Take the guesswork out of your digital marketing efforts with the Enrollment Marketing Blueprint – your ultimate solution to maximize the impact of your enrollment marketing efforts. Are you ready to boost enrollments and achieve your growth goals? This blueprint will help you get there!
If you’re a college or a higher education institution struggling to identify which of your marketing strategies are working and how to improve the ones that aren’t, this comprehensive blueprint is your game-changer. With a thorough audit of your current marketing activities and expert recommendations, this blueprint provides a clear roadmap to optimize your marketing, stop wasteful efforts, and increase your return on investment.
One-size-fits-all Doesn’t Always Work
Crafted with expertise and backed by years of experience, the Enrollment Marketing Blueprint is meticulously designed to meet your institution’s unique needs and goals. Our team of marketing professionals will conduct a comprehensive analysis of your messaging, website, content, Google Ads, social ads, SEO keywords, competitor research, email campaigns, and CRM. By scrutinizing each of these areas, we ensure that no stone is left unturned in your pursuit of success.
Imagine having a messaging strategy that resonates with your target audience, a website that captivates visitors, and compelling content that engages and converts prospects into students. With the Enrollment Marketing Blueprint, you’ll gain actionable insights and recommendations to achieve exactly that. Utilize our expert guidance to optimize your Google Ads and social ads, ensuring you reach the right audience at the right time. Leverage our SEO audit and keyword report to improve your online visibility and attract more organic traffic. Enhance your email campaigns and CRM strategies to nurture leads and maximize conversions. With recommended marketing strategies and budgets, you’ll have a roadmap to make the most of your marketing investments and drive tangible results.
The Audits:
The Website Audit
Errors and slow-loading pages can hurt your search rankings in Google, hurt user experience, and cost you leads. The Website Audit portion of the EGBP provides an in-depth technical analysis of your website’s front and back end. You’ll gain insights into what can be fixed or optimized to improve the performance of your website. We look at opportunities to optimize the site for mobile and desktop, benchmark site speed, and scan the site for technical issues.
We also include an analysis of your home page content (or landing page if we’re focusing on a specific program). An effective website that generates leads and sales consists of several main elements. We have found that, while not all of these elements are required, having all or most helps convert visitors into leads. These elements include:
- Is your site’s menu structure easy to navigate?
- Is your headline clear about what you do for your students?
- Do you have a visible and repeated Call-to-Action (CTA)?
- Do you utilize a lead magnet?
- Is there a Values section?
- Is there a Stakes section?
- Is there an explanation for why students should pick your over the competition?
- Do you display any testimonials on the site?
- Do you have a clear 3-step process?
The SEO Audit
This provides you with an analysis of your top competitors and where you rank in comparison. We’ll gather an initial list of keywords and phrases that your target audience might use for search terms, refine that list, then report on how well you rank in comparison to your top competitors.
Often, our clients are able to provide a starting list of their main competitors too, but that doesn’t always mean they are all ranking competitively online. So, a thorough SEO competitor analysis provides you with insights into who is actually ranking above (and below) your site in search engines. We can then work with you to determine what keywords and pages to focus on in order to rank more competitively and be seen by more potential students searching for your institution or courses. Knowing where you stand also helps you to determine what not to waste time and budget on as well, which can be just as important!
The Content Marketing Audit
Content is a powerful way to position your institution as a solution to your potential student’s problems. It can establish authority, help you rank better in Google search results, and give you powerful resources for social media and email marketing. The main types of content we look for are blogs, nurture emails, sales emails, and case studies.
If you consistently create and publish new content that your target audience finds helpful, not only will you provide a better user experience for your potential leads, but you’ll also position your institution as the authoritative voice in your space. Fresh, consistent content also signals to Google that your website is relevant, helping Google to rank you above your competitors. If you can figure out what your audience wants to see, and the frequency in which they want to see it (this can vary depending on content type and the industry you’re in) your content can become extremely valuable. You can use this content to keep your institution top of mind for those taking longer to consider with whom to enroll and encourage anyone who is still on the fence to make their decision sooner.
The Social Media Audit
Social media is a great way to reach out to current and potential students, build a community, and create fans that rave about your brand. Your current and potential students are likely active on one of the different social media platforms. It is important that you have an active presence on at least the top platforms.
Things we look for:
- Is your posting frequent and consistent?
- Are the main elements of your profile completed?
- Is your branding clear and consistent across all content?
- Do your posts include a balance of helpful information and calls-to-action?
- How much “fluff” content is there?
- How often do you include links to your website/landing pages?
The Paid Ads Audit
Google Ads will help you build brand awareness and reach an audience that is already looking for courses or programs you may offer. With Google Ads you have a wider variety of targeting options at your disposal, and you can narrow down keyword intent to eliminate non-relevant keywords (which saves time and money). A few things we take into consideration:
- Have you run ads before and were they successful? If not, we’ll dig a little deeper.
- Do you have conversion tracking properly set up?
- Are you running both search and display ads?
- What is your average cost per click (CPC)? Or, if you haven’t run ads before, what would your potential CPC be based on the targeted search terms and level of competition?
- Are you using landing pages? If so, how are they structured?
Based on your programs and goals, we’ll create a strategy of recommended campaigns and ad groups, along with ideal monthly budgets for each so you know what to spend in order to get the most out of your efforts.
Social Media (or Meta) Ads are important for any institution to be able to reach and target a whole new audience & build brand awareness. With social media, the audience you are targeting isn’t necessarily actively searching for your courses, programs, or institution, so it’s a great way to tap into a new audience that may not have heard of you yet. We’ll help you determine which social platforms (if any) provide a good opportunity for you to run ads and get results. If you’ve run ads in the past, we’ll take a look to see what audiences you targeted (such as job title or interests), your conversion tracking setup, and the content of your ads to identify areas for optimization.
The Blueprint
Now is the time to stop throwing spaghetti at the wall. Armed with each of these reports, you’ll have a better understanding of what efforts are and aren’t working for you, and which strategies to use that you may not have tried yet. We’ll provide recommendations on which strategies should be prioritized and provide a plan that you can take to your team to implement.
And, if you want it all done for you, no worries! Our team of marketing specialists can implement the blueprint for you so you can get better results from your enrollment marketing with less effort on your end. You can have your cake and eat it too.
Don’t let uncertainty hold you back.
Embrace the Enrollment Marketing Blueprint and unlock the potential to significantly increase your enrollments. Take control of your marketing efforts, align them with your goals, and watch your institution thrive. The future of your success starts with this comprehensive marketing roadmap.
We are passionate about helping colleges and higher education institutions achieve their enrollment goals, and we genuinely care about the success of our clients. With our expertise and dedication, you can trust that your marketing efforts will be optimized to deliver the best results. Join us on this journey and let’s create a brighter future together.
