Colleges and Universities are Using Highly Innovative Online Marketing Strategies to Engage Current and Prospective Students

Gone are the days of printed college brochures and maps. Colleges and universities are now using highly innovative online marketing strategies to better engage current and prospective students and increase enrollment from highly desirable candidates in other regions and countries.

More prospective students and their families are leveraging the Internet because it saves them the time, money and effort of traveling to visit every college they are considering. It also enables them to make better informed decisions regarding which colleges to actually physically visit.

Recognizing this growing trend, colleges are:

• Redeveloping their websites with the latest content, features and functionalities to better engage site visitors
• Deploying integrated programs that reach students wherever they are: online, on Facebook and on mobile Smartphones and tablets
• Adding social media functionalities to their websites, including social media feeds and links to their Facebook pages
• Adding to their websites engaging, interactive capabilities such as realistic virtual campus walking tours with automated tour guides, interactive maps and 360-degree panoramas
• Investing in Internet marketing programs including search engine optimization and paid se arch
• Using advanced analytics to measure results and optimize their multi-media content based on the behavior and preferences of visitors online and via mobile

Virtual campus visit programs, streaming videos, and interactive maps break through geographical limits and put campuses in students' laps. Indeed, these new online marketing strategies are helping schools drive interest, inquiries, applications and enrollment from quality candidates worldwide. Savvy schools are deploying the latest web-based and mobile technologies to engage and attract prospective students, and they are gaining a significant competitive edge over those that are not.