Businesses endeavour to convert their best leads into clients, these clients into returning clients and their delighted clients into brand ambassadors. Like businesses, universities, colleges and schools need strategies for increasing student enrolment, retention and fundraising; this funnel perspective renders the inbound marketing approach considerably more persuasive.
Inbound Marketing for Enrolment
Inbound marketing concentrates on filling your university's or school's admissions funnel with qualified potential student's families and guiding them along journey from the awareness stage to decision stage. Inbound marketing for student enrolment focuses primarily on the content and strategies necessary for each stage in this "journey".
Here's what inbound marketing strategies for increasing student enrolment looks like at each stage of the funnel.
Awareness
The initial stage, awareness, is when your prospective student is aware that they've got a problem or challenge, for instance being hesitant to enrol in the local university.
To be able to engage individuals in this awareness stage, it's essential to generate content that answers crucial questions they could be asking, for example, "why choose xxxxxxxx university or school?"
At this stage of the journey, you are attempting to get qualified prospects to visit your website and answer questions they might have. This can be achieved with a range of blog articles and website content, not forgetting PPC ads for specific keywords.
Consideration
The following stage, consideration, takes place when your potential candidate has identified their precise stumbling block, and starts to research more detailed solutions. As an example, a prospect may searches for "best universities near me or best schools in xxxxxxxx."
Students in the consideration stage should be nurtured so that you can ensure they continue to consider your educational institution as they determine where to go. You may want to re-target them with PPC ads, social media ads, or direct targeted emails.
Decision
The final stage, decision, occurs when your prospect has chosen a few universities or schools that they might wish to attend and have in all likelihood already applied there, but are still waiting to make the ultimate decision.
Prospect students at this stage must certainly be taken care of, because every communication matters.
Throughout each of these stages, it's crucial to produce different content that appeals with your prospect according to where they are in the process. Your communication must be different dependent on whether they are in the early stages their search or have selected your establishment.
Click here for "Part 2 - Four Steps to Developing an Successful Inbound Marketing Campaign for School Enrolment"
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