As the higher education landscape evolves, so do the challenges and opportunities for marketing leaders seeking media plan support for each upcoming school year. Facing soaring education costs and mounting concerns about student loan debt, prospective students demand greater flexibility and value from their academic pursuits. Paid media strategy must reflect the shifting prospective student journey and mindset.
Additionally, higher ed has witnessed a surge in paid media spending across the board, driven by the expansion of online degree offerings and their potential for profitability at scale.
With an unprecedented level of targeted advertisements vying for attention, the competition for brand recognition, recall, and relevance has intensified. Marketing leaders and their respective media agencies must be nimble to navigate the changing tides of higher education marketing successfully.
In the wake of the impact of rising student loan debt, this blog presents three crucial tips to enhance reputation, enrollment, and recruitment through an effective campaign strategy:
1. Use Contextual Targeting to Connect with Prospective Students about Outcomes
Reach students in the right place at the right time with the right content. A media agency can leverage research tools and campaign insights to guide content and ad placements that will drive applications.
According to College Matchpoint, 80% of students are making their final decision about college based on career outcomes amongst other reasons. Place ads that feature career outcomes and cost transparency on websites, apps, or other media channels to resonate with potential applicants and move them down the marketing funnel. Your media mix should connect with students as they consider next steps in their education and career.
2. Adopt an Omnichannel Media Strategy
In student recruitment, conversions are always the ultimate goal when putting together media strategy. Before you focus your media plan solely on the bottom of the funnel, however, , we must emphasize the importance of a full funnel, omnichannel approach for higher ed marketing.
Brand awareness is a crucial piece of your paid media strategy. It is extremely influential in the student decision-making journey. With a media mix that captures prospective students and other relevant influencer audiences at each stage, brand recall and return on investment (ROI) rise across the full prospective student journey and funnel tactics.
3. Make Sure Your Media Plan Includes Influencer Audiences
While Gen Z is often the target audience for colleges and universities, there are other important decision makers in prospective students’ lives to include in your media strategy.
According to Inside Higher Ed, in 2022 48% of students ranked “parental influence” as one of their top five sources of information. This number increased by 14% since 2019. When media planning, it is vital to include Gen X and Millenials in targeting tactics, whether this includes parents, caretakers, guidance counselors, or others. Your media agency can tailor your campaign placements to each of these audiences specifically.
Navigate the Prospective Student Journey with Paid Media
Pursuing higher education has never been more complicated and stressful for students (or higher ed marketing departments!). An in-depth understanding of your target audience and the factors that impact their path to application is crucial to achieving higher education enrollment goals.
In need of paid media support to boost brand awareness and applications? We’re here to help.
As the higher education landscape evolves, so do the challenges and opportunities for marketing leaders seeking media plan support for each upcoming school year. Facing soaring education costs and mounting concerns about student loan debt, prospective students demand greater flexibility and value from their academic pursuits. Paid media strategy must reflect the shifting prospective student journey and mindset.
Additionally, higher ed has witnessed a surge in paid media spending across the board, driven by the expansion of online degree offerings and their potential for profitability at scale.
With an unprecedented level of targeted advertisements vying for attention, the competition for brand recognition, recall, and relevance has intensified. Marketing leaders and their respective media agencies must be nimble to navigate the changing tides of higher education marketing successfully.
In the wake of the impact of rising student loan debt, this blog presents three crucial tips to enhance reputation, enrollment, and recruitment through an effective campaign strategy:
1. Use Contextual Targeting to Connect with Prospective Students about Outcomes
Reach students in the right place at the right time with the right content. A media agency can leverage research tools and campaign insights to guide content and ad placements that will drive applications.
According to College Matchpoint, 80% of students are making their final decision about college based on career outcomes amongst other reasons. Place ads that feature career outcomes and cost transparency on websites, apps, or other media channels to resonate with potential applicants and move them down the marketing funnel. Your media mix should connect with students as they consider next steps in their education and career.
2. Adopt an Omnichannel Media Strategy
In student recruitment, conversions are always the ultimate goal when putting together media strategy. Before you focus your media plan solely on the bottom of the funnel, however, , we must emphasize the importance of a full funnel, omnichannel approach for higher ed marketing.
Brand awareness is a crucial piece of your paid media strategy. It is extremely influential in the student decision-making journey. With a media mix that captures prospective students and other relevant influencer audiences at each stage, brand recall and return on investment (ROI) rise across the full prospective student journey and funnel tactics.
3. Make Sure Your Media Plan Includes Influencer Audiences
While Gen Z is often the target audience for colleges and universities, there are other important decision makers in prospective students’ lives to include in your media strategy.
According to Inside Higher Ed, in 2022 48% of students ranked “parental influence” as one of their top five sources of information. This number increased by 14% since 2019. When media planning, it is vital to include Gen X and Millenials in targeting tactics, whether this includes parents, caretakers, guidance counselors, or others. Your media agency can tailor your campaign placements to each of these audiences specifically.
Navigate the Prospective Student Journey with Paid Media
Pursuing higher education has never been more complicated and stressful for students (or higher ed marketing departments!). An in-depth understanding of your target audience and the factors that impact their path to application is crucial to achieving higher education enrollment goals.
In need of paid media support to boost brand awareness and applications? We’re here to help.
