Paid Search is one of the oldest and most widely-used online advertising methods. As one of our senior account managers, Marc Berolo, tackled in his article, there are 3.8 million searches happening every minute in Google alone, adding up to 2 trillion searches per year.
Naturally, many professionals have grown skilled in handling this platform. However, each industry and field is a different ball game from one another. The Education industry, specifically, contains various different levels, sub-fields, and specialties.
It only makes sense for the PPC strategy for each variety to be different. Successful education marketing is the art of connecting students to institutions that can harness their potential and shape them into the person and professionals they hope to be.
Here are three things you need to consider when doing search marketing for EDU organizations:
Enrollment days
The first thing you need to consider is the seasonality of demand for education. Take the back-to-school season, for example, and make sure that you have your keywords, campaigns, and strategies sorted out in time to catch the most ready-to-convert prospects.
The same is true for professional courses. Since licenses and certification exams are scheduled, courses and programs follow seasonal trends as well.
Kinds of Learners
As we’ve briefly tackled in the previous section, the education industry is not only split by the content of the course, but also by the learners taking them. They will have different needs depending on some of the factors, including:
- Age Level
- Budget (whether the purchaser is a parent, a professional, etc.)
- The skills sought
For example, even though both are professionals, fresh graduates will have vastly different priorities than middle managers seeking to climb up the corporate ladder. Take advantage of the differences they seek.
First-timers entering the corporate world might be looking for discounts from reputable institutions to boost their credentials. Featuring discounts in your search ad copy will boost clicks to your website.
Long-term purchase
Another defining factor of EDU in paid search is the long-term decision-making of the students. This should influence how you do your marketing and advertising. Aim to help your students as they are making decisions. That way, you can stand out from other programs. Name recall is key in establishing your brand.
As advertising professionals In this day and age, you don’t have to sell on the why (ie. why they need to study or take a course). Everyone knows that education is the key to improving their lives. What you need to answer is WHY YOU. Why should they choose to bet their future on your program?
To fulfill this need, you need a clear Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to streamline your audience’s learning goals and your ad objectives. Make sure this USP is clear in all your marketing collaterals so the learners’ confidence in your company steadily grows as they learn more about you.
EDU marketing requires expert knowledge of both how the education industry works and digital marketing. As such, you need a team of experts to guide you through this journey.
Grow Enrollments specializes specifically for education companies in order to bridge a connection between you and potential students.
