Has your grad school added a new online program?
Then you need to let current and prospective grad students know about it. But you can’t just wait and expect that news to travel organically. You need to be proactive and spread the word.
If you want to start building a buzz about your new online program, here are four simple marketing strategies you should deploy.
Gather ‘round everyone, class is in session.
#1 Start a PPC Campaign
One of the fastest methods you can use to drive traffic to your school’s website is through a paid ad campaign. Unlike organic search, Google PPC ads can instantly boost the visibility of your page.
Once you’ve determined the keywords you want to target, create a hyper-targeted landing page that includes information about the new online program and a CTA that encourages visitors to sign up for the class or provide their contact information.
To create a higher-education landing page that converts, consider the following tips:
- Keep it simple and concise
- Align messaging with the ad
- Capture the audience’s attention
- Use directional cues to direct the eye to the CTA
- Include relevant information
- Format for scannability with plenty of white space
- Remove potential distractions
#2 Add Social Proof
Younger demographics are highly receptive to social proof. In other words, they prefer to form the basis of their opinion on the collective experiences of others.
Use this psychological phenomenon to your advantage.
By adding elements of social proof to your website and landing pages, you can sway a prospective student who may otherwise be on the fence. Social proof strategies may include:
- Including video testimonials from students or teachers about the course
- Showcasing positive teacher and course reviews from students
- Leveraging experts or influencers in the recruitment process
#3 Leverage Social Media
It should go without saying that social media is likely the most powerful tool in your marketing arsenal for reaching students younger than 30 years of age. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have become especially popular with the 18-25 demographic.
Students are increasingly using these channels to perform research about grad school programs. So, you should meet them where they are.
Social media allows you to amplify the reach of all of your marketing materials. You can share pages, use hashtags, post videos, and more. If you utilize it properly, you can create a social media campaign that provides prospective students with realistic insights about:
- What the class will look and feel like
- What subjects will be covered
- Who the teacher is
- Benefits of taking the course
#4 Introduce the Course On Your School Blog
Your school blog is an invaluable tool for building organic traffic via SEO to Market the New Online Program.
You can start this process by writing about both the course, the teacher, and what grad students should expect. Once that’s been done, you should supplement your SEO efforts by writing about topics relevant to the course, or topics that will be covered over the semester.
This is especially valuable if the course instructor writes some of the blogs. By doing this, you can accomplish several goals at once:
- Capture keywords related to the class that prospective students would be likely to search
- Showcase what the course will cover
- Pique prospective students’ interests by educating them on related topic
- Demonstrate thought leadership
- Introduce the professor’s expertise in the subject
Semgeeks—A Higher Education Marketing Agency
If your grad school has a new online program, there’s not a moment to waste—with enrollment being cyclical in nature, you must curate a persistent marketing strategy.
By instilling simple strategies, such as creating a PPC campaign, using social proof, leveraging social media, and writing about the course on your school’s blog, you can level up your school’s digital presence.
Want to boost enrollment numbers?
Semgeeks can help you plan and design program-specific campaigns that highlight your unique online course. We’ll leverage our expertise as a higher education digital marketing company to target would-be grad students by region, age, interests, and more.
To learn more, let’s talk.
Sources:
Sprout Social. Social media demographics to inform your brand’s strategy in 2022. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/
