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Tips Tailored for You to Market Your Entity Using Lead Generation

The Education Sector is known to be mostly a human development sector, which sometimes makes the idea of marketing sound so foreign and challenging. However, as counterintuitive as this may sound, marketing has always had some role in this industry. It was through subtle interactions, brochures, exhibitions and sessions that portrayed what different educational entities could offer to their students. Such subtle methods were used even in the past even if the main goal wasn’t to market the educational entity. 

As time passed, digital marketing has become important even in the education sector. Schools and universities are competing in showcasing their services and excellence in the field. More students and parents from the newer generation use the internet to search education institutions and compare them,  which has caused a revolution in the relationship between education and marketing.

Challenges to Education Marketing

Targeting in the educational sector has its own set of challenges despite its major importance in the digital world we live in today. Some challenges can be summarized as:

• Fierce Competition: there are many schools, colleges and universities opening up every year, which means it is more challenging for newer educational entities to be known. According to the Emirates’ Ministry of Education, more than 8 schools are to open in Dubai alone in 2020!
• Stereotyping Educational Entities that Use Marketing: sometimes entities that use direct marketing schemes may be viewed as of poorer quality, which is not true most of the time.
• Limited Budgets: the marketing budget in educational institutions is sometimes the least since most of the funds go to bettering the infrastructure and the quality of education.

 And many other issues can arise, which is quite challenging for marketers in this industry.

Lead Generation: Performance Marketing Solution

 Lead Generation is a process that relies on gathering leads (people who are interested in a product or a service) rather than aiming to make a sale. Lead Generation is the best form of Education Marketing, as an interest in your educational institution can lead to future enrollments. 

Not only that, but with such a solution, you only invest with a limited budget, as it is quite affordable. You invest in costs per lead rather than other draining costs, which can generate rewarding results at the end of the day. 

The key to successful Lead Generation campaigns though is having the right tools, as well as targeting the market subtly. 

How to Do it Right? Tips to Master the Art!

To make sure that your Education Marketing Plan gives the results you desire, there are many things to keep in mind. 

• Add Value

It is important to differentiate yourself from other entities by giving value to prospective students, whether by offering them material that could help them master a certain skill, or career path tips, or offering a certain course at a lower price than usual. Such a method ensures you are creating trust and offering human development, which aligns with your core values and ethics.

• Social Media is a Must 

Most of the target audience uses social media platforms for different reasons. Not utilizing such a channel can be a huge waste! Such platforms give the chance of interaction and communication, as well as knowing the needs of continuing or prospective students or even parents. Host Q&A sessions, or live streams of events, is a great way to attract attention. 

• Personalization is very important

In such an industry, it is important to add a personal touch, which encourages prospects to interact more. Data-driven marketing can help in giving students different messages and ads that cater to their specific interests or needs. If you want to implement SMS or Email Marketing, then personalization is a must for your entity. 

• Encourage Student-Generated Content

The target audience of the education sector enjoys interacting with their institution’s platforms. Whether you invest in a small competition for students taking pictures of their favourite places on campus or sharing a post by one of your alumni talking about a course they were enrolled in, such content can come off as natural testimonials rather than asking for formal ones.

In conclusion, Education Marketing has become quite important for any educational institution. Thus, leverage from the power of the internet and do not hesitate to use performance marketing solutions anymore!