Making It Happen On A Small Budget
Having an unlimited marketing budget would make a lot of things easier. The ability to fund awareness campaigns and appear consistently at the top of the search engine results page can be a huge advantage for any college or university. However, there are many digital marketing tactics your organization can use to build your brand, grow engagement, and drive results without having the deepest of pockets. We know that many marketing professionals are working with a limited budget, so here are some strategies to consider with tight budgets.
Social Media Engagement
How a brand positions itself on social media is crucial to its success. Your presence on social media is not enough without consistent, engaging, and authentic content. For example, invite users to engage with your accounts by asking students or alumni to share their favorite thing about attending your university in the fall. People past and present can share pictures and memories of being on campus in the fall, allowing your students to tell the story of what it’s like to attend.
However, it is also important to routinely monitor your social media posts. This includes checking back in on comments to answer questions, addressing any concerns, and generally showing that you care about the engagement that is happening. This can set you apart from other universities who may not bother to continually interact with users. This step also allows you to start a dialogue with potential students and direct them to relevant resources.
Sourcing Creative Content
The creative lift to be on social media or other platforms can seem overwhelming. Maybe your creative team is already stretched thin or maybe you are the creative team! Remember to use assets you already have like photos or video clips and leverage tools like Canva. Also, think about how you can get students to make content for you! You can launch social campaigns prompting new students to share what motivated them to pursue a degree or graduating seniors to offer one piece of advice as they finish up their degree. Your student body is skilled at creating content and can help create authentic assets that you can then use for marketing.
High-Impact, Low-Cost Paid Efforts
Even if you have fantastic content and regular engagement with your audience, you do have to put some money into digital campaigns to truly get in front of relevant audiences at scale. However, for higher education, it’s not always necessary to have ads running all year long. You can be strategic and fund campaigns more robustly at key times during the year, such as application season and before upcoming deadlines.
Remarketing is another great tool to capitalize off of anyone who has visited your website or interacted with your content in the past. This is particularly important leading up to key deadlines and is a must for any college or university looking to maximize enrollments.
To reach new, relevant audiences look to a targeted LinkedIn Ads campaign or a Facebook and Instagram campaign. Google’s Display and Discovery campaigns are another low-cost option to reach thousands of users with a low daily budget, all while harnessing Google’s powerful audience targeting.
Unsure of how to reach your enrollment goals? Chair 10 Marketing can help you determine where to start. Get in touch today to get started and meet with one of our experts!