Education Sector Marketing: Lead Generation Made Easy
In an era where uncertainty reigns, the Covid-19 pandemic has only added to the immensity of competition within online education lead generation.
Many businesses have permanently closed their doors, and the ongoing threat of another lockdown has put the breaks on business as we once knew it. More people than ever before are shifting their focus to online industries for a sense of financial security. Additionally, many businesses once operating in a communal space have transferred their teams to remote offices, further increasing the demand for polished technical skills.
The education industry is changing.
Students today are looking for a personalized and customizable approach to their education. The rise in demand for easily digestible, informative content means that everyday there are new platforms for students looking to enhance their understanding, make more informed decisions, or re-engage their learning capabilities.
Marketing for online education has had to shift to meet the needs of these applicants. As the educational industry grows, more businesses are looking to become successful online educators with their marketing efforts. Educators have to seek new, innovative ways of doing business and market their services to motivate students to sign up for course materials. The need for quality information presented in an engaging format is essential to the success of online education providers.
Educational marketers must have a proactive mindset with an eye for efficiently delivering knowledge, insight, and solutions to the education sector. This requires a unique mix of entrepreneurial skills, savvy branding, and the ability to think outside the box to find new revenue streams for their services.
Generic advertising campaigns focused on the body of a broad curriculum aren't going to cut it anymore. Instead, marketers need to create marketing strategies tailored to meeting the unique needs of individual applicants through personalized messages and content centered around building relationships between education companies and consumers.
Investing in the right lead generation strategy can make all the difference in influencing the educational decisions made by students.
Are you ready to see your educational institution experience tremendous growth? Using these education industry lead methods is all you need to stay ahead of the pack and attract new pupils to your online programs.
7 Lead Generation Strategies for Online Education Companies
Launch a Referral Program
Compared to other forms of traditional marketing, which are generally sent to a broad audience, referral marketing creates potential leads by utilizing a company's current customer base.
Referral marketing software is an excellent approach to get your current students to market your services for you. Effective referral programs use incentives to encourage students to inform their friends, family, and broader social network about your business. These incentives can range from discounted services to gift cards, cash rewards, and free months of subscription.
That may sound like a lot to organize; thankfully, GrowSurf makes it easy for online education programs to automate seamless, organic sharing experiences for students.
Customizable and entirely white-labeled, GrowSurf makes it easy for facilitators and students alike. There are no further signup steps required from your students; they will automatically be given their referral link and can begin sharing right away.
According to R&G Technologies referral leads convert 30% better than leads generated from other marketing channels.
What are you waiting for?
SEO / Blogging
When people search for online education to develop technical skills, Google is likely the first place they look. Websites must be optimized strategically to appear on the top page of search engine results.
Search engine optimization (SEO) techniques include using searchable keywords throughout your website's content.
Potential students use keywords when conducting searches on Google and will often input categorical criteria to refine their results.
The keywords that best describe your product or service and appeal to the needs of your target market are the ones that will produce the most leads. The right keywords will increase traffic and cultivate leads by appealing to people looking for exactly what you have to offer.
As an entrepreneur or business owner, it's crucial that you use the keywords that most accurately describe your product; to entice more customers and create them. The best way to identify these search terms is through keyword research tools like ahrefs or Semrush. Identify words or phrases that are commonly associated with your product/service offerings so you can use them strategically to generate traffic to your website.
Webinars
The popularity of webinars has increased tremendously during the Covid-19 pandemic, and for a good reason. Not only is education being made accessible remotely, but webinars are also a great source of high quality leads.
Webinars convert well; conversion rates for webinars range from 5% to 20% and here's why:
Webinars allow educators to establish authority as a subject expert before you even begin teaching the material, receive immediate feedback on the training enabling you to test the new subject matter, and develop material tailored to your audience.
Tips for Hosting Webinars
- Pique the attention of your audience, choose a topic that is relevant to your curriculum or goal.
- Choose a day and time that works best for your audience.
- Set up a landing page with a clear call to action and promote your webinar well in advance to improve enrollment.
Lead Magnets
An effective lead magnet will result in new education leads if you can give individuals helpful information they can apply. This may be in the form of a course overview, introductory seminar, or another form of digital content that offers a sample of the curriculum you provide. The exchange will also assist you in developing trust and loyalty with your organization.
Providing usable content to your audience is a powerful way to build a meaningful connection with your community and boost credibility. Lead magnets encourage people to provide contact information in exchange for a free digital asset. You'll be able to collect more information about your audience while also increasing their interest in your education program.
