July 28, 2020
If Kevin Costner had simply spoken his famous line “if you build it, they will come” and done nothing more than building his stadium in Field of dreams, we can safely assume that things would have gone a little differently. This line is often misused by those proposing that if an idea or an institution is good enough, it will magically be a success. Instead, Costner hired James Earl Jones; a writer who was able to refine and target the message; making the story come to life. They did come in the end, but only because Jones’ words had reached and inspired them. Costner did bring a few ghosts, but we imagine that is not your ideal demographic.
In the world of education, we all know that deciding not to promote your school is no longer a choice. You simply have to find your way to stand out from others. Now, there are a number of ways to do this, but this is where the outside perspective is a critical element. Institutions often use in-house teams to boost social media ads without the birds-eye view of the strategies that govern this, and often without the dedicated time to really focus on what the analytics are saying.
If the message doesn’t land and does not stand out from others, we all know the results; low revenues and low student enrollments. This is where tailor-made paid media campaigns can make all the difference. Costner was busy building his vision, so it was Jones who focused on how to tell that story to others.
At first glance, paid media might appear unnecessary because there are other cheap ways to showcase your business. Why would my institution pay a third party to showcase it? Aren’t earned and owned media enough? There is, of course, merit in these but the facts are inescapable: one of the quickest ways to drive traffic and get higher conversion rates is paid media. Billions of people use social media daily, scrolling, clicking, liking and engaging with brands. Tailored paid media is your chance to boost awareness of your unique brand, targeted at the people who are most likely to listen, engage and convert.
By showcasing your content on social media, you will be able to increase your institution's visibility. If your content reaches more people, these same people will share it with friends and family, helping create a larger target audience. By thoroughly researching the platforms your target audience spends the most time on, geNEOus (formerly NEO Academy) can differentiate them and target your public according to age groups, usage frequency and content of your message among others.
By posting regularly, people will be able to recognize you, get a sense of who you are as an institution, follow your stories and build trust in you through personalized content. By keeping your feed engaging and active, you can try subtly different types of posts, see which ones receive most views and likes, and feed that back into your brand persona.
People crave content that suits their interests, as it helps them feel a sense of belonging. By using rich data to connect with the people you want to reach, paid media can help to bring them in to be part of your community.
the analytics of every social media platform show how many likes, views, comments, and shares your ads received, which can be quickly matched against inquiries and applications to determine the conversion rate. The agility of this data means strategies can be quickly adapted to amplify the approaches that are working.
Field of Dreams analogies aside, we can help you to craft and target your story. Our team of experts is here to assist you and guide you through the process. With our singular focus on bespoke messaging and rich data, we will create efficient marketing campaigns to foster brand awareness and personalization. Make your institution stand out and create a community that your leads and all other stakeholders can trust. Having a well-designed marketing campaign will enable you to not only enrich and tailor what you’re already offering but also help your audience really connect with you on a deeper level. If you build it (and tell them about it) they will come.
