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Essentials of inbound marketing for student recruitment 2016
Philippe Taza, CEO of Higher Education Marketing, presented on the essentials of an effective inbound marketing strategy. The presentation covered developing personas, creating targeted content, optimizing websites for SEO, leveraging social media, email marketing, and considering mobile. It emphasized using inbound tactics like quality content, SEO, social sharing, and analytics to attract and engage prospective students throughout their decision journey. The goal is to provide a consistent student-focused experience from first encounter to enrollment through meaningful dialogue and relationship building.
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Essentials of inbound marketing for student recruitment 2016
- 1. Philippe Taza CEO HigherEducation Marketing [email protected] Essentials of a Successful Inbound Marketing Strategy
- 2. • What isInbound Marketing? • Persona Development • Content Strategy • Analytics to Measure and Improve Your Results • Optimizing your Website for SEO • Leveraging Social Media to Attract and Engage • Email Marketing • Considerations for Mobile • Available resources Today’s Presentation
- 3.
- 4. The Inbound MarketingProcess
- 5. Why Inbound Marketingfor Schools? • Today’s typical prospective students are digitally literate, informed and engaged • They expect consistent messaging & outreach tailored to their interests, goals, & concerns • Students want an open window into your school’s mission and rather than overt self-promotion/selling • Meaningful dialogue and relationship-building with your school community, from their first encounter, to enrollment, and beyond
- 6. Persona Development: Identifyyour Target Audience(s) Segment prospects by: program, level, source country, etc. & research their distinct characteristics:
- 7. Persona Development: ResearchTools 1. Survey your admissions & recruitment team for their insights 2. Survey/poll your students & alumni directly 3. Use journey-mapping/heat-mapping to track key touchpoints 4. Conduct market research to better understand what is impacting decision-making
- 8. Persona Development: UseLanding pages to Gather Persona
- 9. Persona Development: ConsolidateData into Profiles PROSPECTIVE MASTERS STUDENT
- 10. Persona Development: TapInto Common Interests, Goals, and Desires
- 11. Persona Development: AddressingCommon Pain Points
- 13. The Channel Report TheChannels report under Acquisition, gives you macro level insights into the various channels you are using to attract traffic to your website.
- 14. • Organic Search:SEO Traffic from search engines • Email: links in email campaigns • Direct: users enter the URL directly in the browser • Referral: traffic from other sites yours is linked on • Social: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. • Paid Search: Google AdWords, Bing ads, etc. The Channel Report is crucial to helping you ascertain which of your marketing initiatives are having the most success. What are the main Channels?
- 15. Common website goalsfor educational institutions • Online application form • Ask a question form • Contact us form • PPC inquiry form • Online payment gateway • Live chat event • PDF Brochure download event
- 16. Setting up WebsiteGoals
- 18. Create targeted poststhat appeal directly to their motivations
- 19. Content Example -Blogs 1. Provide career/study tips, industry news, and other custom content your personas will love 2. Generate respect, trust and loyalty with posts that engage & inform, but are never “salesy” 3. Build your presence on social (as readers “share” and “like” your posts) 4. Drive traffic to your site when students find your posts during their online search process http://why.ryerson.ca/
- 20. Content Strategy: UseStudent-Generated Content • Invite current students to share their personal experiences: adds authenticity & sparks interest • Solicit blog posts, videos & photo- stories from student “ambassadors” • Ask students to contribute content in multiple languages to recruit from overseas • Publish on website & share through social media http://www.ryerson.ca/artsandcontemporarystudies/ prospective_students/testimonials/
- 21. Content Strategy: “StudentExperience” Bloggers • Current students chronicle their journey through various training programs • Offers inside access to prospective applicants • Provides motivation to prospects who may be “on the fence” • Great for sharing across social media! http://yublog.students.uit.yorku.ca/
- 22. Content Strategy: AlwaysPrioritize Visuals! • Videos & photographs are more engaging to students & more “shareable” than text alone (use them across ALL channels) • Infographics make complex info digestible through images, charts, diagrams, quotes, and stats (interactive is the latest trend) • Transform blog posts into visual content: infographics, email newsletters, Slideshares, etc. to maximize their impact
- 23. Use lead captureforms to capitalize on your website traffic
- 25. What is SEO& its connection to inbound? • The process of optimizing website content, design, & performance to generate visitor traffic from “organic” (versus paid) search engine results • SEO is vital for ensuring your content and website get found online by prospective students
- 26. Look for KeywordsYour Primary Personas Might Search For
- 27.
