What inbound marketing channels are you currently using? It may be time to re-evaluate what makes the most sense for your higher education institution. Here are 3 helpful steps to creating a successful content strategy for higher education marketing.
- Segmenting
Many higher education marketers have their audiences segmented by stages, demographics, behavior, or, more likely, a combination of all three. It might be time to rethink your audiences if you’re planning on trying something new. Motivation can drive your process when re-evaluating your segmentation strategy. Do you want to take a risk with people giving to academics, athletics, or the general annual fund? The same can be said in admissions. While behavior and demographics are important, you must ask, “What motivated a prospect to inquire about your university?” Take a look at what is motivating a prospect to seek out your program. Capture their primary interest area, why they are considering the program, and their contact information before they are able to download an informational brochure.
- Content
What are the content possibilities for two different segments based on demographics, motivation, and preferred communication channel? If you have two very different audiences, use one audience to try out some new content and inbound channels and determine which group might be more receptive to less traditional messaging and content. The key thing to remember is that, while you may be taking a few risks, always keep the content relevant to your institution and program. It’s easy to get caught up in new shiny things, but be sure that you aren’t totally missing the mark.
- A/B Testing
One of the last steps in this process is to test within your audience. This is your opportunity to test it amongst an audience that isn’t already completely vested in your university. Randomly divide this audience in two and send an email inviting them to an upcoming webinar. Keep the content and the subject line the same. The only difference is that one group will receive the new logo with new tagline embedded in the email. Establish a set amount of time for testing. See how responsive each group was and use this information in establishing A/B testing for other segments. If you didn’t see much of a difference in response rate, maybe there’s still a little tweaking that needs to be done before testing on other audiences.
Don’t forget how you answered those first few risk-taking questions, use your segmenting strategy to establish your content, and keep on testing. Ultimately, this data will drive your future strategy, so don’t be afraid to revisit any steps in your process. Establishing your motivation and then developing a higher education content strategy with these simple steps will help you keep your inbound content fresh. You’ll be relevant to new prospects while still maintaining your relationship with traditional stakeholders of your higher education institution.
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