Types of Lead Magnets that Work for Online Education Companies
- eBooks
- Resource Libraries
- Case Studies
- Checklists
Email Marketing
When it comes to education industry marketing, email campaigns provide a higher return on investment by building better relationships with a broader audience. Email marketing gives companies the ability to deliver a personalized message, including tone and content, to specific segments of their demographic.
As a result, email marketing is one of the most influential and profitable advertising channels for the education sector. Your most engaged and potential consumers are just a click away.
Here are four reasons you should invest in email marketing:
- Increase conversion rates by quickly automating content to a target audience.
- The click-through rate for email marketing campaigns is generally more significant than that on social media platforms.
- Automated email marketing makes data collection a breeze. Analytics are essential for determining the success rates of education marketing strategies.
- Email marketing campaigns offer some of the highest returns on investment, often outperforming other strategies used in the education sector.
LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn is designed for professionals and hosts more than 645 million members globally. Therefore, it's an especially effective platform for promoting post-graduate programs.
LinkedIn’s targeting options allow advertisers to converge on nearly any aspect of their audience's profile. Because the platform also offers many networking and business opportunities to its users, profiles and information are usually kept current. That's why, if you want to create better quality education sector leads, LinkedIn is the place to be.
For education lead creation, several universities utilize social media advertising. Considering that 50% of Generation Z and 42% of millennials rely on social media to verify a product or service before making a purchase, this is an effective strategy for generating leads.
Chatbots
The popularity of chatbots is on the rise, and there are now a number of education-specific solutions. In today's digital-first age, chatbots have the potential to entice and convert the most qualified leads.
Potential students will be seeking answers to a wide range of queries, including curriculum, costs, and residence options, all before they begin an application. It's essential to make this information accessible and easy to find. Chatbots are the future of first-touch customer service and are a great way to provide quick responses to common questions.
Chatbots make it easier for companies to exchange this critical information 24/7. They can also be easily embedded into your website so that visitors get the answers they need without having to wait for business hours in another time zone or go through what can sometimes be a lengthy customer service process.
It can be difficult and time-consuming to respond to each question and inquiry individually. Using automation, chatbots provide commonly requested information, allowing your admissions staff to focus on more complex tasks.
Chatbots can also be used to generate a database of information specific to your users and educational programs, allowing you to identify patterns using analytics. This valuable feedback will give you a better understanding of your consumer and help you predict the demand of particular curricula, then tailor future services to better suit the needs of your audience.
Showcase Testimonials from Alumni
Never underestimate the power of good ol' fashioned word-of-mouth marketing. A single relevant review can have a massive impact in influencing future students. Obtaining alumni testimonials is not a time-consuming or costly task. Send out a questionnaire or create customized email campaigns specifically for student reviews on your site's homepage. Lead prospect students toward relevant social media pages or anywhere else target audiences congregate.
Opportunities to provide future signups with social proof live with your existing community. If you haven't already, consider creating a Facebook group for alums.
Connect on Social Media
If you’re not already leveraging social networks like Facebook or Instagram in your marketing strategy, it’s not too late to get started. Just remember that the objective is to connect your audience with your curriculum.
Using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will drive measurable results and increase your reach, assuming your brand message resonates. For instance, consider using your social media platform to showcase testimonials from alumni!
Social media has become an invaluable tool for businesses of all sectors to increase customer bases. Digital communities provide an essential platform for professional and personal networking, allowing companies to interact with consumers in previously impossible ways.
Repurposing Content into New Formats
In the education sector, repurposing content is a simple, cost-effective way to access a new audience through different channels.
Upcycling material saves you a great deal of time and money in producing new content; this implies that you use existing content to expand and create new content or convert it into a new format.
For example, you can convert:
- Blog posts into tutorials
- Tutorials into seminars
- Seminars into ebooks
- ebooks into presentations
- Presentations into podcasts
Key Takeaways
Remember getting more students into your pipeline doesn't just mean that you'll have higher enrollment—it also means that there will be an abundance of data about their needs and preferences which might not have been available otherwise. This type of information shines a light on the product development process by illuminating areas where it may need improvement or refinement through user feedback.
The more people you reach, the stronger your lead generation will be. You can do this by utilizing new platforms or optimizing your presence on existing ones. As always, make sure to stay true to your institution's mission and values, but also consider how you're marketing these qualities to potential students.
No matter what strategies you choose for generating leads, remember that it all starts with a well-constructed plan!
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