With millions of educational institutions vying for online supremacy, getting attention for your brand can be a challenge.
And I need to decide between the countless marketing strategies that exist. Each one gives different results, in different time frames, and needs to be worked on in particular ways. It all depends on the objectives: adding value to the brand, increasing enrollment in the entrance exam, reducing course dropouts, and the list goes on.
When we start comparing different strategies, for example:
Is it better to invest in digital marketing actions aimed at generating organic traffic, with initiatives that diversify and reinforce positioning through an SEO strategy and attention to link building?
Or is it better to focus on paid traffic right away, with investments in sponsored links and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) to quickly increase visibility and traffic sources for an educational institution?
In fact, the secret may be to stop asking the question “paid traffic or organic traffic?” and think that both are complementary, each performing its specific function. In today's article, we will talk about each of these alternatives and show why it is worth setting up this combo.
Key points covered in this article:
Continued education!
What terms are these?
Regarding the terms used in today's post, it would be interesting to make some considerations about the most important ones so that you can absorb, in depth, all the content developed:
- SEM: Search Engine Marketing, or something like Search Engine Marketing. SEM is a way to improve the visibility of pages on the internet, as it creates a direct channel with those interested in a particular term (for example: “improve student acquisition”).
- Sponsored links: This type of advertising means that, for example, using the same term mentioned above, your page appears before organic results (those that did not pay to be highlighted). Do a test, search for a term of your choice and notice that the first results will have the word ‘ad’ next to the URL.
- SEO: Search Engine Optimization, SEO is part of SEM, and is a set of techniques and practices that aim to improve the positioning of a page in search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.), in other words, increase the chances of a website appearing in the first results is higher.
- Link Building: This digital marketing technique aims to obtain the greatest amount possible links that refer to the page of your educational institution. In other words, that other pages link to your brand, when they are talking about something related. Google, for example, considers that if many pages link to yours, it is because your content is of quality.
By the way, what are paid traffic and organic traffic?
Before we detail the benefits of each modality and how they can be advantageous together, it is necessary to define the differences between them:
Organic traffic is determined by search engine algorithms and has to do solely with the merit of the page, that is, it is traffic of natural origin, when a user decides to enter your website after searching for a term on Google, for example .
Paid traffic comes from sponsored links and, when someone searches for a specific term, your page appears at the top of the list of results. In other words, your website may not appear in the organic list that search engines show to users, but it is still seen at the top.
Both modalities can function as sources of traffic for an educational institution, the difference lies in the results.
In digital marketing strategies for organic traffic, the work produces long-term results, but more consistent and permanent: users are engaged with your content in a natural way, people who believe in the added value of the information your brand shares.
With paid, the results are faster. Even if your educational institution has never published anything about a course, for example, it will appear at the top of the Google list and this will generate immediate visits. The problem is that, when the paid campaign ends, there is an immediate drop in access.
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What is the best: paid traffic or organic
As we said above, you may not need to choose between one and the other: bet on the combination of paid traffic + organic traffic to increase traffic sources for an educational institution. It is worth investing in inbound results and generating qualified leads as much as dedicating resources to generating immediate results.
In fact, we believe that the most efficient growth marketing strategies lie precisely in diversifying the number of marketing techniques. Exactly for this reason, it is important to invest in both engaging content and paid campaigns optimized to be shown to specific audiences.
- Tip: You might be interested in reading our article How to get ahead of competitors’ marketing campaigns? to create the best materials for paid and organic traffic campaigns.
The opinion of those who work in marketing also points in this direction: approximately 86% of professionals in the field state that they work with paid social traffic as a complement to their initiatives with the aim of generating organic traffic.
If you are wondering why not invest everything in paid traffic?Well, this may generate results, but your educational institution will be missing a great opportunity. The key to digital marketing lies in the brand: attraction has to do with engaging real people, developing effective conversations and delivering value, in the most natural way possible.
What initiatives to generate paid traffic essentially do is say “hello” to users. A reminder that works for those who don't know you yet or to remind your followers that you continue to offer excellent services in the area of education.
Finally: how to improve traffic sources for an educational institution?
You may have noticed that, whether through paid traffic or organic traffic, the most important thing is to be found by those looking for exactly what you offer. Here at 4RevOps, we are constantly looking for the best techniques and strategies that will make your brand grow on the internet and win new subscribers.
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