The Internet Marketing Association recently posted a list of 15 mind-blowing stats about search engine marketing. Here is 10 stats from that list, and some additional thoughts on each on what that means for your Internet marketing needs at your career college or trade school.
1. Eighty-five percent of retailers surveyed said search marketing (including paid and SEO) was the most effective customer acquisition tactic.
What it means: The marketing world has shifted to the Web and getting your school’s name in front of potential students is all about ensuring your link pops up when Web users search key terms related to your school.
2. Seventy percent of agencies predict client SEO budgets would increase this year; 47 percent of respondents said there would be a significant or, at least, some increase to their SEO budget.
What it means: Increasing your Internet marketing budget is a good idea because chances are your competition already is.
3. Nineteen percent of brand marketers expect to significantlyincrease their paid search investments next year.
What it means: Once again, other career colleges are investing more in Internet Marketing.
4. Mobile advertising in the U.S. will total $17.73 billion in 2014, with mobile search spending accounting for more than half of that total, or $9.02 billion.
What it means: Potential students are utilizing mobile devices, which means its important for your Internet marketing strategy to include mobile reach and mobile-friendly websites.
5. By 2018 mobile search spending will reach $28.41 billion, or 85.9 percent, of the U.S. digital search advertising market.
What it means: Once again, mobile is the future and where you need to be in order to reach potential students.
6. The volume of U.S. Google searches about financial topics spikes in the beginning of the year; travel searches are most popular during the summer months; and retail searches start building for the holiday season in September.
What it means: Your Internet marketing strategy needs to include research into what key terms potential students are using the most. You can’t reach search engine users if you don’t know what they are searching for.
7. Overall search spend in the U.S. grew by 9 percent year-over-year, with most of the increase coming from click growth.
What it means: You need to be increasing your investment in Internet marketing, which can include SEO.
8. More than 1 billion search queries are made a month on Facebook.
What it means: An effective Internet marketing strategy includes social media.
9. Ninety-three percent of online experiences begin with a search engine.
What it means: Most likely, the journey to enrolling in your career college starts with an inline search.
10. Search is the No. 1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300 percent.
What it means: Once again, your career college’s website needs to be effective on search engines and its important to know what terms prospective students are using.
It’s crucial for your career college to have a sophisticated and strategic Internet marketing plan, especially as the shift today is toward marketing strategies that focus on search engines and web-based platforms.
Now is the perfect time to increase your use of Internet marketing, if for no other reason that your competitors most likely already are. Career Colleges are finding success in using digital marketing strategies to recruit more students, and Paradigm Digital has had lots of success helping schools find unique strategies for getting their message out to potential students.
Achieving a personalized strategy to marketing can be challenging, which is why many career colleges and trade schools and looked to Paradigm Digital to help develop an effective plan. A successful Internet marketing plan means not only getting your message in front of prospective students, but engaging them in such a way that they seek out additional information.
Personalization involves more than just an understanding of stats and trends. It requires an understanding of what your specific goals are and how to connect trends with your goals. At Paradigm Digital we work to create an Internet marketing plan that is unique to your school and helps promote your message to the exact demographics you are trying to reach.
The first step is to understand what your goals are, followed by understanding what demographics you need to reach. That’s followed by a strategy and plan that is specialized for your career college that is designed to get results.