Focusing on using more mobile marketing strategies for educational brands is a significant game changer for higher education institutions. Although sharing printed materials at in-person college fairs is still a great way to meet prospective students, you’ll find that shifting your institution’s marketing plan toward implementing more digital strategies makes it possible to expand your reach.
Currently, 57.6% of the time people browse the internet is spent while using their mobile phones. Making sure that every person who lands on your institution’s website or social media posts is able to enjoy a seamless mobile experience can help to increase brand awareness and boost enrollment rates.
Knowing how to create engaging content that encourages people to keep interacting with your institution’s digital marketing materials helps your program stand out from the rest. When you consult with our expert educational marketing team, we’ll show you how you can expand your program’s outreach through using mobile-friendly strategies.
Understanding Educational Brands In Mobile Marketing
Educational branding is more than just having a cool logo. Your school’s brand incorporates everything that your programs have to offer. Spending time to think about what your school represents can help you craft unique content that stands out among a sea of online competitors. One of the most effective mobile marketing strategies for educational brands is to work with a digital marketing pro who understands how to use branding storytelling to leave a lasting positive impression on the target audience.
Crafting a Mobile Marketing Strategy
Doing thorough research to fully understand the target audience is the key to creating successful mobile marketing campaigns. In the early planning stages, you’ll work with a professional digital marketer to set clear objectives for engagement.
For instance, encourage more engagement on your school’s app, which entices students to enroll in the next academic semester. Or, you may be eager to generate more shares and likes, leading to greater brand awareness.
We’ll also help you choose the right mobile platforms for releasing the marketing materials. After all, a marketing campaign is only effective if the latest content or video drop reaches the target audience’s eyes. Even the timing of releasing content impacts the effectiveness of a campaign.
Content Creation for Mobile Engagement
The content that you use for your higher education marketing campaign needs to be tailored for mobile consumption. People tend to look for quick bits of information on their smartphones, and short-form videos can often capture someone’s attention when they might not be up for reading long-form blog articles. Leveraging interactive content formats also keeps users engaged for longer periods.
Implementing Mobile-Friendly Design
Students are increasingly turning to using their mobile devices to manage nearly every aspect of their educational experience. In a recent study, 84% of students claimed that they used their campus app regularly, and 42% said that they use the app to browse schools and classes.
Making sure that your school’s app uses responsive design principles ensures that users stay on it longer to identify the academic classes and programs that fit their goals. Our team at Semgeeks is experienced with making sure that educational program websites and apps have mobile-friendly designs that include accessibility considerations that are inclusive and efficient.
Leveraging Social Media for Student Engagement
Integrating social media platforms into your institution’s mobile marketing strategies further gives you the opportunity to reach greater numbers of potential students. Currently, YouTube, Snapchat and Instagram are the most popular platforms among teens. But, older college students may also view and share content on LinkedIn, Facebook and community-based apps. Monitoring and engaging with student feedback helps your educational institution stay current on where to place marketing materials to have the highest impact.
Personalization Strategies for Mobile Engagement
Our team uses data analytics platforms to identify more information regarding the target audience’s online habits and interests. Using this information along with details that prospective students provide your institution makes it possible to incorporate more personalization into the marketing materials.
Tailoring communication for individual students strengthens the ability to meet their needs and provide answers to specific questions. We can also plan for dynamic content delivery based on user preferences that inspire prospective students to check out the latest news and info about your school.
Harnessing the Power of Push Notifications
Push notification messages keep your educational institution at the front of the target audience’s mind. But, the need to be compelling enough to prompt students to push the notification to see more. Our pros are also adept at determining the best timing and frequency for notifications to prevent annoying students with too many at the wrong time. We also use segmentation for targeted messaging to ensure that only relevant content reaches your target audience.
Gamification Techniques for Mobile Learning
Incorporating gamified elements into educational apps encourages users to return to your institution’s mobile app and can encourage sharing considering that 13% of adult learners enjoy competing with their friends. Reward systems and incentives encourage higher participation rates, and we can track and analyze gamification metrics to ensure that the strategies we implement work.
Mobile Advertising for Educational Brands
Using ads is among the most common and effective mobile marketing strategies for educational brands that we use in virtually every campaign. To be effective, ad formats must be suitable for mobile platforms. During our consultations, we’ll help you with budgeting and measuring ROI in mobile advertising campaigns to make sure that every dollar you put toward marketing leads to more enrollments.
Building Community Through Mobile Platforms
With the right marketing methods, mobile platforms can infuse your academic community with new life. Facilitating peer-to-peer interactions strengthens your school’s community both online and on campus. We frequently recommend hosting virtual events and webinars that bring current students and prospective ones together. You can also use mobile apps to foster greater collaboration and discussions that heighten interest in your educational institution.
Measuring Success in Mobile Marketing
Checking key performance indicators for mobile engagement is important for ensuring that mobile marketing campaigns are working. We use data such as the number of active users, shares and referrals to measure a campaign strategy’s success. With the right methods in place, you should see lower bounce and churn rates and higher conversions.
If we notice an uptick in a metric such as the bounce rate, then we can quickly set to work to identify the issue. Often, using optimization strategies to increase the user-friendliness of an app or website is all it takes to turn the metrics around.
Adapting to Emerging Mobile Technologies
Educational institutions are typically well aware that adaptation is critical for offering relevant academic programs and experiences that lead to successful graduates. We also prioritize staying on the leading edge of emerging technologies to craft relevant, meaningful and effective campaigns.
Right now, there is a huge focus on AR/VR integration. Offering augmented and virtual reality experiences to prospective students immerses them in campus culture and generates a sense of belonging among current students. AI-powered personal assistants are also enhancing the learning experience for students, and we can also assist with using blockchain for secure credentialing and verification on mobile platforms that strengthen trust among users.
Overcoming Common Mobile Marketing Pitfalls
Making a mobile marketing mistake can have a devastating effect on your campaigns, which is why it’s always best to partner with our professional digital marketing team. We understand how to avoid intrusiveness with mobile marketing. Similar to how people get annoyed by constant spam calls, you don’t want to turn prospective students off by harassing them with irrelevant content at all hours of the day or night.
Inviting users to opt-in to notifications and emails is one way to let them know that your institution values their consent regarding marketing strategies. Interestingly, providing opt-out options can also encourage more opt-ins since students tend to be more likely to consent to receiving materials when they can screen out ones that aren’t relevant to their needs. In some cases, less really is more for keeping prospective students engaged with mobile marketing materials. Targeted segmentation is an excellent way to send the most relevant information to students without overstepping their boundaries.
You’ll also want to make sure to balance the desire to promote your institution or program with the need to provide educational value. Splashy ads are only effective when they have a purpose such as informing students about a new academic pathway that’s opening up for the upcoming school year. Addressing privacy concerns and protecting data is also important for encouraging students to agree to more personalized communications.
Mastering Mobile Marketing for Educational Brands
Incorporating mobile technology in higher education marketing leads to more exciting and effective campaigns. After all, using gamification that rewards progress is inspiring, and personalized messaging builds a stronger school community. Adaptability is critical for your next campaign’s success, and we encourage you to consult with one of our digital marketing experts to craft a campaign that is ready to bring your educational institution to the forefront of mobile engagement.
