, mainly as people increasingly search on mobile devices. SEO optimization can help combat this by bolstering organic growth and ensuring that those looking for your services find them.
4. Getting a little less personal
Personalization is no longer a trend in education marketing — it’s a prerequisite. Think of it as a core course rather than an elective. So, where are we seeing personalization? It’s in:
● Segmented email campaigns: Would you want to send the same marketing messages to prospective and past students? Probably not. Some research shows that segmented campaigns increase email marketing revenue by 760%.
● Custom website content: For example, a commuter student at a state university has different needs than an international student. So, using customized web content or landing pages will allow you to target the most meaningful messages.
● Dynamic social ads: This type of ad changes based on actions a user has previously taken elsewhere on the web. So, for example, if a user clicks on a course without enrolling, it could trigger an ad that promotes that specific course.
But that’s not to say personalization is always the right approach. We’re in a cultural privacy shift, and both Google and Apple seek to limit or eliminate tracking cookies. Luckily, contextual ads have proven value based on website content rather than user behavior. In 2020, when ad revenue historically sunk, a study found that contextual ads provided a steady increase in ad revenue over six months.
What does this look like in the world of education? Marketing courses along with similar-subject content.
Education digital signage can also help deliver personalized content in public spaces without compromising user privacy, making it a vital tool in this evolving landscape.
5. Embracing short-form video
Video courses have long been rising in popularity, but video — particularly short-form video, is increasingly important to marketing in the education sector. Did you know that 50% of people who watch short-form videos tune in for the whole thing?
That’s a wildly low bounce rate, and modern social media platforms have made this type of marketing and microlearning more accessible to brands that previously didn’t have the technical knowledge.
Over the last year, we’ve seen businesses in the education sector use short-form video to:
● Showcase short tours of physical learning facilities
● Explain niche topics to draw interest
● Promote coursework through brief technical tutorials
● Highlight campus life and company culture
● Showcase student testimonies
● Answer common customer questions
● Host live Q&As
In addition to short-form videos, education businesses that serve Gen Z have found increasing success by marketing on YouTube and TikTok. For example, one study found that 27% of prospective teen students admitted that YouTube videos played a significant role in helping them decide where to enroll.
Nearly 70% of prospective students used social media to help them research colleges and universities. Social media, especially social video, remains integral to a modern education marketing strategy.
Since there is so much uncertainty in all industries, a suggestion – ‘and education is no exception or something like that.
6. Use YouTube content to promote higher education
YouTube videos offer a chance to enhance awareness regarding your institution, boosting SEO effectiveness and aiding other digital marketing initiatives. With its vast user base of over 2.6 billion monthly active users, YouTube is an ideal channel for reaching potential students.
Uploading longer videos that provide valuable insights about your institute can captivate prospective students and pique their interest. Video utilization represents a significant higher education marketing trend in 2024, causing substantial shifts in enrollment numbers.
7. Chatbots
With advancing capabilities, accessibility now encompasses being available to your audience whenever and however they require your services. It’s essential to consider whether your programs cater to professionals seeking career transitions.
While live chat may not be feasible at 11 PM on a Saturday, that’s likely when your target audience is actively exploring options. From a conversion perspective, providing prompt responses to their inquiries remains crucial.
Virtual chat assistants, or “AI chatbots,” are gaining significant popularity. Over the past three years, customer service chatbots have surged by 92%. They have become a standard feature for university websites.
When a student is comparing five different colleges, the ability to receive quick answers to their questions from your website can make a crucial difference in whether your institution makes it onto their shortlist.
8. Customize Email Marketing
Even though Gen Z has numerous communication options, they still prefer traditional email when interacting with prospective universities and colleges.
In a survey involving more than 9,000 high school students, email emerged as their top choice for communication, with 80% indicating that they check their emails daily.
Students seek less intrusive methods of communication with educational institutions and typically do not require immediate contact, especially during the early stages of their search process.