- 28. On Page SEOExample
- 29. Google Search EngineResult Page - SERP
- 30. Measuring your SEOEfforts
- 31. Year over yearcomparison is very useful to measure the health of your SEO Traffic and conversions from that channel Measuring your SEO Efforts Year over Year
- 32. Evaluate your OrganicSearch Queries
- 34. Use Personas toFocus You Social Initiatives
- 35. Social media amplifiesyour college brand, provides communities for engaging personas, helps promote your content, & supports SEO Social Media Strategy & Development http://edu.chegg.com/mobilizing-admissions-the- 2016-social-admissions-report/
- 36. • Brand-building contestscould include campus photography/video, showing off college pride, or what you like most about your college i.e. “What’s your favourite place on campus?” Build Your Brand with Simple Social Contests
- 37. Re-purpose Content Contributedto Your Contest
- 38. Measure the SocialActivity Directed to your Website
- 39. Separate your FacebookInitiatives
- 40. Social Content SharingWorkflow Publish content on your website http://www.concordia.ca/news/stories/cunews/main/sto ries/2016/11/10/celebrate-diversity-by-becoming-a- human-book-banq.html/ Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
- 41.
- 43. • One offemails to individual leads/students • E-newsletters sent to your database • Automated Email Marketing Workflows • Personalize your automated emails Email Marketing Options http://edu.chegg.com/mobilizing-admissions-the- 2016-social-admissions-report/
- 44. Focus on PersonaConcerns During the Email Lead Nurturing Process
- 45. Curate your Blogsin your Newsletters Bring your email users back to your website by Linking to your Blog posts
- 46. Measure your e-newsletters Measurethe activity from your email efforts by effectively tagging your links with the URL Builder: https://ga-dev-tools.appspot.com/campaign-url-builder/
- 47. Email Marketing: StructureYour Email Automation
- 48. Automated Email Marketing:How Does it Work? • Automated drip marketing sends prospects a series of carefully customized messages over time, sequenced to guide leads down the enrollment funnel • Each message is crafted with your personas’ unique needs & goals in mind, and can help resolve enrollment roadblocks during each stage of their decision-making process • Start simple with an auto-response, building a relationship with timely messaging that provides links to relevant, inspiring content (and prompts to take next steps - CTAs)
- 49. Measure your AutomatedEmail Campaigns
- 50. Setup Your LandingPages for Persona Segmentation The user selection should feed your CRM to trigger personalized email content
- 51. Slide 51 Robert E.Mathiasen, Ph.D. Distance Education Recruiter Office of Online & Distance Education University of Nebraska–Lincoln 402-472-5515 [email protected] Email Marketing: Personalize your Correspondence Begin with a personalized greeting Close with a personalized & professional sign-off
- 52. Is your sitemobile friendly?
- 53.
- 54. • Remember thata growing number of your target personas are engaging with your web content on mobile Include Mobile in your Inbound Marketing Plans
- 55. Measuring Mobile Recruitment •Understand which channels your mobile traffic is coming from • Test your mobile-friendliness
- 56. Mobile ads drivea high proportion of mobile traffic!
- 57. Content Development forMobile • Ensure responsive design for better user experience & SEO • On mobile, lead with content your personas want to see first (effectively sized) • Vertical navigation vs horizontal • Enlarge interface elements for “fat fingers”
- 58. • Prioritize functionalitywith links that are easy to tap • Ensure text is readable without zooming • Minimal graphics and footers • Geo-specific features/functions • Fewer in-page links • Task-oriented home pages • Easy-to-scan pages Customize Content for Mobile Conversion
- 59. Inbound Marketing Resourcesfrom HEM • The HEM Inbound Marketing Budget Calculator http://landing.higher-education-marketing.com/inbound-marketing-calculator
- 60. Inbound Marketing Resources •4 Ways Your School Can Connect Better With Millennials • 3 Key Areas to Update, Upgrade, and Upscale Your School's SEO Strategy • 4 Exciting Ways to Personalise Your Online Student Recruitment Activities • 5 Essentials of a Successful Inbound Marketing Strategy • Inbound Marketing: The Fine Art of Being Found by and Engaging with Prospective Students
- 61. • Understand youraudience • Inbound integrates Content, SEO, Email, Social Media & Analytics • Create high quality, visual-rich, personalized content • Optimize your content for maximum exposure through search • Leverage and amplify your content across social media • Measure your results and continuously improve Conclusion – Essentials of Inbound Marketing
- 62. I’m easy toreach at: Philippe Taza Tel: 514-312-3968 ext:104 [email protected] www.higher-education-marketing.com https://twitter.com/PhilippeTaza Have questions about this presentation?