Students these days are very focused on finding the right college for them. However, many high school students are unsure of where to start. This confusion is only compounded by the vast number of college options available. Plus information is available everywhere and at any time for students to access.
Whether they’re looking for liberal arts colleges, business schools, or nursing programs, you can captivate prospective students by being a valuable part of their journey in making an informed decision.
Here are 4 simple steps to do this:
Reputation Check
Students know that there’s no such thing as the perfect institution. Instead, they talk and rely on friends, family, and other students. This decreases their stress about making the right choice since they know these people have their best interests at heart.
However, you have an online counterpart for reputation checks. These are reviews and testimonials from previous students. Since alumni have actually attended said schools, they have more solid opinions than family and peers. Interested applicants know that. These alumni’s words are worth more than gold—the power of word-of-mouth.
Aligned With Values
Future students will be spending around 4 years of their formative lives in college. They want to make sure that the place they choose is aligned with their own set of values. It won’t do well for your school to be mysterious. When it comes to knowledge, the more open and widespread, the better.
This is why things like campus tours and get-to-know posts are so popular. These students get a glimpse of what it’s like to study there. For a more detailed discussion on this, check out this article here.
Information like whether you have flexible scheduling or certain online courses or maybe strong community ties are sometimes considered non-negotiable to these students.
Where can people understand your set of values? Here are the most common places:
- Social Media
- Website
- Open Houses
- College Fairs
- Ranking Websites
Wide range of courses and opportunities
When students are looking to enroll in a college, they want an extensive and diverse range of courses and opportunities offered. They also want colleges that have high-quality standards and plenty of activities on campus.
In order to showcase this, make sure that the design of your website has the search engine in mind. Keep search ads in place so that when previous marketing methods work, they can be easily directed to your site.
But getting them to your site is only half the journey. Your website should be easy to navigate – allowing students to quickly find the information they need without having to sift through irrelevant pages or waste time trying to contact staff directly. This is where proper CRO strategies come in. For countless articles on this topic, browse our Education Center.
They want financial aid options that fit their budget
Last of all might be the most important one. They want colleges that offer grants and scholarships that fit their budget. Colleges can use various marketing channels (PR, advertising, web content, email campaigns) to reach students and encourage them to apply for financial assistance. Without these info, they might be discouraged from ever pursuing you.
Some students even research schools online with the financial aspect as the first thing in mind. They might try to find school marketing materials or social media posts mentioning student-friendly finance policies. In order not to lose too much ground in this competitive environment, colleges should focus on providing accurate and concise information as well as following up with applicants with remarketing tools.
It’s daunting for students to choose a program. It can affect the trajectory of their entire lives, after all. As education providers, you can’t remove that fear from them. The best you can do is be a constant source of help and knowledge as they go about this journey.
