Hobsons 365 seminar: Higher Education Digital Search Analyst. Learn more about what goes into a successful higher ed online marketing campaign for colleges and universities. Agenda includes, why digital marketing in higher education and enrollment management, how to use expert resources to avoid common road blocks with digital marketing campaigns, day-in-the-life an search analyst, and what to look for in a enrollment management resource partner for digital higher education marketing.
2. Why digital marketing?
Using an expert resource to avoid common road
blocks
Day in the life of an expert search analyst
What to look for in an expert resource
Chat your questions to Hobsons Webinars using
the chat feature.
2
Agenda
4. 4
Non-traditional is the new
traditional
TRADITIONAL
As few as 16% of
student population
NON-TRADITIONAL
Over 40% of the student
population
SOURCE:
http://www.aascu.org/uploadedFiles/AASCU/Content/Root/MediaAndPublications/PublicPurposeMagazines/I
ssue/10fall_adultstudents.pdf
7. 7
85% of adults use the internet to
research online degrees
Carol Aslanian, Education Dynamics, “Rock the Data! How Good Data Leads to Great Marketing and Even
Better Results”, November 2011.
Undergraduate degrees
Graduate degrees
8. 8
60% of adults use Google to find
your website
Carol Aslanian, Education Dynamics, “Rock the Data! How Good Data Leads to Great Marketing and Even
Better Results”, November 2011.
9. 9
Google Data 2010/2011 YOY
Source: Internal Google data. Data is based on sample keyword baskets.
US, Google.com, exact match only.
Areas showing
strongest growth
in queries
Certificates lead
degree query
searches
TECHNOLOGY
LIBERALARTS
ENGINEERING
10. 10
Online tactics are a great way to
find the students you need!
Retargeting
Display
Advertising
Paid
Search
Social
Media
Marketing
Email
Marketing
Student
Search
Services
Partner
Network
12. 12
Common roadblocks
Quickly
spending
money in
places that
aren’t getting
you
anywhere
Inability to
properly
read metrics
and use info
to make
decisions
Lack of skill in
analyzing
moving parts
and what they
tell you when
something’s not
right
Proper
allocation of
time to optimize
campaigns and
set bids
14. 14
Get to know your search neighbors
YOU THEM
Budget?
Programs?
Strengths?
Weaknesses?
15. 15
Get to know your institution
YOU
What are our
target markets for
each program?
Where is your
target student
searching?
What is your
target student
searching for?
What are each
program’s core
strengths?
What do we offer
that sets us
apart?
What do we
know about our
target market’s
online activity?
16. 16
Build campaigns to reflect your
institution’s goals
Drives enrollments for programs
Drives awareness
Granular enough so we’re not bidding
only on top tier terms
General enough to harvest queries
with a search query report
Multiple ad copy versions
17. 17
Activity During Launch
(Exceptions)
SPEND MONITORING
If it’s starting to spike, find the
culprits and handle them!
MATCH TYPE MONITORING
Do keywords match anything
that should be excluded?
18. 18
Ongoing Optimizations & Testing
Bid & Keyword
Optimization
Ad Copy Landing Pages
Always have tests
of ad copy
running
Know you’ll have
winners and
losers – new copy
may not perform
like the original
Test calls to action
Form spacing
Required fields
Steps vs. single
page
21. Skilled in
researching, bidding, man
aging, and optimizing key
words
21
What should I look for in an expert
resource?
KEY WORDS
Practiced at
researching the
perfect student profile
and where they are
online
Has access to tools
and technology to
target properly and be
successful
22. 22
Questions?
Chat them now to Hobsons Webinars
Or submit your questions at
http://go.hobsons.com/365question
Notas do Editor
Welcome to today’s webinarWe’re here to talk about how digital marketing works, and get an inside glimpse into a day in the life of a search analyst.By the end of today’s event, you’ll have a solid understanding of what goes into a successful online marketing campaign, so you can either run them on your own, or partner with an organization that can help you achieve your goals.
Here’s what we’re going to talk about today…If you have questions, please chat them using the chat feature to “Hobsons Webinars”
According to a recent benchmarking report for higher ed, 42% of schools were outsourcing some marketing or recruiting function in 2012
Recent reports show that as few as 16% of the higher ed student body population are considered traditional students. And over 40% are non-traditional, meaning they are older students or did not enter a higher ed institution straight from high school. While it’s easy for institutions to target high school students, it’s more difficult to target adult students.
Adult students you seek could be anywhere, and have any sort of background
Literally anywhere. How are you going to find them when you don’t know who they are?
Digital marketing is a great way to reach the growing adult audience, because 85% of adults use the internet to research online degrees
And it’s shown that 60% of adults use Google to find your website.
For example, here are areas seeing strong growth in queries: Technology, Liberal Arts and Engineering. And certificates lead degree query searches
Online marketing may be the way to go!It’s not uncommon to feel like you’re maxing out traditional marketing channels and not seeing incremental growth needed. Many who turn to online marketing tactics to grow performance see positive results.
All of this is great, but how do you get there? The answer is: carefully, as there are several road blocks to look out for when executing a successful digital campaign…
Don’t realize how quickly they can spend money in places that aren’t getting them anywhereAren’t practiced in reading metrics and using information to help them make decisionsAren’t skilling in analyzing the moving parts and what they tell you when they’re not right. Ie – if you’re click through isn’t high but conversion is OK, what do you do?Proper allocation of time to optimize campaigns and set bids
So at this juncture, I’d like to to turn it over to Lauren Ramey, and expert search analyst here at Hobsons. Lauren can shed some light on what some of this SHOULD look like, and the tactics he uses to execute successful campaigns.
When I start a new project, the first thing I do is get to know my search neighborsI need to learn all about my competition, their budgets, their programs, and evaluate their weaknesses.
Get to know your college or university.Identify each program’s target market and their activity online.Where are they searching? What are they searching for?Identify your core strengths.What does my university have to offer that sets them apart?
Campaign builds should reflect your institution’s goals.Driving enrollments for programs?Driving enrollments for colleges within the institution?Awareness?The campaign should be granular enough that you are not bidding solely on top tier terms, but general enough that you will be able to harvest queries with a search query report.
Spend MonitoringBe sure to check spend. If it’s starting to spike, find the culprits and deal with them.Match Type MonitoringAlways check to see if your keywords are matching to anything that’s worthy of being excluded. If so, immediately add as a negative to mitigate more wasted spend.
Bid & Keyword OptimizationsAd CopyAlways have tests of ad copy running.Know that you will have winners and losers and the new copy introduced may not perform as good as the original.Landing PagesTest calls to actionForm spacingRequired fieldsSteps vs Single PageMatch TypesHarvest converting keywords with a lower CPC and higher quality score.
Yes, this is a lot, and if it overwhelms you, now’s the perfect time to hand it back over to Catherine to tell us a little more about what you should look for in an outside resource, should you choose to partner with an organization on digital initiatives.