As high school juniors, students begin the exciting and nerve-wracking process of searching for the perfect university. Deciding on a school can be pretty difficult. The “next four years of your life” are supposed to be the most memorable and influential. When it comes to marketing a University, appealing to students minds, hearts, and eyes is the best ways to catch their interest. Here are some tips to step up your University’s digital marketing game and reel in those applications!
WEBSITE:
For incoming college students, a University’s website is a first glimpse at a new home away from home. So how do you make your website stand out from thousands of other schools?
Try putting yourself in the students’ shoes. A website with strong branding is instantly going to get their attention. The more your website correlates to the university’s colors and spirit, the more excited future students will be when looking at it! This will also help instill the sense of a tight-knit community.
One school with a really unique, eye-catching website is the Rhode Island School of Design. Their homepage is highly stylized and is perfectly fashioned to fit their school’s niche. What really stands out about their website is that they show off a few of their majors through header images that switch every time the page refreshes! To illustrate, this screenshot below credits a student on her work in apparel design.
INSTAGRAM:
The imprint that social media has on students nowadays is massive, and Instagram is at the center of it all. Students are constantly checking university pages, tagged locations, and even pages of organizations affiliated with universities in order to get a feel for campus life. Utilizing Instagram is a powerful marketing strategy that will help grab the attention of students and even parents. The social media platform is an easy and creative way to share practically any information about the university!
Instagram accounts for the University of Tampa and Pepperdine University do a great job of showing off various aspects of their schools. Both accounts have organized highlights at the top of their page that make it simple for students and viewers to find what they are looking for. Posting engaging photos and videos of campus activities such as events, job fairs, athletics, and student life can really help to rake in applications! The University of Connecticut even has an annual tradition based around instagram where they make a ‘UCONN Year In Review’ video by using their student’s posted pictures!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L3ZRV0p8NQ&t=28s
YOUTUBE:
With video growing every year as a vital advertising instrument, YouTube is a major player in a student’s decision process. The platform has endless possibilities and can be a huge creative outlet for a University’s digital marketing strategy. YouTube is a comfortable space for students and allows for all different tones of video. Have a light-hearted video showing off move-in day? Post it! Have a cinematic showcase of the football team? Post that too! Students and parents want to see all sides of a University and YouTube is the perfect way to show off who your University is.
Posting videos with voiceovers that talk directly to the viewer is a very compelling tactic. It makes the experience seem more personal and helps to build a bond of interest. This welcome video posted by the University of California, Los Angeles executes this technique perfectly. Throughout the video, professors sound like they are speaking straight to the viewer. One professor explains, “It’s a place where you can do or be anything.” The decision to use the word “you” instead of a word like “students” gives the statement much more personal power.
With the digital marketing industry constantly advancing, keeping up with current trends can be a challenge. Student’s interests in particular expand and change at rapid levels. At ADventure Marketing, we strive to progress with the movements of our target audiences to remain effective and innovative in our field.
Contact ADventure to start your next digital marketing journey!