EDU Marketing Quick Tips Archives | poliSCHOOL

Convert Leads to Students: PPC Campaigns and Great Landing Pages

poliarc — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 00:29:25 +0000

The intent of PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing campaigns for vocational schools is to capture the lead so your admissions team can then get them into the school for an appointment.

That’s it.

Pay Per Click can be your highest unit cost referral source, so you don’t want to waste it on email lists. If at first you don’t succeed scheduling an appointment, then have your admission funnel move them into alternate paths like free email courses or online seminars. PPC advertising for schools has one goal: collect their contact information and get an admissions representative to contact them as quickly as is possible (within minutes is preferable).

Given that goal, optimized landing pages that encourage the person who clicked on the ad are a very important part of any good online marketing strategy. What’s the point of paying to get visitors if they don’t contact you or request information? If they don’t submit their information, you just wasted money on the click.

Never have your ads click to you school’s home page. Your home page might be the one you spend the most time designing, but it’s also probably not even remotely designed to capture a lead. There are companies that make millions of dollars annually just designing effective landing pages. It is a science as much as an art, and you can make a good one with just a little research. Search Google images for “great landing page designs” and you’ll be presented with countless examples.

Every time you start an online PPC campaign remind yourself that the landing page is more important than the ad. The ad finds the prospective lead, the landing page converts it to a real lead that your admissions team can contact.

Match your ad groups to your landing pages.

The text in your ads should reflect the text in your landing pages. This helps you on both ends of the process: you get a better ad quality score, and the person who clicks on the ad feels like they “got what they clicked for” and so will be more likely to engage the page.

Even if you have only one program of instruction: make multiple landing pages so you can test how well each converts and act on the resulting research. Sometimes a simple change like a photo swap, or moving a form slightly higher on the page can make a large difference.

And never forget about mobile ads. Mobile PPC clicks normally cost less per click than desktop/laptop – because they don’t convert as well – but you can take advantage of that format if you take the time to put a decent system in place. For example: have a mobile-only PPC campaigns, so those ads click to a unique landing page with a shorter, more mobile-friendly inquiry form. Make sure the image size is reduced and the column layout organized to be easier to navigate with taps instead of mouse clicks.

Good landing pages should have a clear call to action, be straight forward, to the point, and have purpose – including an offer is even better: download a free brochure, we’ll send you our booklet: 10 Tips To Be A Rockstar, etc. Whatever you can do to entice the person to engage: try it.

The post Convert Leads to Students: PPC Campaigns and Great Landing Pages appeared first on poliSCHOOL.

Marketing Channel: College & Community College Campuses

poliarc — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:07:25 +0000

Kids in college relocate all the time to different schools. Furthermore, they frequently change their mind and decide that they want to work towards a different career or enroll in a secondary part time course to enhance their existing education. Running ads that target existing university students can get encouraging outcomes for professional, vocational, and career schools.

What sort of ads?:

Print ads in university papers (for open house and free seminars)
Audio ads on student run broadcast / radio stations (for open house and free seminars)
Posters at bus stops
Posters in the student union
Posters in information kiosks

And not necessarily at 4-year colleges; investigate your local community colleges. Those are great places to reach new potential students who are already planning to extend their education after they complete their current enrollment.

The post Marketing Channel: College & Community College Campuses appeared first on poliSCHOOL.

Education Marketing Channel: On College Campuses

poliarc — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:07:25 +0000

Students in colleges transfer all the time. Moreover, they often decided they wish to pursue a different career path or attend another part time program to augment their current education, especially if they’re leaning towards a career in an industry that requires a very specific set of skills that vocational and career schools teach. Placing advertisements that target current college students can get positive results for vocational and career schools.

What sort of ads?:

Print ads in college newspapers (for open house and free seminars)
Radio ads on college radio stations (for open house and free seminars)
Posters at bus stops
Posters at the student union
Posters in information kiosks

And not necessarily at 4-year universities; look at your local community colleges. CCs are an excellent place to reach a lot of potential students who are already planning to extend their education after they complete their current enrollment.

