Seven Education Marketing Trends for 2023 You Can Not Ignore
Many of us will be putting our marketing strategies up for review as the new year gets underway. Do I understand the demands of my audience? Do we distinguish ourselves from our rivals? Are we utilising all of the channels at our disposal?
It pays to keep up with what's popular and what isn't, whether you're advertising your school to parents or an educational product to teachers.
We've compiled the major education marketing trends for 2023 that every perceptive marketer should watch out for, along with our best advice to give you a head start.
Marketing should be done to create value in the off-season.
Data-driven marketing
Budgets are being squeezed, particularly in education, so more marketers are adopting a data-based strategy. Decisions may be based on facts, plans can be adjusted, and ROI can be increased by continuously measuring and testing.
It also involves employing the appropriate data. There has been a general shift toward tracking engagement, for instance, looking at more valuable metrics like time on site and bounce rate rather than merely counting page hits. Additionally, click and other engagement metrics are more trustworthy than pure open rates because Apple's iOS 15 blocked email monitoring late last year.
Pro tip: To maximise PPC, here's some top-notch advice. Adopt an "always on" strategy when using Facebook and Google advertisements to gather valuable data. Plan for at least six months, testing and improving along the way.
Video, video, and more video
The production of videos has increased dramatically over the past few years as more businesses shifted to a digital-first strategy. According to studies, 91% of marketers believe that video is more crucial in light of the epidemic, with video development expected to rise.
And short is lovely, too. A video under 60 seconds long will be watched to the finish by more than half of viewers, and 89% of marketers intend to invest in short-form videos in 2023.
Pro tip: Self-produced material can be economical. Use a tripod or stabiliser and a good external mic to reduce background noise when recording with a smartphone. To produce a polished final work, take into account applying editing expertise.
Virtual reality is gaining traction
Virtual reality (VR) and other forms of experiential marketing have become more prevalent in recent years. They will likely continue to do so as long as in-person events are unpredictable.
An interactive, self-guided tour of a school allows visitors to get a true sense of the institution while reaching a wider audience, such as parents wishing to relocate. A VR-powered product demo can enable teachers to hold and feel a product for organisations emphasising education virtually.
Pro tip: Take 360-degree photographs or films of essential locations and utilise them on your website, in campaigns, or on Facebook 360 for a cost-effective solution.
Sustainability
Almost everyone is becoming a more thoughtful shopper. Three-quarters of British adults, according to the ONS survey conducted just before the COP26 climate conference, were concerned about the effects of climate change. These people include many parents, teachers, and managers with whom Education marketers try to connect.
Marketers are including environmental messages in their communications in more significant numbers. This may involve encouraging the purchase of food from local farmers or reducing the use of hazardous cleaning agents in schools. Suppliers to schools are displaying their environmental certifications or ethical supply chains.
Pro tip: Are you trying to increase the sustainability of your school marketing initiatives? Offer digital versions of printed pamphlets and prospectuses while occasionally utilizing printed versions.
SEO? The experience of the user is everything
The days of stuffing a few keywords on a page and hoping to rank well in internet searches are long gone. Google is continually improving and strongly emphasizes user experience (UX).
The focus of Google's core algorithm upgrade on page quality included mobile friendliness and new measures (Core Web Vitals) to gauge overall page experience and load speed. Marketers must ensure their sites fulfill these requirements by 2023 or risk a rank drop.
Pro tip: To quickly assess your main pages' critical metrics on both desktop and mobile, use Google's Page Speed Insights. Alternatively, request a technical audit from your SEO company.
Storytelling
We all want to connect with others, whether at work or home. Making an emotional connection with the audience is another benefit of using storytelling in marketing and aiding in communicating frequently misleading information. This is crucial in education because our shared goal is to see students succeed.
As opposed to expressing their offer exclusively in facts and reasoning, more and more marketers include narrative into their strategies to engage readers.
Pro tip: Request anecdotes or experiences from all of your coworkers. How did the learner overcome a difficulty? How did a teacher use your EdTech service to improve student performance? Use these tales in your advertising and include them in meetings or visits.
Conversational marketing with AI
Without mentioning AI, where would a blog on higher education marketing trends be? AI employs computers to perform some of the duties that people have historically performed. Education marketers have benefited from AI for quite some time, for instance, in SEO and PPC advertising.
To help with the admissions process, AI is beginning to be employed in school marketing. For 24/7, 365-day-a-year customer service, Edinburgh University established an admissions chatbot to assist with inquiries about its business school. It will be soon that independent schools or sizable MATs will begin to use it.
Pro tip: Google reports that 27% of smartphone users utilize voice search. Look at optimizing your information after hearing what Alexa and Siri say about your company or school.
Final thoughts: So there you have it—our outlook for 2023. This is an exciting time for marketing since technology has enabled us to promote more effectively, efficiently, and creatively. Contact a fantastic staff member if you need assistance with your 2023 education marketing; no need to worry till now; we're not AI robots!
