Influencer marketing isn’t just trendy. It works. People between the ages of 18-34 prefer a recommendation from an influencer, which shows that your audience will place value on what an influencer says. If you haven’t adopted an influencer marketing strategy yet, now is the time. Higher institutions are already doing this and reaping the rewards.
What is influencer marketing, and how does it support your goals?
Influencer marketing is a type of marketing that relies on influential people to share a brand’s message. It’s not new, but it is gaining hype thanks to social media. No longer do you have to pair up with high-cost celebrities to promote your products and services. You can work with Insta-celebrities and other public figures to share your products with a highly targeted audience.
In the case of higher education, finding influencers to connect with prospects is a smart decision. People in this age group are more willing to listen to an influencer’s message over messages that come directly from a school. They also crave first hand accounts of the schools they’re interested in. How will they fit in? What activities can they join? Are the classes challenging enough?
By using notable people to promote your school, you can:
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Improve brand recognition
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Reach new audiences
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Recruit more students
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Tell a better story of your institution
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Amplify your voice
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Increase fundraising efforts
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Bridge the gap between alumni and current students
Using influencer marketing to benefit your institution
Curious to know how you can use digital influencers for your own institution? Here are a few ideas to get started.
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Reach new audiences. Influencers already have an established audience. This audience knows and trusts the influencer, so you don’t have to spend time building up a relationship. By working with an influencer, you have access to a highly engaged group of people.
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Better understand prospects. Short-term campaigns are great, but you can learn a lot from your influencers. They’ll tell you what’s working and what’s not for their audience. For example, their audience may enjoy taking a virtual tour of your campus but not have any interest in downloading an ebook.
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Create better content. Influencers can help with content in two ways. First, they can provide topic ideas to write about based on the questions their audience is asking. Second, they can be another avenue for sharing content and getting it into more hands.
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Become an industry leader. As long as you provide value to the influencer’s audience, they probably won’t mind working with you. Over time, you can establish your institution as an authority, which builds trust and separates you from other schools.
Are you ready to jump into influencer marketing? It’s a great addition to your strategy that will help you recruit more students, produce more content and strengthen your image.