The post Education Marketing Channel: On College Campuses appeared first on poliSCHOOL.

Marketing For Education: Find The Guidance Counselors

poliarc — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:52:15 +0000

Career / Education Counselors. Find them all, and make contact. Get them on the phone. Know their names. Send brochures, have separate open house days exclusively for guidance counselors so they can see the school, faculty, and facilities. Make sure they really know what your school is all about. Meet with them one on one –whatever required to help career counselors appreciate your professional / career school as much as possible. The deeper they comprehend your programs, courses, and classes, the more likely they’ll refer potential students to them.

Search beyond high school, too: there are lots specialized education advisors (including organizations supporting their industry) that you can access to make new connections.

Rent a bus and give them all a ride to your campus if you have to. Teach short courses at their campus. Be persistent that they inform you when and where any career day events or college fairs are being held.

Guidance counselors are wonderful resources for the activities that are happening in the entire school district, not just their own campus. They are your school’s inside connection to a much wider network of all that’s happening in the entire school district.

The post Marketing For Education: Find The Guidance Counselors appeared first on poliSCHOOL.

Education Marketing Channel: Guidance Counselors

poliarc — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:52:15 +0000

Career / Education Counselors. All types and kinds. Send brochures, have special open house days just for guidance counselors, meet with them one on one –whatever you have to do to help career counselors understand your vocational / trade school as much as possible. The more they understand your programs, courses, and classes, the more likely they’ll refer students to you.

Go beyond just high school as well: there are many professional education advisors (including organizations supporting their industry) that you can access.

Guidance counselors are amazing resources for the activities that are happening in the entire education district, not just their own school. They’re your connection to a much wider network of all that’s happening in that school district.

The post Education Marketing Channel: Guidance Counselors appeared first on poliSCHOOL.

Marketing Channel For Schools: Prospective Employers

poliarc — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:48:20 +0000

Prospective Employers. I’ve built a few school locations at this point, and we thrived the most early on when we were extremely aggressive in getting to the people working in the trade first (before launching the school or enrolling students).

Locate the potential employers in your area. You have to do it anyway to get approved to operate (at least in most states), so you might as well start networking.

Ask what these professionals know about the local area. From where are they hiring their present new employees, what would they prefer your school teach to make their new employees better?

You MUST get to know the real community who will be giving your former students jobs. Remember that they not only offer jobs, and can help you improve your curriculum, but they met and network with a lot of other professionals involved in the target industry (especially if its a trade that is prone to internships), and therefore can give you lots of word of mouth student referrals.

Have an open house just for potential employers, develop your advisory board to get their ideas. Interact with the industry employers.

Embed yourself with the industry. The more they know you, the more students as word of mouth referrals you’ll get coming out of the woodwork.

The post Marketing Channel For Schools: Prospective Employers appeared first on poliSCHOOL.

Education Marketing Channel: Potential Employers

poliarc — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:48:20 +0000

Potential Employers to market your school. I’ve launched a couple campuses now, and we were most successful when we were very assertive in reaching out to the trade first (ahead of opening the campus or enrolling students).

Find those potential employers as marketing and co-branding allies. You have to do it anyway to get approved to operate (at least in most states), so you might as well start networking. See what they know about the area, where are they getting their current employees, what would the prefer your school teach, etc. etc. etc.

You MUST get to know the actual people who will be giving your graduates jobs. Don’t forget that they not only employ, but they congregate and network with tons of people involved in the craft (particularly if its a trade that is prone to internships), and therefore can give you lots of word of mouth referrals for your school. Have an open house just for potential employers, expand your advisory board to get their input, etc. Interact with the industry employers, ask them to participate in panels and seminars for your students; anything and everything to get them involved and be a part of your campus activities.

Embed yourself with the applicable industries. The more they know you, the more students as word of mouth referrals you’ll get coming out of the woodwork.

The post Education Marketing Channel: Potential Employers appeared first on poliSCHOOL.

