Choosing a school, whether it’s preschool or college, requires a long decision-making process. Students and parents must consider many different factors before deciding on the school that’s right for them.
This is especially true when a student is deciding on college or higher education. So how can you, the institution, create more interest in your school?
The answer: build into a strong digital strategy.
Succeeding online requires time, energy, and resources. And unless you have a dedicated marketing department on staff and a large budget, you’ll be left wondering how to make it all work as you pursue your enrollment goals.
There’s a better way to invest in your digital presence and marketing strategy.
Why Should I Work with an Education Digital Marketing Agency?
Hiring an education marketing agency means that you can multiply your dedicated team. When you partner with PHOS, you get marketers, developers, designers, creative media specialists, and copywriters for the price of (if not less than) hiring a full-time marketing team member.
Increasing your bench depth is not the only benefit. You’ll receive digital marketing expertise and consulting from a team that is on top of the latest changes in the industry to improve your results. When industry experts (a.k.a. you) work with our digital marketing experts, huge impact happens.
Who We Serve
We’ve partnered with schools and institutions across the country to create strong brand systems and increase their online visibility:
- Public and Private Universities
- State and Local Colleges
- Private and Public K-12 Schools
- Preschools and Early Learning Centers
- Christian Institutions
- Continuing Education Programs and Ministries
- Education Resources
An Online Presence That Parents and Students Trust
Trust has to be conveyed by schools. Parents and students take their education seriously and that means institutions will be judged by first impressions—whether that’s online or on campus. If your brand and/or website does not communicate a strong reputation, you’ll find that your admissions department will have to work overtime to close the gap.
Education Website Design & Development
Many times, a potential student and their family will research your school before they even decide to take a tour. You only have seconds to make a great first impression. If your website is outdated, confusing, inaccessible, or slow-loading, you may have just turned a new student away.
Investing in a functional, yet stunning website will improve perceptions of your school and increase the likelihood of enrollment. We’ve designed countless education websites that capture the heart of schools and help potential students connect digitally.
College and University Websites
Colleges and universities understand that convincing a potential student to apply takes many touchpoints. There’s a wealth of information that needs to be communicated to help a student consider enrollment. Price, degree options, campus feel, student life, and housing are just a few of the factors that will impact this decision.
Our higher education website design process ensures that you receive a website that is not only beautiful and visually appealing, but it includes all the information your current student body and potential applicants need.
Elementary, Middle, and High School Websites
While colleges need to convince primarily students to consider their institution, elementary, middle, and high schools need to convince the parents. A school’s website should convey trust at the very first touchpoint, allowing parents to feel confident about their decision to send their child to your school.
Our K-12 websites help convince parents that you are a reputable institution and show potential students that they will enjoy their time in class.
Preschool and Early Childhood Websites
Early childhood education websites should give parents immediate trust that their little ones will be taken care of and safe. These sites also have the unique opportunity to be fun and inviting, translating what a child will experience in person through a digital space.
Our preschool and early childhood website designs capture the playful nature of early learning while also communicating all the information a worried parent would want to clarify and know.
Build Your School’s Branding
Your school’s branding is much more than just a logo. For many institutions, it can be terrifying to think about changing the brand—let alone the logo—especially for well-established schools.
Our team will explore what necessary branding changes your school should make to build a strong brand system and ultimately, a stronger marketing strategy. Our branding services include:
- Logo Design
- Brand Refresh
- Print Collateral
- Visual and Verbal Identity
- Graphic Design
- Digital Advertising Assets
- Social Media Moodboards
Showcase Your Campus Online
Many school campuses are convincing enough that a student or parent could make a decision easily upon visiting. However, with the emphasis on digital research first before stepping onto your campus, you’ll want to invest in the right visuals to communicate not only your beautiful grounds but also your school’s spirit.
Videography
Video continues to be the best way to engage your website’s visitors. You can leverage video to tell your school’s story, highlight key programs, showcase student life, or even experience a virtual tour.
Photography
Photos will add another emotional connection point to your website, print materials, and marketing messages. A student can picture themselves on your campus through professional, on-brand photography.
What Is Education Marketing?
Schools not only need to invest in a strong brand to improve their organizational goals; they also need to consider their marketing strategies. Educational institutions are focused on:
- Attracting students in a competitive market.
- Communicating educational value.
- Creating engagement among alumni.
- Adapting to digital trends.
These are the core focuses of our education marketing recommendations. With these in mind, we leverage the following channel strategies to produce the most results.
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Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
It’s a competitive market for schools. Whether you are a college or K-12 institution, you’re competing with local, regional, and national schools. By leveraging a strong paid advertising strategy, you can better position your school above your competitors.
Paid ads can be utilized during all parts of the decision-making process. Brand awareness ads can get your school’s name in front of your target audience. Traffic campaigns can direct potential students and their parents to key pages on your website. Retargeting campaigns can reengage users who have already visited your site, signed up for a tour, or started an application.
Our pay-per-click (PPC) strategies include Google Search Ads, Google Display Ads, YouTube Ads, and social media advertising.
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Digital Campaign Development
There are specific enrollment periods that schools focus on as well as key engagement seasons for alumni and donation pushes. With these in mind, our marketers will develop the right digital campaigns to guide our multi-channel strategies. We’ll work with you to outline exactly what success looks like and develop campaign plans to reach those goals.
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Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Staying competitive on search engines is vital for schools. You’ll want to be found easily by potential students in your area or across the nation. Our SEO experts will identify the right keywords to target and run SEO audits of your website to make improvements.
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Content Marketing
Information is everything to current and prospective students. Whether it’s sharing helpful content around your school or crafting announcements about new things happening on campus, our copywriting experts will work with you to craft the right content to display a ton of value.
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Email Marketing
Connecting one on one with your current and potential students will mean more opportunities for applications and engagement. Email marketing is one of the most ROI-producing channels. Whether you need to get out information to your student body about new events or create nurture opportunities to guide someone to complete an application, email marketing is extremely important for educational institutions.
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Social Media Marketing
Social media is one of the best ways to showcase a school’s heart online. This is a humanizing channel for your current student body, alumni, and prospective students to connect with you. Having an up-to-date, engaging social media strategy builds trust in your school and creates more buy-in from the community.
“I definitely trust PHOS Creative as an advisor. Their skill set and execution of the project shows that they are passionate about our partnership and about Oak Hall School. We have really missed out on not partnering with PHOS sooner.”
– Corinna French, Oak Hall School
Elevate Your Institution’s Digital Success
Ready to improve your school’s enrollment and engagement? Submit the form below, and our Client Growth Specialist will reach out to chat about how we can help you!
