Higher ed marketing has changed a great deal in the last decade. Traditional marketing and advertising efforts are becoming more and more ineffective, but new strategies are taking their place.
Today's college students are the first high school graduates of Gen Z, the most internet-native generation in history.
Where millennials were notorious for texting and phone games, Gen Z does everything predominantly online. If Gen Z doesn't know something, they head to Google, AI chat's or social media pages. So when today's students are looking into which college they want to attend, they immediately head online.
This is why digital marketing is essential for universities and career schools competing for a shrinking pool of applicants as the demographic cliff impacts the traditional-age student pool. A key component of a solid digital marketing strategy is inbound marketing.
Most prospective students still rely on search engines and university websites first when researching programs, which is why ranking well and showing up with helpful content matters so much. Let us take a deeper look.
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Inbound marketing for schools is the practice of creating quality content prospective students search for, rather than only using paid ads.
Inbound marketing is a relatively new marketing approach, originating in the mid-2000s.
Inbound marketing predominantly focuses on the search-engine and AI chat culture. When we want to know something, we Google or ask AI for it. The websites we find are likely to be the brands we eventually buy from or the information we consume.
Inbound marketing focuses on creating relevant content to be found by your target audience. In this case, future students. Your inbound marketing blog posts, articles, case studies, landing pages, and other online resources provide potential students and families with the valuable content they need to make effective decisions about their education.
The right inbound marketing campaign helps improve student enrollment by engaging them through their online searches for college-related content and information.
Here are multiple inbound marketing tactics that move the needle for enrollment:
The most powerful impact is your appearance on college-related search and citation results. Students learn to trust schools that become their source for online college information.
Most prospective students still trust university websites over other sources when researching programs, which is exactly why ranking well and owning that search real estate matters so much for enrollment.
If a student finds quality pages from your school every time they search for information, you become a thought leader to that potential student. Thus, that student becomes a viable lead for you in the future.
Each time a student searches for anything college-related, you want your school as visible as possible. You want to become the leading provider of information about degree tracks, financial aid, campus life, programs that work for student lifestyles, and opportunities related to college choices.
The higher your pages rank on search and citation results, the more student eyes your marketing content will reach, setting you up to win the enrollment conversion process.
Inbound marketing serves a purpose beyond awareness and engagement; you can also provide your "potential customers" with everything they need to enroll.
College enrollment, in the past, has been something of a maze. Especially, for students who are looking to use scholarship funds or seek special programs.
Rather than forcing students to make a phone call or come in person to complete their enrollment, make it possible for self-driven students to fully enroll themselves through online enrollment processes.
Hand-craft your online enrollment so that students are guided step-by-step through the entire enrollment process. By doing this, you can channel students through inbound marketing articles directly related to pre-enrollment steps. Tools like Sonority Group's Full-Funnel Enrollment Calculator can also help you see where prospective students are falling out of the funnel so you know which resources to build first.
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Inbound marketing is all about showcasing the positive aspects of your school.
Your inbound efforts might include maps of your campus, reviews of your on-campus dining facilities, or news stories about student organizations. Anything engaging that you can write about the school is another form of lead generation for online-searching students.
Your school's website and inbound marketing plans have the potential to highlight what makes your school great. This is your opportunity to tell stories and showcase opportunities that will help students determine if your school is the right choice for them.
The more interested a student is in your school, the deeper they will research your descriptive inbound marketing content.
One thing that many colleges forget is to build a supportive and welcoming online culture. This culture is more than your content marketing. It is also about how staff, students, and organizations interact with future students researching your school.
Build a chatroom, Facebook group, or a forum where students can come together to swap advice and resources. Make it possible for new potential students to reach out and find any answer they are looking for. Create a positive and welcoming online culture, administrated by staff and older students eager to help.
This supportive online environment will highlight that your campus culture is welcoming, and students will feel at home when they decide to join your school.
Stories are powerful in education-based inbound marketing.
High-schoolers planning for graduation are at a unique point in their lives. They are looking for direction to build the rest of their lives. So student stories and stories of successful alumni can be immensely persuasive.
Students are looking for a career path and opportunities. Tell detailed stories through your inbound marketing strategy.
Tell stories of a Freshman's first years on campus, of experienced college students who have their lives worked out, or graduates making use of their degrees. These stories will resonate the high schoolers and non-traditional students alike to seek out your school to enjoy similar experiences of their own.
Be the go-to guide for how to write essay papers, how to study for the SAT, how to complete the FAFSA application, and how to research and apply for scholarships. Become a source of information on steps for moving to college, how to adapt, and how to prepare for that first set of classes.
The key is to have future students coming back to your website time and time again for new guides and resources. Once they rely on your college brand for all their college-prep information, there's a good chance they'll apply and enroll as well.
A growing share of prospective students now read AI Overviews or ask chatbots directly for college recommendations before they ever click into a traditional search result. That means the content strategy that gets you ranked on Google also needs to be structured clearly enough for AI tools to read, summarize, and cite.
Being cited by name in an AI Overview or a chatbot answer builds the same kind of trust as ranking on page one. Students see your school named alongside the information they're already trusting, and that association carries weight even before they land on your website. Institutions that keep writing clear, well-organized inbound content, the kind built around real student questions, put themselves in position to earn those citations instead of losing that visibility to competitors.
Building an inbound marketing program that ranks, converts, and holds up as search behaviors change is not a small lift, especially for admissions and marketing teams already stretched thin. We've helped colleges, universities, and career schools across the country build content programs that do exactly that. Ready to build a content engine? Let's chat!
Inbound marketing is a modern approach that focuses on creating relevant online content to be found by the target audience, in this case, prospective students. It is crucial for student enrollment as it engages students through their online searches, providing valuable content to help them make informed decisions about their education.
Ranking high on college-related search results establishes trust with potential students. When your institution consistently provides quality content in search results, you become a thought leader, making your brand a reliable source for information. This trust can lead to increased enrollment as students view your institution favorably.
Inbound marketing goes beyond awareness and engagement; it provides self-driven students with the resources needed for enrollment. Institutions can create online enrollment resources that guide students through the entire enrollment process, allowing them to complete the steps independently.
Inbound marketing showcases the positive aspects of a school, including campus features, dining facilities, student organizations, and more. It provides an opportunity to tell compelling stories and present opportunities that convince students your school is the right choice for them.
Building a supportive and welcoming online culture contributes to a positive impression of the campus environment. Through chatrooms, forums, or social media groups, institutions can foster interactions among staff, students, and future students, creating a sense of community and support.
Student stories, including experiences of freshmen, successful alumni, and graduates, can be powerful in inspiring prospective students. These stories provide insights into campus life, career paths, and opportunities, influencing high schoolers and non-traditional students to consider the institution for their educational journey.
Becoming a trusted resource involves providing valuable information on various topics, such as essay writing, SAT preparation, FAFSA application, scholarships, and college preparation. By consistently offering helpful guides and resources, an institution can position itself as the go-to guide for college-prep information, fostering trust with future students.
Yes, it matters more, not less. AI tools and chatbots pull their answers from the same well-structured, helpful content that ranks in traditional search, so a strong inbound marketing foundation is what gets your school cited by both.