Create School Spirit with Out of the Box Activities

poliarc — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:39:23 +0000

At one campus in Los Angeles the maximum enrollment the school could reach with the square footage was about two hundred students… so it was not really the size of school to justify a large football stadium to help recruit students and get the word out about the programs.

But one of the employees read about the neighborhood dodgeball society and it all became legend from that day forward. I admit, this isn’t **really** an education marketing quick tip saying every school should found a dodgeball team. What that sort of action implies, however, in spirit, is the important point to make.

It is not easy for smaller vocational and career schools to generate a feeling of community outside the school grounds. Everyone who attends and works at the school tend to know one another well, but that’s not the same as the die-hard, cheering, shirt and hat wearing school spirit that is created with school activities that usually only large universities can accomplish.

So for smaller schools, you have to at least ensure that it has character. Does your school have a great personality? Does your brand have personality? Do people laugh and joke a lot? To they enjoy being there or just come to class and leave?

Try to do things that are slightly out of the box. Just because you’re a school doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to have some fun (and the students will thank you for it). Do something unexpected that will give everyone (staff, faculty and students) a really good memory tied to your school. If it becomes a regular thing, then great, if not, try other things.

Try to make your school MORE than just good. Make it special.

The post Create School Spirit with Out of the Box Activities appeared first on poliSCHOOL.

Academic and Marketing Calendars: Plan Ahead

poliarc — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:26:00 +0000

Education functions on a strict timeline and enrollment process. It operates within windows of promotions and conversion goals: application deadlines, class start dates, and on-campus events. As such, the marketing channels for education utilized must be adaptable and dynamic, while also reaching the correct people with the highest student conversion potential.

There’s no point spending money to reach 70% of a population when only 5% make up the group who are making or influencing the actual education decision. We have the technology and know-how to target the right potential, so that’s what we should do.

Create your marketing plan side-by-side with your academic calendar so that the time it takes from inquiry to enrollment, your start dates and open houses all work together as one “Business Plan” for your school.

Then look at that calendar and pick the right marketing channels for each job based on how quickly you can activate them, how many leads you expect them to generate, and how many of those leads convert to students from each marketing channel. That’s your marketing plan: tangible, measurable, and (hopefully) predictable. Don’t place ads in local papers for the sole reason that it’s what you’ve always done. For some goals that works, and for others it doesn’t. Be specific with your prospective student targeting.

Marketing plans for schools is not merely placing ads or using pay per lead sources. A Marketing plan is a comprehensive set of lead-generating marketing channels, that then filter into your admissions system, and have at the least an estimate on how many leads you need from each channel to enroll your target number of enrolled students.

The post Academic and Marketing Calendars: Plan Ahead appeared first on poliSCHOOL.

Your Calendars: Plan Marketing and Academic

poliarc — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:26:00 +0000

Education operates on a steady and usually strict timeline due to the application, enrollment, and start date cycles. Education works with defined periods of promotions, and specific conversion and enrollment goals for each period: on campus events, start dates for your programs, application deadlines, open house events, etc.

As such, the marketing channels schools use should be dynamic and fluid; able to adapt and be changed quickly as your needs change based on where you are in the academic and marketing year calendars. Of course each channel needs to also reach the right people who have the best change of becoming a new student.

Targeting the right people is very important. Why would you want to spend marketing money to reach 80 percent of the population when only 3-7 percent are the ones who constitute the group who are making or influencing the decision to attend a school. The technology exists to target the right people with great accuracy, so that’s what you ought to do to get the best ROI for your marketing dollar.

Build your marketing plan along side and in sync with your academic calendar. Take into account the time it takes for the entire enrollment process: inquiry to application to fully enrolled student. Your marketing and academic calendars should overlay and make sense in respect to one another.

Examine your calendars and select the most effective marketing channels for each function. Don’t place ads in local papers for the sole reason that it’s what you’ve always done. For some goals that works, and for others it doesn’t Be specific.

The post Your Calendars: Plan Marketing and Academic appeared first on poliSCHOOL.