As has happened in many sectors, the education market has been transformed to keep up with the trends of the 21st century. The new generation has a different organization and this means that the old strategies for attracting students don't have the same effect.
With the acceleration of the digital transformation, the behavior of the educational public continues to change rapidly. Students and guardians increasingly value transparency, authenticity and hybrid experiences that combine face-to-face and online classes, as well as integrated digital support.
Social networks and micro-video tools are gaining prominence and are essential for visibility and building trust.
This requires aligning educational marketing strategies with omnichannel approaches and highly segmented content that promotes immediate engagement and builds lasting relationships.
The same goes for student retention. Students aren't just looking for low prices, but for efficient communication with the institution and a valuable educational experience.
One thing is clear: you have to be where your audience is and approach them as a reference and not as a company that just wants to do business. To do this, you need to work on strengthening your brand identity and directing the right content to the right people at the right time.
Faced with this scenario, educational institutions must not become complacent. Now is the time to invest in intelligent techniques that bring results. Mkt4edu's mission is to simplify this dynamic, using its expertise to combine different methods around the objective defined by the client.
Educational marketing tools and strategies to attract and retain students
Mkt4edu is a relatively young company, but that doesn't mean inexperience - quite the opposite. Our work is guided by excellence. We are always on the lookout for the best systems, tools and most up-to-date educational marketing strategies to bring results to institutions.
No wonder we operate in 3 countries and have launched more than 3,000 campaigns since we started our activities just over 3 years ago.
Combining technology, strategic thinking, a highly qualified team and the best partners in the market, we specialize in developing techniques to retain and attract students with a lower investment and guaranteed return.
Below are some of the main methods our multidisciplinary team uses to promote customer growth in the education sector.
Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing goes against the idea that you have to "chase" customers. With this type of strategy, they are attracted and gradually converted into leads with high conversion potential.
The first step for this strategy to be put into practice and to work properly is to build a website, if the institution doesn't already have one. This is where the rest of the initiatives will converge, leading to recognition and identification with the values defended by the institution.
Therefore, the basis of inbound marketing and the secret to its success lies in creating a connection with current and potential clients. But none of this works automatically, without proper guidance. The work is done in stages and each one includes techniques that are related to achieving the expected results.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is one of the branches of inbound marketing. According to this method, the educational institution's website should be rich in content that is relevant to the target audience.
There, you can find information not only about the pedagogical proposal or curriculum matrix of the courses on offer. It is a place to find out more about careers, career paths or what is learned at each stage of education, in the case of schools. In other words, before selling a service, the idea is to become a reference for the potential client.
This material of interest can be offered as e-books or blog posts, a way of constantly creating and disseminating educational knowledge. This flow of information increases the student's confidence, their involvement with the institution and accompanies them throughout the purchasing journey until the moment of decision.
Caption: Student in the classroom actively participating, symbolizing engagement and effective strategies for retaining and attracting students.
Inbound Sales
In a nutshell, inbound sales continues what was started by inbound marketing. The two techniques form part of the same whole, where the user is initially captivated by a consultative service and then begins to make a purchase.
The difference with this type of approach is that the lead goes to the company and not the other way around. The alignment of the marketing strategy allows this person to be attracted by the content and make their way through the sales funnel, reaching the decision stage. In other words, it's a much more targeted, consultative and effective process.
The approach between the potential client and the institution is less aggressive and strictly commercial. They feel that trust has been established, that they are not constantly being harassed to close deals and that the company is aware that it is channeling its efforts and not just "shooting at all sides".
SEM and SEO
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is one of the most effective ways of speeding up lead conversion. It consists of optimizing the institution's website so that it is positioned on the first pages of search engine results such as Google. This can happen organically or through sponsored links.
The organic positioning of a website in the results depends on dozens of factors determined by bots. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) meets some of these requirements and allows them to be applied to pages to influence the algorithms.
These requirements change over time. That's why using SEO also requires constant monitoring to keep up with Google's updates and how they might affect the site's ranking.
Google's algorithm update in 2024 reinforces the importance of user experience (UX) for ranking, prioritizing sites that offer optimized speed, intuitive navigation and mobile responsiveness.
Local SEO strategies have stood out for institutions seeking to attract students by geographical proximity, taking advantage of specific and voice searches, which represent a growing share of searches. Therefore, the continuous alignment of SEO strategies with Core Web Vitals metrics and conversational trends is essential to maintain and improve positioning.
