If you are looking for a way to expand the reach of your career college, her are three things to consider.
1) Marketing in today’s world is different than before
Today’s marketing landscape is drastically different than it was a few years ago.
“Social media, smart phones, digital television and big data in general have led to fractured audiences and the end of ‘news as an event,’” wrote Patrick Coffee for PRNewser. “We no longer pick up the paper to read on the train in the morning nor say, ‘Honey, leave the dishes, it’s time for the 9PM news.’ We receive aggregated news, in real-time, customized to us, through myriad sources and formats.”
Coffee’s report is not some new revelation. We all know that the way we consume content today is different than it was even a few years ago. However, while we know content consumption habits have changed, few marketing directors have figured out how to truly take advantage of it.
“PR people now have the challenge to figure out how to reach their audiences without a single silver bullet,” Coffee adds. “Normalizing the results of their efforts and measuring how they actually moved the needle is a bigger challenge than it ever has been.
“From a client perspective, PR frequently looks like a cost center instead of a profit center, which is typically why marketing and PR budgets tend to be cut first.”
2) An effective strategies takes effort
In an article for Entrepreneur, Eric Siu writes that content marketing can be an effective strategy for businesses, and that includes career colleges looking to increase enrollment numbers.
“Developing and nailing your marketing strategy is no easy task, especially when your initial brand awareness is limited to beta testers and a handful of personal contacts,” Siu writes. “Content marketing can help get the word out about your startup, but only if you’re on the top of your game.”
In his article, Sui offers several tips for utilizing content marketing, including the need for a detailed strategy.
“Customers operate on their own timeline and can’t be forced to buy your product,” Siu writes. “Your brand must stand out and dominate your market to attract life-sustaining revenue. Creating a content-marketing strategy is one cost-effective tool in your arsenal to start dominating.
3) Evaluating data, search engine traffic is key
Eighty-five percent of retailers in a recent survey said search marketing (including paid and SEO) was the most effective customer acquisition tactic. That 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.
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.