More than ever, successful marketing strategies need to be in place to appeal to a new generation of incoming students, especially when it comes to higher education. Like any brand, higher education has to rely on a consumer market to increase the number of students who enroll and capitalize on their service. So how can you win the hearts and minds of Generation Z and entice them to register at college?

There are several effective strategies to create a marketable brand for your institution, thereby encouraging enrollment. This blog will highlight several successful marketing techniques.

1. SEO Marketing

Of the several strategies to increase college enrollment, SEO marketing is effective and has a high success rate for encouraging potential students. SEO marketing is about making your institution more visible online so that potential students can see where you rank. By increasing your position, you will likely have more students visit your pages and show interest in your university. To do this, you need to make sure that links and keywords are used correctly to boost your content and rise in the ranks. Most enrollments or interest on the web comes from organic searches, which is the critical component of SEO. So, if you are looking to bulk out your SEO marketing strategy, you need to think about ways to create organic traffic to your website.

2. Have A Compelling and Accessible Website.

If you have a very successful SEO strategy, the next thing you want to do is to ensure that your website is accessible and compelling. In other words, you want to make the organic search worthwhile. Students who click on your page need to be enticed by what the college offers—a slick and easy-to-use website shows this off. To make it count, you need to have information accessible and ways for prospective students to make Inquiries. Having information on hand like this will inevitably lead to more applications and enrollment.

3. Update The Format Of Acceptance Letters

When students apply and are accepted to your college, you want to do more than the bog-standard acceptance letter or email stating ‘Congratulations.’ Instead, you want to give the new student as much clear and precise information as possible. This could come in the form of a welcome package with information about their new city and course options. You want to engender excitement for any prospective student—an excellent welcome package is a great way to do this. A hashtag and other links to social media will drum up excitement in any younger student who is a prolific social media user.

4. Social Media That Is Authentic

Younger generations can see straight through inauthentic marketing strategies, especially on social media. To mitigate this issue, you want to create social media accounts that hone in on the authentic college experience – an experience that a new student can empathize with and will want to join. One way to do this is to find a ‘brand ambassador’ who is a current student and allow them to be in charge of your social pages.