With the evolving technology, change has become an integral part of success and, that too, if technology is something related to internet , then you must embrace the technology as soon as possible.Digital marketing is the trending marketing strategy that is replacing conventional marketing,that involves lot of field work.
For a layman,digital marketing is the promotion of products or brands via one or more forms of electronic media. Digital marketing differs from traditional marketing as it involves the use of channels and methods that enable an organization to analyze marketing campaigns and understand what is working and what is not and that too in real time.
So, Why embrace Digital Marketing for Educational Institutes?
A study released by eMarketer illustrates that the education sector is one of the top industries in the world currently using social media as part of their overall strategy. Over a 72% of respondents in the education industry said they currently implement social media tactics in their marketing daily marketing activities. 17% of educational institutes worldwide said they planning to add social media to their marketing programs.
Another survey by marketingcharts, say that in the average 18-34-year-old college student owns 7 tech devices .The laptop computer is the most commonly owned device, by 85% of the college student population, with smartphone penetration nearing 70% and tablets (36%) more widespread than cell phones (33%). Video game consoles are also popular, gaining two-third popularity.
What conclusion could be drawn from these two statistics?You need not be a data scientist to understand the importance of targeting customers using the devices they use.
All you need a good digital strategy to target your message to your defined customer base.
Why Use Digital Marketing to Reach Students
- Your potential audience i.e students are already searching online for educational and training stuff.
- Students these days spend maximum time on the internet rather in front of other media including television.
- Display advertisements on the internet are effective and generate good sales compared to conventional advertising.They can be used to create a brand awareness among people.
- Parents judge a school or college based on its website and its online presence.
- Most students have also begun to judge a school or college through its online presence.Guardians read online reviews before taking any decisions.
- Outstation students depend heavily on the websites for college admissions.
- With more user friendly websites,Parents consider doing online admissions and prefer to raise any queries online.
- In the days of responsive websites and apps,People want everything at their fingertips.A well marketed website solves these issues.
Advantages of Digital Marketing for Educational Institutes
1)Cost Effective: Digital Marketing platform is much affordable compared to conventional marketing strategies. Internet marketing strategies like Social Media, Email Marketing,Mobile marketing require less investment and return good conversions.Thus educational institutions can target a larger audience at a low budget and yield better conversions.
2)Results are Measurable: With better tools available in the market,we can track the performance of different campaigns.With the available statistics you can narrow down the strategy you want to implement to boost your educational institute goals.
3)Quick Feedbacks: Digital marketing platforms offer quick feedback as messages or queries are read immediately and possible to receive instant feedback.Twitter,Facebook are the best medium to obtain instantaneous feedback from students.
4)Power of Social Media:Using Social media,you can create a brand awareness of your educational institute.With the increase in followers and increase in the conversations on your Facebook page,one can determine the fan following of your page.Today,many students have got Facebook and social network apps installed on their smartphones.Liking or shairing a post hardly takes any time.Make sure your Facebook posts are engaging one.The more it gets shared,the more you get publicity.
BMConsulting,has successfully implemented digital strategies to its vast number of clients in educational sector.
The E-learning market will continue to grow even though there is a financial downturn worldwide.The recent developments include use of cloud computing and mobile technology in E-education.I am anxious, how Facebook will channelize Whatsapp as a social media tool and how will it benefit education sector!