TIE CONTENT MARKETING TO REVENUE IN 3 STEPS: You’ve decided to invest in a content marketing strategy. You’re also wondering what your budget for next year will look like. It begs the question, how can you tie content marketing to bottom line enrollment numbers? In a nutshell, Contently, a content marketing company, says the key is to track conversion rates at 3 stages: Audience Growth, Content Leads, and Sales-Ready leads. Your content should make a lasting impression on target audiences, convert them into content leads (with eBooks, guides, newsletters), and nurture them into sales-ready leads that reach out to learn more about your school or program. This model can provide a full-funnel view of the effect of a blog or eBook on an inquiry, applicant, or enrolled student.
Why you should care: Many enrollment marketers expect to see a direct link between the amount of content published and butts in seats. If you make great content and people click on it, they immediately fill out an inquiry form, right? Wrong. Content marketing is all about building and maintaining trust with prospective students so that when they’re ready to make a decision about going to school (or going back to school), you’re their first choice.
HOW TO EXPERTLY TEST NEW MARKETING CHANNELS: “The mix of channels available to marketers shifts constantly,” says BuiltIn, a community for tech-minded professionals. Failing to try new marketing channels could leave your school or program lagging behind the competition. To test new marketing channels, BuiltIn first suggests putting ample time into researching the channel. Research as much as you would before working with a new marketing agency, CRM, or vendor. Also, give your test run about 2 months of trial and error, and during this period, track not only conversion rates from ads, but the behavior of site visitors on your website who are sourced from the new channel.
Why you should care: Breaking into a new marketing platform can be overwhelming. Sure, you’ve got your bread and butter channels that convert visitors into inquiries at a moderate rate, but you’re stuck wondering how you can do better, and which new channels might actually bring you larger quantity (and quality) leads. Every quarter, consider carving out time to research and testing new options, like Twitch, chatbots, or podcast ads.
WHAT POST COVID-19 RE-ENTRY LOOKS LIKE: Many feel that we are slowly entering into a new society, and for marketers, entering into a new digital world. According to SocialCode, a digital advertising platform, “The importance of digital and social media in consumer’s lives and its effectiveness as a marketing channel remains as high as ever.” Re-entry into this new digital world is marked by stats like a 52% increase in Facebook browsing, 48% increase in online buying at off-peak times, and a 50% increase in video/media viewed over the internet via a subscription service (instead of cable, antenna, or dish).
Why you should care: There’s no question that the ways in which people learn, work, buy, entertain themselves, and connect with others have changed. As you consider planning (or tweaking) your student recruitment and media strategies for the rest of 2020 and 2021, read about the important steps SocialCodes recommends marketers take beforehand. Start by nurturing prospective students during these uncertain times, adapting to changes in their online behaviors, and recognizing that many have shifted priorities for Fall 2020 and beyond.
Chatter is where great decisions start. It’s the first (and only) feedback platform for the education industry’s leading CRMs, SIS’s, marketing services agencies, online program managers, admissions coaches, and more. Get started by reading reviews and writing one of your own!