Marketing strategies are goal-driven. An organization such as a higher education institution in the global education business will probably aim for an increase in their international student enrollment and a sound marketing strategy will give them that result.
Key Points at a Glance
Creating an effective marketing strategy is one of the ways to boost your presence in the global education scene. An effective marketing strategy should effectively convey your message to your audience, do this by understanding their culture.
Use social media as a marketing tool to help you reach your target audience. As a higher education institution in global business education, you cater to international students and social media is a cost effective way to reach your target audience.
Understand the culture of your audience
It is important for global education institutions to know their audience. It is not enough to know that “international students” will enrol. You must know what your audience (international students) want and what you can offer to satisfy this want.
Marketing is a two-way street — you need to show what you can provide, in turn, your target audience will flock to avail of your service. Your target audience’s culture will have an effect on how they will see your marketing strategy.
For example, a student from the Philippines or India may see education in Canada as an opportunity to migrate in the country. For this instance, a Candadian higher education institution’s marketing strategy may emphasize that it is a “Designated Learning Institution” or DLI and that the years of study that an international student will spend with them will make the student eligible to apply for a post-graduation work permit– and can pave the way for permanent residency.
On the other hand, non-DLI Canadian higher education institutions may still get the type of students who see global education as a path for immigration. Their marketing strategy can emphasize that they offer post-graduation job placement assistance ,pathways to further education or similar services.
Use online marketing tactics
Marketing techniques employed by higher education institutions may vary depending on budget and target audience. One of the most cost-effective ways to market your global education business is through digital marketing.
In a 2018 Pew Research Center report, 95% of American teens (14 to 17 years old) are shown to have smartphone access and the same number said that they have access to social media platforms such as Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram.
Higher education institutions can enhance their online presence through the following means:
Social Media – Your institution, being in the global education sector, should have either or all of these networking platforms: Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and LinkedIn. Online marketing through those platforms will allow you to adjust your voice depending on your target audience if they are students, parents and fellow global education industry practitioners.
Email marketing – An institution should maintain a distribution list of contacts. You can get more email addresses of prospective clients if you have the “receive our newsletter” option in your website. You can manually collate this information from sign-up sheets in events that you organize or from inquiry emails that you received.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – It is a strategy where you use certain keywords in your posts to increase the chances of people finding your post when they use Google or Bing or any search engine.
Paid Ads – You can sponsor or pay a banner ad to appear in a website that your target market frequently visits. You can also pay social media platforms such as Facebook to allow a certain demographic of its users to see your ad in a specific locality, in a specific time of the day.
Use social media to get the word out
Social media is an affordable way to get people to know about you. It is also a timely strategy as competitors from the global education sector are already on it. To be ahead of the competition, you should invest in creating a solid social media presence.
The following are ways in which you can achieve this:
Create a plan of action
A solid marketing plan involves the classic 7ps of marketing which are:
Product or Service – For global educational institutions, your service is the kind of education that you can provide. Your marketing can emphasize if you are a pioneer institution for IT programs or social sciences programs. You can also show your physical assets such as advanced labs to entice students to study there.
Price – Include the price in your marketing material, even if you charge more than that of your competitor, your marketing can focus on other competitive advantages that you have such as good facilities or employment assistance.
Promotion – This is the most visible aspect of your marketing plan! This refers to the social media posts or emails that you will do as part of your digital marketing strategy. Make sure that promotions convey what you can give to your potential students or business partners.
Place -For global education institutions, this refers to your campus location and where your target audience/ students are.
People – It refers to those whom your potential students interact with. It can be your social media manager, people from the admissions office, teachers, even former students! Aside from giving superb customer relations to potential clients/ students, be sure to take care of the people that build your institution because your brand extends to them!
Packaging – Since a global education institution offers a service, packaging can refer to your branding. You offer a service that is not tangible so how do you translate your service through marketing? Your missions and vision, as well as core values should be aligned with the language and imagery that you use.
Process – For higher education institutions, this refers to the journey of the students from the admissions process to their everyday life in your school up until their graduation! Make sure you give students a clear picture of how their life will be in your institution and take care of them from start to finish.
Storytelling as a vehicle for engagement is an effective way to show your process. Aside from offering a service that will allow the clients/ student to enrich their knowledge, a higher education institution offers a once in a lifetime opportunity for clients/ students to be with people of the same age and experience things for the first time! If you have a scenic campus and former student success stories — include those in your marketing materials.
Act on your plan
Through the 7Ps, you will be able to formulate a strategic marketing plan. All you have to do is work with your in-house marketing team, set a SMART Target and implement your marketing strategy!
If you set a goal such as “I want to increase my enrollment by 25% for the next academic year” an aggressive marketing strategy can help you achieve that!
Outsource your marketing needs to a specialized marketing agency
Some higher education institutions have in-house marketing teams but they may be more specialized in dealing with marketing strategies fit for the locality. If you want to increase the number of international student enrollees, you can opt to outsource your marketing needs with an agency that has expertise in the field of international student recruitment.
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Bibliography
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