The Power of Branding
Most students will search online to find information about courses. This is if they apply through an agency, or direct they will still do background research. The average student will do a lot of research over 8 months.
For most universities they have a very strong local brand, but, aside from the top 1-5 in each country such as Oxford, Harvard, Tsinghua, most universities have varying levels of brands in other countries and cultures.
Building the brand is hard when reaching students far away, and it’s not possible to reach every person in the world, so the targeting needs to be focused on those target students, or those who are likely to influence the target students.
They say that if marketing is effective, sales is not necessary. By doing effective marketing then it can have a huge impact.
One of the benefits of branding is that it will grow the target students and application rate, but another huge impact of branding is that it will improve the conversion rate of applications. This is because there is a difference between applying and enrolling. They will still have doubts, and so they will continue to search and research and consider their options and whether they actually want to go to that university in the end. The average student is usually applying to 7 universities, and so the power of the brand can have a big impact on conversion rates.
Content
One of the main ways of doing marketing is through content marketing.
Lead Magnets
It’s often hard to reach students directly when they want to apply, because its a very specific student at a very specific time, so it’s important to create lead magnets.
Lead magnets are doing something that prospective students would be interested in in order to generate interest.
For example, giving a webinar – or releasing some reports. A webinar from a business school with advice about careers in business in China, or how to do business in China can attract students who are interested in learning more about business and considering an MBA. The numbers of students interested in business in China is far far greater than those considering an MBA.
Arrival Process for Universities
The average student will apply to 7 universities. The arrival and sign up process is especially important. One of the key ways to improve the enrollment rate for universities is with the arrival package and offer process.
Speed – often students will end up going to the university that gives the offer the fastest, and when they apply to 7 universities, it can often just be a race against the others.
Package and information – there is a lot of variation about what universities give to students. Some just give a letter which says when they need to arrive. Others give a more comprehensive arrival package – which includes all the information about the city, accommodation options and arrival process.
As a student from a foreign country coming to China it can be really confusing to receive a 1 page letter with the registration date. The students often have more questions and search online for the information or ask their friends about how to do things. It can also lower the conversion rate.
