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How Colleges and Universities Can Recruit Students in a Digital-First World
Higher Education
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After COVID-19 changed the way people connect virtually and in-person, higher education institutions are left answering the question: how do you recruit students when in-person channels are limited? The selling points of your stately campus grounds, plush dormitories and enticing meal plans, in-person events, and physical classrooms may hold different value now. People still need degrees, but the traditional reasons students picked your college may have changed, as have how they'll find and choose a future school.
College recruiters have typically depended on in-person events to recruit students. This may have included recruiting events at high schools, campus tours, and in-person interviews as part of the application process. With these activities now being limited— it’s time to reorient marketing budgets in new directions.
From now until an indefinite point in the future, collect recruitment will be largely digital, which means that college marketing budgets must reflect this reality. How do you pivot?
Arguably, the college website should be the centerpiece of digital strategy—but complaints about the poor quality of college websites have been persistent for years. Institutions need to ensure that their websites are both engaging and accessible to attract prospective students.
When campus visits are limited, the university website takes the place of the campus proper. Prospective students will primarily use your website when interacting with your institution. As such, fast-tracked digital improvements should be a universities' primary focus for recruitment and engagement.
For example, over 40% of all web traffic now comes from mobile devices. If your college website isn't mobile-optimized, it should be. Not only will this present a more user-friendly experience for your prospective students, it will also positively affect your Google search rankings. Even if a student’s college search starts with a phrase as simple as “colleges near me,” you want your institution to show up on the front page of the results.
Digital natives expect intuitive digital experiences which require an optimized website. For example, your prospects might want to look at your campus map, the list of majors you offer, and how to apply. If your website doesn’t make it easy for visitors to look at those topics directly from your homepage, they might become frustrated and bounce. Generally it should take three clicks to go from your homepage to the most relevant features or topics your prospects are looking for.
Revamping your website and designing marketing campaigns for new social media channels are both long-term projects—but you need to start converting prospective students now. What are the best ways to start building momentum?
Your most beneficial first stem might be to develop a search engine optimization (SEO) plan. Even small colleges and universities can garner organic search traffic in significant volumes, and capitalizing on an SEO strategy is a great way to generate more awareness.
The first step for colleges is to understand which of your pages rank highest and which keywords you’re already ranking for. The next step is understanding why your students flock to these pages and keywords. Do they refer to courses they’re interested in? Scholarships and student aid programs? Acceptance rates?
If you’re not currently ranking for keywords, then you may need to take a step back to do some reconnaisance. Understand the customer journey within your institution. What's your school is known for compared to other colleges and their ranking? This exercise may require a little soul-searching.
Lastly, you need to own a strategic and effective content marketing plan and optimize existing landing pages and white papers to include the keywords you need to incorporate. By doing this, you’ll be able to score some quick wins and build your pipeline of potential applicants.
As a digital experience agency with expertise spanning industries, including higher education, we help institutions and organizations increase conversions and exceed their customers digital expectations. Optimize your web presence for usability and findability. Attact more prospective students, boost enrollment, and satisfy them across the journey. For more information on how we can help you, send us a note.