See also:
- Student retention: 6 strategies that can help improve it;
- Does educational consulting increase enrollment?
- How can CX Analytics solve retention problems?
Chatbot with artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence underpins our work and many of the resources we make available to institutions to promote student recruitment and retention. An example of this is the use of AI chatbots, which are highly efficient and guarantee the personalization so sought after by students and potential customers.
In addition to the traditional use of chatbots, technologies based on artificial intelligence have evolved to offer hyper-personalized experiences, adapting content and interactions according to the student's profile and their stage in the educational journey.
Institutions that implement AI recognize significant improvements in attraction and retention, with studies pointing out that personalizing learning can increase student performance by up to 30%. This is because AI is able to predict needs and anticipate doubts, creating a more proactive and efficient service.
These innovations also include virtual assistants capable of carrying out predictive analyses that identify students at risk and suggest strategic interventions to prevent dropout and promote academic success.
This technology, perfectly suited to a generation that hardly ever makes phone calls, eliminates the need for a call center, reduces queues and even promotes a positive customer experience.
Using machine learning techniques, the bot is able to keep the tone of the conversation natural and personal. In addition, it provides the information sought and can be developed to carry out registrations and enrollments.
Despite all these advantages, we recently carried out a wide-ranging study and found that, at this point in time, just over 42% of the 500 largest educational institutions in the country make use of technology. If your school, course or college is on this list, it's time to stop missing out on opportunities.
Automation
Putting all these techniques and more into practice means dealing with a superhuman volume of information. It's not just a question of cross-referencing data when capturing leads, but of strategically surveying each contact, grouping together those with similar consumer behavior, defining content targeting and sending personalized messages.
With this small sample, you can see that it's impossible to manage everything without a suitable tool. In this case, the ideal is to have a CRM system that is complete, intuitive and capable of covering all these demands.
Automation in educational marketing is evolving by integrating artificial intelligence for much more precise and personalized segmentation based on behavioral and predictive data. CRM systems with AI continuously learn from the behavior of leads, adapting content and interactions in real time to increase conversions and retention.
This reduces wasted resources, directs investments towards qualified leads and creates a cycle of continuous improvement in campaigns, increasing the institution's strategic efficiency.
Our partnership with Hubspot has been incredible in this regard. We've been able to streamline quality work by programming thousands of actions that will be carried out without any human interference. This applies to sending SMS, WhatsApp messages, lead nurturing emails and even the chatbots we talked about in the previous section.
To analyze and segment data and map the customer journey, we use Lucky Orange integrated into Hubspot. This application allows us to identify areas that could help increase engagement and the number of conversions.
So, you've probably already understood that, in the 21st century, retaining and attracting students is done efficiently with a lot of technology and strategy.
Need help with this transition? Don't worry. We're here to help! Schedule a meeting with our team and find out how to do more and better with the same investment.
Recruitment and retention in the 21st century: what your strategy still needs
How has student behavior changed in recent years?
Today's audience values authenticity, transparency, hybrid experiences and integrated digital support. This calls for more segmented, omnichannel and experience-centered strategies.
Why are social networks and microvideos important in attracting students?
They increase visibility, build trust and generate an immediate connection with the public, especially when used with targeted content and interactive formats.
How does inbound marketing help attract students?
By attracting students with relevant content and leading them on a journey of value until they decide to enroll. It reduces the cost of acquisition and strengthens brand authority.
What role does content marketing play in this journey?
It transforms the institution's website into a reliable source of knowledge, increasing engagement, permanence and the perception of the value of the educational brand.
What is inbound sales and how does it work?
It's the consultative approach that continues the work of inbound marketing. The lead comes to the institution already nurtured and with confidence, which makes conversion more efficient.
How do SEM and SEO help attract more students?
They position the institution at the top of search results, whether through organic (SEO) or paid (SEM) traffic, attracting more qualified leads and increasing conversions.
What are the advantages of a chatbot with artificial intelligence?
It offers personalized service, 24 hours a day, using natural language. They anticipate doubts, carry out enrollments and identify risks of evasion based on data.
How does automation contribute to attracting and retaining students?
It automates sending and segmentation based on behavior. This optimizes campaigns, improves timing and increases conversion rates with less human effort.
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