- Email marketing campaigns are crucial in personalizing messaging and guiding students throughout their decision-making journey.
- It’s essential to recognize that high school students exploring campus fraternities and sororities have different priorities and mindsets than current students considering graduate programs.
- Implementing email drip campaigns becomes essential in meeting prospective students where they are and guiding them through the enrollment process.
You can personalize communication and achieve better results by tailoring content and email campaigns based on their specific needs.
For instance, creating a gated eBook titled “Top Five Ways an MBA Degree Will Boost Your Career” could trigger an email campaign that appeals explicitly to MBA students.
Developing personas for each target student group is valuable. Understanding their motivations, concerns, and the type of content they find valuable enables the creation of a strategic email campaign that yields favorable outcomes. If you discover that your target student group needs to improve their academic writing, you should provide them with an essay example for effective learning and improvement.
Gathering as much information as possible for each persona will aid in crafting personalized and effective email communications.
9. For higher education institutions, use PPC advertising to generate high-quality leads
Search engines such as Google provide pay-per-click (PPC) services that offer higher education institutions an excellent opportunity to engage with prospective students.
Running PPC ads enables institutions to specifically target keywords and phrases, ensuring their ads appear in front of potential students actively searching for higher education information.
Moreover, PPC can be a powerful tool for lead generation in higher education. By retargeting ads to students who have shown an interest in higher education and providing them with a means to contact the institution, PPC can effectively generate leads for educational institutions.
Rather than solely relying on organic website traffic, PPC allows for more precise audience targeting based on age and other demographics. This approach generates high-quality leads and significantly enhances the conversion rate, making it an unparalleled method for reaching prospective higher-education students.
10. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR)
Artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) have already become prevalent in higher education marketing. By incorporating virtual tours, universities are harnessing the capabilities of AR technology. AI-powered virtual runs facilitate real-time collaboration among students and educators.
Running a drip campaign is an instance of using artificial intelligence. Furthermore, the potential of AI in this field is continuously expanding.
- Staying updated on newly developed tools is crucial to maintain a competitive edge.
- Google’s Responsive Search Ads and Performance Max PPC campaigns are two examples of AI that have the potential to enhance your digital marketing strategy.
- Google’s latest development, Performance Max, utilizes the assets you provide to create ads dynamically.
- These ads are then served to new audiences that share similarities with your existing audiences to maximize conversions.
- Consider the possibilities of combining this tool with well-planned SEO and PPC strategies.
11. For higher education digital marketing, use responsive ads
Institutions must embrace novel and inventive marketing strategies to stay ahead in the increasingly competitive landscape of higher education marketing. One such strategy is the utilization of responsive ads.
Responsive ads are designed to adjust their size, shape, and appearance dynamically to blend seamlessly into the content of websites or apps. This adaptability enables them to be highly visible and impactful without disrupting the user experience.
Responsive ads offer several advantages over static ads, including higher click-through rates (CTRs) and increased impression volume. Google claims that responsive search advertising often has a 5–15% higher CTR than traditional search advertisements.
12. Mobile-first Design
We acknowledge that mobile internet usage among high school and college students is not new.
However, it remains crucial for college marketers to prioritize mobile-first design due to its significance.
According to Hootsuite, 95% of Americans between 13 and 17 own a smartphone. This represents a significant increase of 30% compared to the 73% of smartphone-owning teens in 2015.
It is safe to assume that upcoming students rely on their smartphones to conduct college searches. You are disadvantaged if your website and other digital marketing assets are not mobile-friendly.
Furthermore, with Google’s transition towards mobile-first indexing, your website must be optimized for seamless scrolling on mobile devices. Failure to do so can negatively impact your search engine ranking.
Considering the growing popularity of voice search functionality through devices like Alexa and Siri, voice search optimization to enhance usability and accessibility is also essential.
