Each year, more colleges and universities are deploying chatbots, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only furthered this trend. As artificial intelligence (AI) technology improves, chatbots and virtual assistants are better equipped to handle more responsibilities in the academic world.

Don’t look now, but the COVID-19 pandemic is still wreaking havoc on the entire higher education industry. The higher education industry was already facing a challenging time with many factors conspiring to put schools in a tough spot in recent years. Then the pandemic came along and made everything worse. Schools now have an uphill battle for enrollment, many of them having to turn to aggressive marketing for the first time.

We’ve all seen this phenomenon when we cruise around the web:
You visit a video streaming site to check out their selection of zombie flicks for October viewing. Then later you’re on some unrelated site like Facebook and suddenly there are ads for The Walking Dead. Or you shop Etsy for a funny coffee mug to give your coworker for a gift, and then every other site you visit for a while suddenly has ads obsessed with coffee mugs. Research some marketing topics, and the next three YouTube videos you watch will be preceded by ads for online B2B software.

Along with the other upheavals to the markets that 2020 has brought, the higher education industry has changed overnight from being merely competitive before to practically cutthroat now.

What the future holds for higher education in 2021 is very much up in the air. While the world of higher ed always seems to be in flux, with new marketing tactics and shifting budgets to deal with, as well as changing student populations guided by whims and proclivities of the latest generation of kids, it has never felt quite like this.

Empathizing with students scores high for their confidence level right now. The biggest asset we can currently give a young adult is an older adult to work with them one on one and help them sort out their concerns.

Few searches in 2020 are as depressing as searching for higher education news articles. It’s like a holocaust out there. Washington Monthly just put up one of the most dire articles yet, “How to Save Higher Education: A New Deal for America’s sinking colleges.” You came for the clickbait headline and the cartoon of the university slipping into quicksand; stay for the gloomy pull-quotes

So here we are looking at the crisis market of higher education. In our previous article, we talked about the challenges that higher education institutions face in marketing. The global COVID-19 pandemic was just part of the story. Even before that, universities were already experiencing market decline due to a host of other trends, ranging from being out of touch with the modern digital-native student audience to students having declining faith in the economic feasibility of a degree.

Finding the right digital marketing agency for higher education institutions sounds like a daunting task. “Digital marketing” isn’t exactly a phrase most college faculties are used to bandying about anyway. Academic professionals tend to look down their nose just a little at this whole “marketing” field, which means they aren’t the best ally to higher ed marketing teams. Surely, the students should flock to your honored institution based on its outstanding reputation alone, should they not?

Competition for a spot on the first page of Google can be intense—especially in higher education. If you search for “what is the best MBA program in the US” (sans quotes), you will find at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) a “People also ask” box, some ads, and a few organic listings.

Starting in 2010, the “Arab Spring” was a protest movement sweeping through the Middle East. Riots, uprisings, and even armed rebellions occurred in one country after another. It caught many governments off-guard. After years of relatively comfortable rule where civil unrest happened only in isolated pockets, suddenly the ideals of these activists jumped from one group to another and spread like wildfire, faster than anybody could react to it.

Even though more schools have started embracing the concept of “marketing” in recent years, there is still a lot of foot-dragging among the rank and file. “Marketing,” to some of the faculty’s ear, sounds like this crass, dirty thing that only other industries have to do. But there’s no choice now. Layoffs and salary cuts have begun. It’s time to market or die.

Like most concepts in modern digital marketing, brand ambassadors have a history going back to mid-20th-century media and beyond. In fact, brand ambassadors go clear back to ancient history if you believe #10 on the list of Roman gladiator facts: “the most successful fighters even endorsed products just like the top athletes of today.”

Too often in the marketing business, you’ll have this scenario: you set up social media accounts for a business, organization, or higher education institution, hand them the accounts and they designate a social media manager from inside the organization. You check back later, and the feed will be one of two things: dead, because whoever was in charge of posting “ran out of ideas” or was “too busy,” or still active, but with just monotonous self-promotion and self-congratulation.

Given the current situation, it’s not surprising if your marketing campaigns suffer a blow. You may be experiencing decreased digital engagement, fewer website visits, and a drop in applicants. Know that you’re not alone; this has been a difficult time for all marketers.

Welcome to our perspective on the year 2020 and what it means for the digital marketing industry as applied to higher education. We will have some bad news, some good news, and a digital marketing roadmap for colleges and universities for the second half of the year.

What makes a great digital marketing campaign for a college or university? There’s a shortlist of bases a good campaign should address. First and foremost, a good campaign helps prospective students visualize the successes they’ll achieve by attending that university. They may also cover supporting points like a diverse student body, a broad offering of courses, opportunity for accelerated learning, a nurturing and secure campus life, and an expert faculty.

A key factor in marketing for any industry is to understand what the consumer wants. This is just as important in the academic industry. Students today understand now more than ever that it would be wise to do their proverbial homework before signing up with a carefully chosen university.

In the world of digital marketing, educational institutions have several advantages that they don’t often appreciate. To start, universities and colleges can have a domain ending in “.edu,” which Google ranks higher in search. People naturally trust content from a university as having higher authority than your average website. A natural by-product of being in the academic industry is that universities and colleges frequently generate content, either through their students or their staff.

STEM is an acronym that stands for the academic principles of “science, technology, engineering, and math,” sometimes extended as “STEMM” to also cover “medicine.” It’s become one of the hottest buzzwords in the 21st century, dominating discussions in education, industry, and commerce. It’s synonymous with the high-tech industry, which values STEM graduates for powering technology innovation and hence large parts of the economy.

Declines in student enrollment at universities, colleges, and other tertiary institutions are putting pressure on higher education marketers to deliver growing enrollment numbers. To jump-start interest in their courses and degree programs, many academic institutions are focusing on restructuring and improving their digital marketing strategies.

Dr. Young goes into what it takes to create a great group of graduating students as well as giving us her advice on what it would take to keep our schools safe. This one is not to be missed!Resources from this interview [00:00:01] Voice over: Welcome to the Ignite Podcast, where we help marketers and [...]

Universities and colleges have unique challenges when it comes to online advertising. While PPC campaigns should be a staple of your overall strategy, these campaigns can become particularly costly – or ineffective – if you don’t know the do’s and don’ts of this type of online advertising. Our PPC company in Atlanta has tested several [...]

Digital marketing has completely transformed how higher education institutions market their schools to prospective students. Your website is easily your most valuable asset, and social media has become an integral part of engaging prospects while delighting current and past students. There are many factors prospective students consider when choosing a school. Price, location, and course [...]

For higher education institutions, an online reputation can influence leads, enrollments, retention, as well as alumni relations. As such, it’s important to actively manage your online reputation by implementing both a proactive and reactive reputation management strategy.

Creating “Content Hubs” on Your University Website to Cater to Your Varied Audiences. Unlike traditional businesses – that tend to have specific audience segments they’re looking to attract – schools and universities aim to attract people from a varied background, each with their own interests and relationship with your institution.