If you understand and address the pain points of prospective students in your content, you can drive a significant amount of traffic to your website.
Students who look for universities to take admission have tons of questions. By helping them throughout their entire admission journey, you can market your institute most effectively.
There are a total of 1906 universities across 108 countries as of 2024. It means there is a lot of competition in attracting new students every year. So, making a comprehensive content marketing plan is now more important than ever.
Tips To Make Effective Content Marketing Plan For Universities in 2024
Utilizing the latest practices, you can design a well-optimized higher education content marketing plan for your institution.
1. Write a helpful and dedicated blog
Blogging is the most effective way to increase your ranking in search results. When you create well-researched and fresh content to help students, you get a prominent increase in traffic. This traffic is highly convertible if you do the due things right.
Ensure your blog is free from any fluff, up-to-date, and well-optimized for search engines. Add storytelling elements and insights to make it authoritative. Answer the student’s questions in an easy and descriptive way.
2. Add virtual tours of the university campus
Interactive and striking visuals pull in significant traffic. Adding a 360-degree tour of your campus will give students a peek into what it is like to be a part of your institution. They will explore the campus and understand what the vibe and culture is.
Create aesthetic, interactive, and detailed tours of the lecture halls, gymnasiums, auditoriums, libraries, labs, cafeterias, and other important spaces to give students an immersive experience.
3. Publish guides, E-books, infographics, and successful case studies
The most clever approach for higher education content marketing is to create several types of content in every medium. The content can be text-based or video-based. The aim is to make the information easily digestible and memorable.
Infographics are easy to understand and visually appealing. Ebooks are comprehensive and detailed, giving an in-depth look into the university. Case studies and interviews with alumni are memorable.
Other types of content that you can dive into:
- Webinars
- Podcast
- Email Newsletters
- Twitter treads
- Checklists
- Surveys
- Flyers
- Manuals
- Conferences and so on!
Make a coherent combination of all types of content and create a successful strategy that suits your brand image.
4. Create discussion boards for students
Students participate in the discussion boards before taking admission. They often find information and answers to their specific question from others. So, integrating a smooth discussion board into your university website can make your brand name the go-to place for them.
It also gives them a sense of community where they can ask questions. Moreover, people who are uncomfortable with in-person communication find this resource extremely helpful.
5. Conduct Livestreams
People get attracted to the brands they like and trust. To make your university more likable and relatable, you must give an authentic inside look to the potential applicants. Try Facebook Live, Instagram Live, Discord, and Youtube Live to broadcast content online.
You can take live question-answer sessions, interview graduates, do campus tours, or discuss facilities that make your institution unique. Having a genuine talk with the audience makes your brand trustable.
6. Design engaging content for social media
Student spends a significant chunk of their time scrolling through social media. Targeting your ideal demographic gets much easier when you optimize your content strategy for social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and others.
Social media provides two-way communication. You can engage with your potential applicants, listen to their needs, and solve their issues in the most interactive way. It is a bit more casual content form than others, so you can gain their trust by showing the fun side of your organization.
Conclusion
Online space is crowded with numerous brands in every niche. To make your institution stand out, you must represent it as credible, successful, and promising. Nothing can beat the power of social media and online content to market your brand name. You can attract more eyeballs with effective higher education content marketing strategies and successfully convert them as well.
