Top Marketing Trends That Did Well For Higher Education Institutes in 2018

The higher education world is morphing into a completely new space. Given the ever-changing nature of modern technology, Universities had adapted to various new methods to market themselves differently in 2018.

Successful branding and marketing have become increasingly important activities for institutions. It can help with increasing enrolment, expanding fundraising capabilities, and other outcomes. Here are some innovative higher education marketing trends that were incredibly effective for universities in 2018 to gather more enrolments.

Video                                           

It’s a no-brainer that one should place marketing materials where the target audience will see them. Nowadays, 45% of people watch more than an hour of video on Facebook or YouTube every single week. This made video higher education marketing incredibly effective this year.  Videos need not cost lots to produce either, these days you can put together excellent footage using just a simple Smartphone. As a matter of fact, marketers who used video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users.

Influencers

Influencer marketing was and still is a huge deal at the moment. By finding their potential influencers, universities can leverage influencer marketing and recruit them to produce and promote relevant content. Influencer marketing is an amped up version of word of mouth marketing with already having access to a substantial number of viewers. But this doesn’t refer to getting household name celebrities to promote your product to their millions of adoring fans. According to a survey the consumers are 30% more likely to buy a product recommended by a non-celebrity blogger as they can relate to them and thus value their opinion more. Influencers marketing is said to generate 11 times the return on investment of traditional digital marketing.

Social media

It is estimated that a billion people use social media. Having a robust social media presence for higher education is going to be a priority in 2018. Many universities have implemented this strategy this year, and it’s expected that even more universities will begin using social media marketing in the coming years. Potential college students - Gen Z and millennials alike - maintain an almost constant presence on more than one social platform.

Mobile

The one thing that most students never forget is their smartphones.  It is most unlikely to find a student who isn’t glued to his/her smartphone.  25% of millennials look at their phone more than 100 times a day and 50% of them check it at least 50 times a day. So, instead of simply rolling out a multi-channel campaign, institutes carefully considered how it will look on mobile and tweaked to optimise. They translated the marketing material to simpler designs that are tap and swipe-friendly. Research has also shown that three-quarters of millennials reported making purchases from their handheld devices, while 49% of average smartphone users on campus have acted on an ad they’d come across on their mobile.