13. Create student-focused blogs
Although blogs may have experienced a decline in popularity among Gen Z, they remain a valuable tool in the context of higher education.
However, blogging merely for the sake of publishing content has become outdated. Blogs continue to serve as a vital resource for students seeking in-depth information that cannot be effectively conveyed through short videos.
- The key to successful blogging is creating student-centered content that offers applicants valuable and captivating information and fosters a sense of belonging.
- Blogs play a critical role and yield significant returns on investment when it comes to achieving marketing goals, such as increasing enrollment.
- There are several effective strategies to leverage blogs to attract attention.
- Incorporating guest blogs written by notable authors and featuring student spotlights can help potential applicants.
- Feel more at ease with your institution, gain insights into its operations, and understand the application process.
14. Marketing Using Micro-Influencers
If you have ever witnessed a college utilizing a famous graduate in their marketing campaign, that is an example of influencer marketing.
The good news is that you don’t necessarily require celebrities among your alumni to take advantage of the current trends. Brands of all kinds, including colleges, are discovering that today’s audiences crave less celebrity-focused content and instead seek genuine content from real individuals.
Here’s even better news: Your institution is likely already surrounded by micro-influencers. Like prospective Gen Z students, your current students are probably highly active on social media platforms.
Whether you know it or not, organic “micro-influence” is already happening when potential students search for college-related content on platforms like TikTok or YouTube.
Your college can tap into this trend by identifying students who excel at representing their school on social media. Establishing partnerships to amplify their content on web pages and in advertisements.
This approach enables you to leverage the influence of these students and strengthen your institution’s online presence.
15. Use Google Analytics for marketing in higher education
In higher education marketing, data plays a crucial role in understanding the audience and making well-informed decisions regarding marketing strategies.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool for collecting and analyzing data related to website traffic.
By effectively utilizing Google Analytics, valuable insights can be gained about website visitors, including their demographics, traffic sources, and on-site behavior.
Armed with this information, adjustments can be made to the marketing strategy to target the audience better and achieve the desired goals.
Google Analytics provides a comprehensive view of how the website is utilized rather than solely emphasizing technical details.
Its enhanced metrics aid in forecasting user behavior, calculating churn, and offering more precise data controls to optimize campaigns effectively.
Undoubtedly, Google Analytics represents one of the prominent digital marketing trends in the higher education sector in 2024. Marketers can benchmark their websites against competitors, enabling them to fine-tune promotional campaigns for optimal results.
Conclusion
The field of education marketing is constantly evolving, and 2024 brings forth many exciting trends that can shape the success of educational institutions.
From the integration of virtual and augmented reality to personalized marketing automation, numerous opportunities exist to engage with prospective students innovatively. Staying ahead of the curve in education marketing requires strategically embracing and utilizing these trends.
Adopting innovative technologies, effectively leveraging social media, utilizing data-driven insights, and prioritizing user experience. Institutions can successfully navigate the competitive landscape and achieve their marketing goals in 2024 and beyond.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are marketing trends going into 2024?
Marketing trends for 2024 strongly emphasize video and live streaming usage. Similar to the trends observed in 2022, brands will continue to invest significantly in platforms. YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram leverage the power of video content to engage and interact with consumers effectively. Video content continues to be a popular medium for storytelling and connecting with audiences.
2. What will change about marketing tech in 2024?
Marketers must stay ahead of the curve to succeed in the continually expanding marketing technology field. No-code platforms will become more prevalent, and AI and machine learning will be used more frequently. Personalization will take the stage, and data security and privacy will continue to be prioritized in 2024.
3. What is future marketing in 2025?
By 2025, there will be a notable increase in the adoption of chatbots, social media channels, and virtual reality marketing methods. These emerging trends are expected to have a positive impact on business sales. Utilizing these techniques will result in more engaging customer experiences, particularly verbal communication.
Post Contribution: Ryan Gould, Vice President of Strategy and Marketing Services – Elevation Marketing
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