A common question we get asked is what channels and tactics universities should be including in their higher education marketing plans. If you haven’t already, it may be time to consider adding Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising to your marketing arsenal. PPC can help capture prospective students interested in programs similar to yours, but what goes into launching a successful campaign? We’re here to give you a quick checklist of what you need to set your university up for success.
The key to any successful PPC campaign is a conversion–focused landing page. Not sure what a landing page is? Our recent article outlines the importance of landing pages and the positive impact they can have on your admissions marketing campaigns.
In constructing a landing page, the content should reflect the stage of the decision cycle that your prospective students are in. The content, design, and layout of the page should complement each other to inform and guide the prospective student toward your desired conversion action. Follow these higher education landing page best practices to help boost conversions.
A strong value offer is necessary to entice prospective students to complete the contact form on your landing page. When deciding on a value offer, it’s important to ensure you are providing them something that is not only worth their time, but is also valuable enough for them to hand over their email address and phone number.
In admissions and enrollment campaigns, we have seen great success with utilizing class profiles as a value offer. These allow prospective students to learn more about your current class and gauge whether or not they would be a good fit for your program.
Keyword research is a method that allows you to predict how much traffic your PPC campaigns will receive. As an added bonus, this projection correlates directly to your budgetary needs, too. There are many useful keyword research tools that can help determine the demand for your phrases and anticipated cost-per-click. They will even break down how that cost can vary depending on geographic location.
In addition to providing you with budget insights, keyword research will help you start the process of determining keyword themes. This is a crucial component for setting up campaign ad groups and crafting strong ad messaging.
Since the PPC model only charges advertisers when a user clicks on their ad, your budget is directly determined by the volume of clicks your campaign receives.